When last we looked at Lieutenant-Governor-Elect John Rodgers’ campaign finances, we saw that he was nearly $53,000 in the red as of the November 19 filing deadline.

Well, now the final numbers are in — and Rodgers’ deficit has grown even larger.

His December 15 filing, which is the last one for the campaign cycle and is officially attested to as his FINAL REPORT all caps, shows total fundraising of $216,468 and total expenditures of $284,588.01.

That’s a shortfall of $68,120.01.

In percentage terms, Rodgers overspent his income by 31.5%.

It’s a curious situation for a common-sense fiscal conservative “balancin’ the books around the kitchen table” kind of guy.

His final campaign finance report shows a mere $2,250 in donations, including $2,000 from Burlington real estate mogul Ernie Pomerleau. Newly reported expenditures include $6,400 to campaign manager and fellow fiscal conservative Rep. Casey Toof and another $10,000 for the consultancy “services” of failed legislative candidate Elizabeth Brown*, who not only profited greatly from her work on the Rodgers campaign, but will now be further rewarded by us taxpayers as Rodgers’ chief of staff.

*Speaking of fiscal conservatives, a reminder that Brown managed to spend an impressive $35.42 per vote in her unsuccessful bid to unseat incumbent Reps. Theresa Wood and Tom Stevens. She’ll fit right in with her campaign spendthrift boss-to-be.

I would have expected a post-election attempt to close the campaign deficit with a furious fundraising pitch based on the euphoria of his victory over outgoing LG David Zuckerman, but I guess Rodgers couldn’t be bothered. Either that, or the Barons of Burlington hit their ceiling.

So how does Rodgers balance out his campaign finances? His surprise win wouldn’t have been possible without massive support from Vermont’s business elites. He’s gotta to back to them, hat in hand, begging for a bailout.

As I wrote last time, it’s a hell of a thing for a rural populist.