(The above screenshot was taken on the evening of September 9. As of this writing, on the afternoon of September 10, you can still see this on the Bennington County Republicans’ homepage. Which kind of sums up the tactical and strategic genius of the VTGOP’s county party committees.)

This week, I’ve spent waaaay too much time digging through campaign finance reports from September 1. I’d already done the requisite review of statewide candidates*, and then I started looking around at political committee reports, a jungle where few choose to enter.

*Not sure if it’s really “requisite” anymore since our major media completely ignored the filings. Sigh.

And boy, did I ever hit a rich vein of weird.

What I found, in brief, is that the Vermont Republican Party continues to struggle financially, but some of its county committees are raking in the cash while others have little to nothing. The well-funded committees are in solidly Republican or uncompetitive Democratic counties, so the money is kind of pointless. And the fortunate committees are spending their loot in very different ways, many of which seem irrelevant to the presumed goal of winning elections.

I’m telling you, none of it makes sense. Some of it might trigger legal jeopardy if there was any oversight or enforcement regimen for campaign finance. Which there is NOT, at all.

Here’s a little soupçon to whet your appetite.

The Orleans County Republican Committee spent $15,000 on travel expenses for Lt. Gov. John Rodgers.

I’ll just let that sink in for a moment.

If you’re like me, you’re thinking what the actual fuck?

No details are offered. The committee spent $5,000 for Rodgers’ travel on August 19 and another $10,000 on August 28. That’s it.

Other travel expenses on the Orleans Republican tab: $3,000 each for Sens. Russ Ingalls and John Morley, $1,000 each for Reps. Woody Page, Mark Higley, Richard Nelson, and Ken Wells, and $1,000 for House candidate Praneet Menon.

Suspiciously round numbers, eh? A normal travel reimbursement would feature an odd number for specific items like plane tickets and lodging. Not here.

The Secretary of State’s campaign finance portal offers percentage breakdowns of committee expenses by category, which tells us that a whopping 75% of all Orleans County Republican expenditures went to “Candidate Expenses – Travel” (63%) and “Candidate Expenses – Meals” (12%).

This seems completely dodgy to me. There might be a reasonable explanation for all of it, but I can’t think of one. The Orleans Republicans have raised $52,000 for what? To let their politicians live high on the hog? That’s what it looks like.

Is this what the tobacco giant Altria Group had in mind when it donated $4,500 to the Orleans Republicans? Or when fellow ciggy hawker Reynolds Group gave $2,000? How does Thom Lauzon’s business associate Fred Oeschger feel about having donated $5,000 to the Orleans Officeholder Travel Fund?

This is an extreme example, but it illustrates a general theme: Certain county Republican committees are raking in tens of thousands of dollars and spending it in questionable ways. Some of the money comes from national organizations (the tobacco industry is a frequent presence), and some comes from local business types and Republican donors.

Here are the well-heeled Republican county committees: Caledonia, Chittenden, Franklin, Lamoille, Orleans, Rutland, and Washington. Four of those are safe Republican turf. The other three, Chittenden, Lamoille, and Washington, are solidly blue — and their GOP leadership is full of batshit extremists who are doing nothing to build a competitive Republican effort. Any donor who gives to those committees is wasting their money.

This is a very recent development. Until 2024, county Republican committees were low-wattage affairs with few resources to hand. An upward trend began in 2024, and it has skyrocketed this year — in some counties, anyway.

Seven county committees are missing out on the boom times. The Republican committee in Bennington County, a potential growth opportunity for the GOP in spite of the committee’s difficulties with spelling, has raised less than $6,000. The Grand Isle Republicans, defending a Senate seat in a potentially competitive district, have raised $4,557. The Orange County Republicans, whose incumbent senator faces a strong Democratic opponent, have raised a measly $6,000. The Addison County Republican Committee, whose incumbent Sen. Steven Heffernan may face the toughest re-election fight of anyone in his caucus, has not reported any activity at all.

I mean, if donors were looking for maximum impact, why the hell not direct their money toward those four county committees instead of Rutland or Franklin?

Essex County Republicans have yet to file any reports this cycle, but their corner of the Kingdom is solidly red. Neither have the Windham County Republicans, although county chair “Planet Hank” Poitras has his own political action committee, Real Progress, which has raised $11,000 from a handful of well-heeled locals but only spent $1,560 so far. The Windsor County Republicans have raised $980 in the form of a single contribution from [checks notes] the Windsor County Republicans.

Now let’s take a closer look at the fortunate few.

The Caledonia County Republicans have raised $17,000 and spent $9,500. It has done a sensible thing in its spending, giving the vast majority of its money to local candidates. A lot of its activity is attached to people named Dolgin — infamous landlord and House candidate Steven Dolgin and his wife, Rep. Deborah Dolgin. Steven’s realty business donated $4,354 to the committee and he himself gave another $420. (The other big donor was Kevin Powers, who gave $699, and his insurance agency, which gave $4,319.) The committee then cut identical $812 checks to each of the Dolgins’ campaign funds, in addition to bankrolling the campaigns of eight other Republican officeholders. Reasonable, although the Dolgins could have cut out the middleman.

The Chittenden County Republicans, who basically consist of a handful of far-right activists who have no idea how to compete in a deep blue county, have raised $23,000 and spent $21,000. Major donors include party chair Janet Metz ($3,496), her husband Craig ($1,605) and the Milton Republican Committee ($1,192). Its expenditures included literally dozens of small disbursements (between $5.90 and $403) that total a robust $6,353 to former Burlington city party chair turned wannabe political consultant Kolby Lamarche for “Media-Consulting.” Lamarche used to be a moderate Republican who left the GOP in 2021 because of its extremism, but he seems to have made his peace with the party’s wackadoodle wing.

In Franklin County, which has become solidly Republican, the county party has raised $45,000 and spent a measly $8,000. Top donors include the Altria Group ($4,500), RAI ($3,000), RAI $2,000) and the Vermont Auto Dealers Association ($3,000). What do they think they’re getting for their money? And how did big national concerns decide to support select county committees in little ol’ Vermont?

Also regarding Franklin County, the Milton town party has raised an eye-popping $36,000 including $5,000 from the Bruce Lisman Trust, $3,128 from the Milton Republican Committee, and $2,752 from the Milton Republican Party itself. Lot of money-shuffling going on up there, don’t ask me why.

On to Lamoille, where moderate Republican Sen. Richard Westman is hugely popular but the county party is led by extreme figures like Lynn LaFleur (newly minted Republican candidate for treasurer), Vermont Daily Chronicle opinionator Rob Roper (recently seen labeling Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amanda Janoo a “Communist”), and lather-rinse-repeat House candidate Rebecca Pitre. The county committee has raised, but utterly failed to document, more than $24,000. Its donor list includes “Unknown, XX” ($15,555.46) and “Event Participants” ($4,029). More than half its $12,000 in expenditures went to “Other.” If there was an enforcement mechanism for campaign finance, this committee would be in some trouble.

On to the home of generosity to officeholders, the Orleans County Republican Committee. It has raised $52,000 and spent $41,000, including a hell of a lot for travel and meals and a mere $500 in direct support for local candidates. I mean, what the hell.

The Rutland County Republican Committee has raised only $8,500 but the long-established Rutland GOPAC has raised an incredible $71,000. They’ve gotten four-figure donations from national outfits like Altria ($4,750), RAI Services ($3,000), PMI US Corporate Services ($2,000), and Google Client Services ($2,000) and in-state moneybags like Casella Waste Systems ($5,100), the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association ($3,000) the Oliver Automotive Group ($3,000). And what are they going to get for their money? Easy re-election victories for a bunch of shoo-in Republicans? What a waste, and I say that in the most encouraging way possible.

The Washington County Republicans’ finances aren’t as rich but are just as pointless, considering that it’s one of Vermont’s most heavily Democratic counties. The county Republicans have raised $8,500 including big donations from outfits that ought to know better like Altria ($3,500), PMI US ($2,000) and Casella ($1,000). The committee has made zero donations to local candidates, which is deeply strange since Senate candidate and former state rep Rob LaClair is the guy in charge of its finances.

That’s the end of my long, meandering tale. If you’ve managed to stick around this long, feel free to leave your thoughts in the Comments. What does all of this mean? A longtime Democratic operative speculated that it’s a vote of no confidence in the political savvy of the state party; the idea is that big donors are avoiding Paul Dame like the plague. I can buy that, except that these county committees are largely dominated by ideologues who have no idea how to grow the party besides banging the table and yelling a lot. And if you hope to invest smartly, why fritter your money away on county parties in uncompetitive areas with incoherent spending patterns instead of funneling it to a single organization that might have an actual vision?

It doesn’t make sense. And as a liberal, I heartily approve. Keep it up, boys.