Just in case you thought that a major state party couldn’t be any sadder than the Vermont Republicans (what with their tiny minorities in the Legislature, with their highest officeholder ensconced in a ceremonial office, and with their coffers so empty that their Executive Director had to quit because he wasn’t getting paid), comes the kind of news that’d make coffee shoot out your nose if you had the misfortune to be drinking coffee at the time:

Minnesota GOP Facing Eviction After Failure to Pay Rent

Yep, the Minnesota Republicans are $2 million in debt and scrambling to hold on to their office space. The rent hasn’t been paid since August 2011, and the landlord is understandably peeved. The party chairman is hoping to negotiate a deal with said landlord involving a slow payment of back rent and a cheaper lease on smaller quarters.

So exactly how did a Republican Party in a big Midwestern state get so far in debt? A two-and-a-half-year reign of financial terror by a party chairman who massively overspent and underfundraised, and was ousted for his troubles.

The gory details… after the jump.  

According to Minnesota Public Radio,

…former GOP Chairman Tony Sutton awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in party contracts to state lawmakers, party insiders and attorneys. Sutton resigned Dec. 2 after GOP leaders and delegates started raising questions about the party’s budget.

For now, we won’t ask how the Minnesota GOP decided to put this mook in charge. Instead, we’ll ask how in double-hockey-sticks he went through so much money without anyone noticing. Oh, here’s the answer:

The Republican Party’s bylaws give the party chairman unilateral authority to sign contracts, borrow money and hire staff.

Oh, that’s brilliant. And this from the party of fiscal responsibility, what? A few highlights from Tony Sutton’s trail of tears:

The party’s spending under Sutton included more than $1 million to lawyer Tony Trimble, who unsuccessfully represented the party in recounts for U.S. Senate in 2008 and governor in 2010. …

More than $220,000 went to a public relations firm with close ties to Sutton. Its job was to remake the party’s image, but some party leaders say they never saw the final product.

…The state Republican Party also paid a company that markets medical products more than $10,000 to research whether medical marijuana is effective.

Mr. Sutton, anything to say in your defense?

“I wasn’t handling every invoice; I wasn’t handling every detail,” he said.

Buh…buh…buh… that was your JOB. You had sole responsibility!

Sutton also blames a collapse in small-donor contributions after the 2009 cancellation of a state Political Contribution Refund, which allowed small donors to claim a tax refund of $50. Ahh, so the fiscal health of the Minnesota Republican Party was dependent on… a government handout??? Shocking!

And just how dependent were they?

In 2006 – the last time every member of the Legislature and every constitutional officer were on the ballot – the party collected $1.8 million in donations that were $100 or less. In 2010, the party raised $255 from small donors.

Two hundred and fifty-five dollars. In one entire year, in the entire state of Minnesota. Un-frickin’-believable. And Tony Sutton kept on spending the money. Heckuva job, Brownie!

See, the Vermont Republican Party doesn’t look so bad now, does it?

p.s. Oh, one more thing… and please, put down your coffee before you read on:

He’s head of a political consulting firm called — and I absolutely kid you not — “Winning Strategies, LLC.” You just can’t make this stuff up.