No sooner does BP point out Lt. Gov. Phil Scott’s Democrat-heavy website, than news comes from VTDigger of Vince Illuzzi’s first big fundraiser in support of his Republican bid for Auditor. The host committee, Digger reports, “includes prominent business and nonprofit leaders, a real estate executive, and current and former elected officials across the political spectrum.”

That includes a number of Democrats, particularly some who’ve spent time with Vince in the State Senate. Hinda Miller, Dick Mazza, and Elizabeth Ready, to be specific. Ready, you may recall, is a former state Senator who served two terms as Auditor in the early Aughts, and was defeated by Randy Brock in her bid for a third term due to a very severe case of resume-fluffing. (On her official resume, she claimed a bachelor’s degree from UVM when she actually attended Burlington College, and listed a nonexistent Master’s degree. Guess she never bothered to audit her own document.)

Also on the list: Paul Bruhn, head of the Preservation Trust of Vermont, who insists he’s acting completely on his own, not on behalf of his organization. And David Coates, Shumlin-appointed chair of the Vermont Long Term Disaster Recovery Group, who most recently made headlines by sounding the alarm about Vermont’s public-employee pension gap.

Of course, Vince has some Republican heavyweights as well, including Ernie Pomerleau, Frank Cioffi*, and Kurt Wright. But the presence of some notable Dems is rather disturbing. If not altogether surprising, especially from his old Senate buddies.

*Correction: Cioffi is nominally a Democrat. My mistake. However, he has been a prominent “Democrat for Douglas” and a “Democrat for Dubie,” and he apparently just hosted a fundraiser for Republican State Rep. (and Senate candidate) Dustin Degree. So he’s definitely a DINO. I think I just made him an honorary Republican, which really ain’t far from the truth. Thanks to Jack and Sue for the info.

There’s also a curious passage in the VTDigger article…

Several well-informed sources say that Illuzzi wants to hire Democratic candidate Douglas Hoffer in the event Illuzzi wins the auditor’s office. A rumor is also circulating that Illuzzi will offer Hoffer a job in the auditor’s office on the condition that he drop his campaign.

Both Illuzzi and Hoffer strongly denied the latter. Each called it, respectively, “an insult” and “offensive.”

Hmm. They denied “the latter,” but not the idea of a no-strings job offer. Indeed, while Illuzzi denied any plan to hire Hoffer, he did admit that he could understand why some people might expect such a move: “Doug Hoffer has provided testimony often to my committee over the years, and I’ve often appreciated his viewpoint on the issues before the Legislature.”

Trying to buy off the opposition, Vince? Or encourage some fence-sitters to break your way, by floating the notion that a vote for Vince is really a vote for both? Sneaky.