In the November 2002 election, Democratic Party candidates benefited to the tune of over $200,000 from gay and lesbian donors, according to Party sources. That amount was less than the amount received in the hotly contested “backlash” election of 2000.
      According to Vermont Democratic Party Executive Director Mark Michaud, $100,000 was raised from out-of-state gay and lesbian donors with an interest in ensuring that the civil union law would not be substantively undermined or repealed.
      Another $100,000-plus was funneled to candidates through Vermonters for Civil Unions and the Vermont Fund for Families, said VCU co-founder Beth Robinson. Not all of that money came from the gay and lesbian community, but also from straight allies. Most of the VCU and VFF funds went to Democrats, some to Progressives, “a little” to Republican candidates, depending on their records and commitment to supporting the current civil union legislation.
      Nationally, other issues than civil unions were predominant, and national gay and lesbian political action committees were more focused on gay rights ballot initiatives. “The perception was that the civil unions fight had been fought and won in 2000,” said Michaud.
      The Human Rights Campaign placed a field organizer in Vermont to assist in legislative campaigns in Rutland and Bennington counties. The Democrats picked up three seats in Rutland County and one in Bennington.
      The Vermont Democratic Party “acknowledges and is grateful for gay and lesbian support in this election,” said Michaud. “It was critical to our gains in legislative races and a testiment to the fact that financial resources are important. The number of volunteers from the gay and lesbian community who worked as volunteers was equally critical.
      “It took thousands of volunteer hours to complete literature drops and other campaign tasks for the legislative candidates,” Michaud added. “In the past two elections, the people in the gay and lesbian community or those from outside the community who are energized by civil unions made up a solid component of the volunteer effort, as important as the money donated.”