You could almost feel sorry for Andrea Murray.

She’s a far-right Republican candidate for state Senate in solid blue Windsor County — a district that hasn’t elected a single Republican to any of its three seats since 1994.

Nineteen ninety-four. That’s 30 years ago. Fifteen elections ago. Forty-five Democratic winners ago. In recent years, Republicans have consistently lost by roughly two-to-one margins.

Murray is, naturally, presenting herself as a common-sense Republican who merely wants to bring “balance” to Montpelier. In fact, on her campaign website she offers three rationales for her candidacy, and the first is that she “will work across the aisle.” She’s also got prominent Republicans running interference for her. As noted previously, LG candidate John Rodgers has endorsed her as “a moderate woman.” She also claims the backing of former governor Jim Douglas, the cheapest date in #vtpoli.

Let me tell you about this “moderate.” Less than a year ago she was trying to get rid of longtime Windsor County Republican chair John MacGovern, whose sole offense was that he didn’t like Donald Trump. If Murray can’t get along with MacGovern, I’d like to see her definition of “work across the aisle.”

So why do I almost feel sorry for her? Well, she’s dumped a bunch of her own money into the campaign and spent much of it on an out-of-state consultancy that’s doing her absolutely no favors. And like I said, she’s going to walk into a buzzsaw on Election Night.

Brief recap of l’affaire MacGovern. Last October he was re-elected as Windsor County chair. Disaffected Trumpers later sought a revote on procedural grounds. According to Valley News columnist Jim Kenyon, Murray and her husband August were “the ringleaders” of the in-house revolt. In a December article, Kenyon recounts a county committee meeting where MacGovern tried to open with the Pledge of Allegiance but was interrupted by Ms. Murray leaping to her feet and shouting “Point of order! Point of order!”

Chaos ensued. MacGovern eventually adjourned the proceedings. He and his allies, including Republican National Committee member Suzanne Butterfield, got up and left.

The saga continued with the insurgents holding fresh leadership elections of questionable validity and filing a lawsuit against MacGovern and the entire Vermont Republican Party — a suit that was tossed out of court in a New York minute. By that point, MacGovern wanted nothing to do with the organization and let the Murrays and their allies have their way.

This is the person who purports to “work across the aisle”? I think not.

Murray has shoveled a bunch of her own (and August’s) money into her campaign. She has yet to file her September 1 finance report; as of August 1, she had raised an impressive-sounding $13,772 — but $9,462 came from the Murray family vault.

Even so, her campaign entered August in the red, thanks to total spending of $14,615. Granted, there was a four-way primary contest for three Windsor ballot positions, but c’mon. Facing an uphill battle in a strongly Democratic district, a savvy candidate should be keeping plenty of powder dry.

Then again, we don’t know how much she’s raised (or poured into her own campaign) in the last two months because she hasn’t filed her 9/1 report.

We do know how she’s wasted, errrrr, spent close to 15 G’s. The vast majority of it — $12,212.33 all told — went to McShane LLC, a Las Vegas-based political consultancy whose specialty seems to be servicing the far right. A McShane principal was reportedly involved in an effort to call in the Proud Boys to try to disrupt the 2020 presidential vote count in Nevada. Rory McShane, the shaven-headed, sleeve-tatted owner, disavowed the alleged effort. But it wouldn’t exactly be out of character for his firm, whose high-profile clients include some of the most extreme members of Congress: Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, and Bob Good.

Also, in the wake of the 2020 election, McShane set up a political action committee called Take Back the West PAC whose purpose was “to unearth voting fraud in the presidential election.” The PAC raised more than $100,000, all of which was paid to, you guessed it, McShane LLC.

So maybe a little bit grifty?

A nationwide consultancy taking Murray for every buck they can get? Definitely a little bit grifty. Or a lot.

As of August 1, before the primary, McShane had billed Murray $5,900 for “Consulting Fees,” $5,294.33 for “Photographic Services,” $518 for “Door Hangers” and $500 for online advertising. (The firm is obviously more familiar with the deep end of the money pool than with Vermont-style retail politcs.)

Yeah, Murray has paid more in “Consulting Fees” alone than many state Senate candidates spend on their entire campaigns. And that was the total on August 1. Who knows how much more the Murrays have paid into McShane’s coffers?

Now let’s look at services rendered, starting with this screenshot from Murray’s campaign website.

Yup, that’s right: “Priorties” misspelled in a big fat headline at the top of her “Issues” page. (As of Sunday 9/29 at 1:00 p.m. I imagine Team McShane might correct the egregious typo after I post this piece.)

The “Photographic Services” presumably included a glossy, professionally produced and pointless campaign video that runs almost two minutes (too long for broadcast or cable) and has received a hearty 652 views on YouTube in the two months it’s been available. It’s a lovely piece of work that features Murray walking with a bull, driving a vintage tractor and operating a backhoe, all in line with her “farmer” image but out of line with the kind of candidate who has $10,000 to squander on a long-odds campaign. She’s no ordinary farmer. Oh, and there’s also the obligatory dark-hued clip of “extremist” incumbent Sen. Becca White smirking.

This thing probably cost thousands to produce, and it’s getting her nowhere in terms of winning votes.

She’s also buying ad space on the conservative Vermont Daily Chronicle, which is nice for Guy Page and his band of misfit boys but the bulk of its readership is outside the Windsor district. And if it’s meant to reach potential donors in the VDC’s audience, it ain’t working. Donations from outside the Murray household have been thin on the ground.

So there you go. Andrea Murray is a deep-pocketed (by Vermont standards) and very conservative candidate masquerading as a “moderate” in a district that hasn’t elected a single Republican in three decades. She’s spent more than she’s raised, two-thirds of which came from her own bank account. And the bulk of it went to a high-priced out-of-state consultancy that’s repaid her trust with massive and misguided spending. And the odd typo.

You just hate to see it.