VT GOP CALLS OUT PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRAT SENATE CANDIDATE HANNAH SESSIONS FOR APPEARING IN BANK ADVERTISEMENT AS POTENTIAL CAMPAIGN FINANCE VIOLATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, October 26, 2026
Contact: Paul Dame, [email protected]

VT GOP CALLS OUT PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRAT SENATE CANDIDATE HANNAH SESSIONS FOR APPEARING IN BANK ADVERTISEMENT AS POTENTIAL CAMPAIGN FINANCE VIOLATION

Montpelier, Vt. -Today, the Vermont Republican Party issued a statement calling out Hannah Sessions, Progressive Democratic candidate for State Senate in the Addison District, for appearing in a legally-questionable advertisement funded by the National Bank of Middlebury (NBM) less than two weeks before the election.

On October 23, 2026, the NBM posted a paid advertisement to social media featuring Democratic candidate and "NBM customer" Hannah Sessions, where Sessions detailed her roots to the community and "four decades" of experience with NBM.

Sessions, who officially declared her candidacy in May of 2026, uses NBM as her campaign bank for campaign finance purposes, per disclosure filings with the Secretary of State's Office.

" If, two weeks out from Election Day, a central Vermont bank featured 'local customer Phil Scott' in a paid advertisement all over social media, Democrats and the media would be rightly outraged ," said Paul Dame, Chairman of the Vermont Republican Party. "Likewise, if any Republican business owner used their business advertisements to elevate the profile of a candidate for office - and failed to report it transparently - there would be a litany of campaign finance complaints pouring in ."

"The NBM advertisement, which comes less than two weeks before the election, has the clear effect of promoting Hannah Sessions and advancing her profile, whether or not it is the central feature of the advertisement," said Dame. " Hannah Sessions should have known better than to appear in a political advertisement promoting her name and likeness paid for by a corporate bank during an election season."

"This advertisement amounts to a potential violation of state campaign finance law," Dame noted. "This advertisement highlights Sessions' four decades-long community ties and arguably meets the definition of a 'related campaign expenditure' under 17 V.S.A. § 2944 . Appendix A and Page 24 of the Secretary of State's ' Campaign Finance Guide' lend further clarity to the law in these instances."

"The definition of Mass Media filings in 17 VSA 2901 is notably vague and triggered when an ad "includes the name or likeness of a clearly identified candidate for office", regardless of the context, favorability, or intent. But no one knows whether NMB triggered the spending threshold of $650. Nor will any one likely know when the next campaign finance report is due, because NBM does not appear to be registered in the Vermont Campaign Finance System."

"Hannah Sessions should have raised questions like this before she chose to appear in this advertisement during campaign season. NBM didn't simply use a photo of her without consent. Instead, Hannah Sessions willingly participated in a video recording -which happened to be posted just before an election. Her statement about her four-decades long ties to the Middlebury community is highly consistent with her other campaign material," Dame noted. "Additionally, NMB could have chosen another one of their thousands of depositors, or simply released their ad the moment after the polls closed next Tuesday. This seems like an incredibly risky move for an organization in such a highly-regulated industry if there was no intent to have an effect on the election."

"If this kind of stretching of the law is permissible, it could open Pandora's box for future elections," Dame continued. "This precedent could pave the way for massive unreported and unregulated dark money interests to flood Vermont with elected officials who are "customers" of gas and oil companies, pharmaceutical companies, internet gambling companies not just corporate banking interests. This seems to be in direct conflict with the stated values of the Progressive Party that endorsed Sessions earlier this year."

"The Vermont Republican Party calls on Hannah Sessions to apologize for choosing to engage in this kind of unreported advertisement to promote her profile, and requests that NBM immediately pause this advertisement until after the election," concluded Dame. "Absent any action to address this issue, the Vermont Republican Party is considering all legal avenues, including the possibility of filing a formal complaint with the Vermont Attorney General's Office and the Vermont Secretary of State's Office. Also we call on the Vermont Progressive Party to state clearly whether they believe Sessions' involvement is in violation with campaign finance law or their party's values, and whether these tactics disqualify Sessions from receiving their endorsement."

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The advertisement can be viewed here, and screenshots are posted below for convenience: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1HzWgd5fvp/?mibextid=wwXIfr