ONTPELIER - The fight over the future of Vermont is largely being funded by non-Vermonters.
Out-of-state money is pouring into the campaigns of the two major-party candidates for governor, as well as the major interest groups. About 83 percent of the money being spent by those candidates and groups is from out of state, according to campaign-finance disclosure forms.
The reason? Outsiders see this year's election in Vermont as a referendum on gay relationships.
That's because Vermont enacted a law this summer allowing same-sex couples to receive the same benefits as couples in a heterosexual marriage. The enactment of the civil-union law destabilized Vermont politics, and Republicans running on their opposition to civil unions are attempting to seize both branches of the Legislature and the governor's office from the Democrats.
As a result, people from Massachusetts to California are contributing to candidates for whom they cannot vote.
''This is a very, very important issue, and I'm following it with great interest,'' said New York playwright Terrence McNally, who took time away from scripting a new Broadway show, ''The Full Monty,'' to send a check to a group called Vermonters for Civil Unions. ''This is a civil-rights issue on a national level.''
McNally said he hopes New York will follow Vermont's lead.
A contributor on the other side said she fears that her state, Virginia, might follow Vermont. Helen Blackwell, chairwoman of the Virginia chapter of the Eagle Forum, a conservative group founded by Phyllis Schlafly, said: ''This is not just Vermont that's affected, because a large group of people who have taken advantage of this law have been from other states, and I'm sure there will be a lawsuit demanding that some other state recognize these marriages.''
McNally is not the only big name spending money on Vermont politics this year. Edgar Bronfman Jr., president of the Seagram Co., gave money to Vermonters for Civil Unions, while William J. Bennett, the former US secretary of education and author of ''The Book of Virtues,'' contributed to GOP gubernatorial candidate Ruth Dwyer.
''This is not just a state issue,'' Bennett said. ''If people have civil unions in Vermont, people will come up and ask that those unions be recognized in other states.''
Vermont is the second-smallest state in the union, and its political campaigns are relatively inexpensive. The two major campaigns for governor will probably spend about $1 million each, a record-breaking amount in Vermont, while interest groups formed around the civil-unions issue have already raised another $250,000.
On the latest campaign-finance filings, which do not include some contributions of less than $100, Governor Howard Dean, a Democrat, reported 91 percent of his funds coming from out of state, while Dwyer reported 84 percent.
Vermonters for Civil Unions reported 69 percent of donations coming from out of state, while the Vermont Defense of Marriage political action committee reported 37 percent.
Another group supporting civil unions, the Vermont Fund for Families, reported 99 percent of its money coming from out of state.
Campaign-finance watchdogs are horrified. They had hoped that Dean and Dwyer would agree to accept about $300,000 of public financing under a new campaign-finance measure and would refuse out-of-state contributions. Only Progressive Party candidate Anthony Pollina agreed to accept public financing and turn down money from out of state.
''The amount of money in this campaign is obscene on both sides, and it perverts the process, as far as what the people of the state would like to see,'' said Maria Thompson, chairwoman of Common Cause of Vermont. ''The money doesn't reflect Vermont anymore, and you don't know what it reflects when it's coming in from other areas and other groups. Vermonters resent outsiders coming in and throwing their money around or even throwing their opinions around.''
Much of this year's campaign money is coming from national political parties.
''We have put about $600,000 into various campaigns in the state of Vermont, and that is more than in the past, because our research suggests that any and all of these races are winnable this year,'' said Cliff May, a Republican National Committee spokesman.
Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Backus said her party will spend more than $500,000 to back Dean.
The candidates themselves are unapologetic.
Dean said he has always received significant contributions from out of state because of his national profile, while the Dwyer campaign said the influx is to be expected.
''It's a fact of life when you have campaign finance and moral issues of national significance that you're going to have to do some of your fund-raising through national groups,'' said Joanna Bisceglio, a spokeswoman for the Dwyer campaign.
