Scott, Janoo, and outside groups fill Vermont airwaves with ads

Republican Gov. Phil Scott is running ads asking Vermonters for another two years in office as the governor's race with Progressive Democrat Amanda Janoo draws near. Scott's ad focuses on affordability. "We will grow Vermont's economy and make it more affordable for everyone, that's my commitment to you," Scott says in the ad.

Janoo's ads take a similar tone. "If we come together to protect what we love and produce what we need, I know we will not only weather the storms ahead but lead a better way forward," Janoo says in her ad.

Outside money has entered the race for the first time in a decade, and its ads carry a harder edge. The national Republican Governors Association ran an ad saying, "Fellow Democrats dismiss her ideas as magical thinking." The Vermont Public Interest Research Group ran an ad that repeats one word: "Veto, veto, veto, veto."

Bert Johnson, a Middlebury political science professor, said outside groups handle the attacks so candidates can stay above them. "The outside groups can be negative because the candidates can claim that it wasn't them being negative; it was some group over which they have no control," Johnson said.

Vermont's spending is small next to its neighbors. AdImpact, which tracks campaign spending across TV, radio and digital, reports $21.1 million spent in Vermont this cycle, compared with $327.1 million in New York and $320 million in New Hampshire. New York's North Country U.S. House race between Democrat Blake Gendebein and Republican Anthony Constantino and New Hampshire's U.S. Senate race between Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas and Republican former Sen. John Sununu are drawing heavy spending.

Johnson said negative ads are common nationally in 2026. "Because there's this concern by each party by extremists in the other party of seizing power, the ads tend to be awfully negative," he said. He said Vermont sees fewer of them because the state is small and its politics are community-oriented, and because voters tend to back candidates rather than tie them to national politics.