(Host) Vermont’s Republican candidate for Congress says the national Republican Party has "written off" his campaign.
Paul Beaudry says he hasn’t gotten any money for his race against incumbent Democratic Congressman Peter Welch.
As VPR’s Bob Kinzel reports, Beaudry has a theory on why he’s being ignored by his party.
(Kinzel) Former radio talk show host Paul Beaudry is very disappointed with the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Beaudry says officials at the NRCC won’t return his phone calls or respond to his emails asking for the group’s help in his campaign to win Vermont’s sole Congressional seat.
Beaudry says he finds the non responsive behavior of the NRCC to be a surprise because the organization is waging an all out effort to take back control of the U.S. House and Beaudry thinks Vermont could be part of this plan.
(Beaudry) "My opinion is that they have written Vermont off they are not sending and financial support to myself…and it’s sad because this is a small state and a little bit of money can really go a long ways and it is possible for me to beat Peter Welch."
(Kinzel) Why would the NRCC ignore their candidate in Vermont? Beaudry has a theory.
(Beaudry) "I’m perceived as the Tea Party candidate – even though the Tea Partiers are not, quote, endorsing candidates in Vermont I am very sympathetic to them and they’ve been attracted to me and I fall in the same boat as a lot of these other candidates where the more conservative Tea Party style candidate wins. And I have won in Vermont I can beat Peter Welch and I do need some help from the Republican Party."
(Kinzel) Tory Mazzola is the NRCC’s press secretary for the Northeast. He says he can’t respond directly to Beaudry’s complaints.
(Mazzola ) "I can’t speak to that but I would encourage him to give me a call we’re happy to talk with him."
(Kinzel) Beaudry has asked the NRCC to contribute $42,000 to his campaign – it’s an amount that the group has given to many other Republican candidates across the country.
Mazzola won’t say if Beaudry will ever see any money from the NRCC.
(Mazzola) "How we allocate our financial resources is really our internal strategy our goal is to have strong Republican candidates on every ballot across the country and that includes Vermont."
(Kinzel) Even though he trails in most polls by roughly a two to one margin, Beaudry is convinced that he could win this race if he had the money to get his message out to more Vermonters.
For VPR News, I’m Bob Kinzel in Montpelier.