Helena Independent Record – July 31, 2008

Two Democrats who ran unsuccessfully for the Legislature in 2006 — and who are candidates again this year — violated minor laws in their printed campaign material attacking opponents in 2006, a state official has ruled.

But Commissioner of Political Practice Dennis Unsworth rejected more serious claims that John Vincent of Bozeman and Margie MacDonald of Billings lied about their opponents’ respective records.

Unsworth said while Vincent and MacDonald may have made inaccurate statements regarding their opponents’ records or votes, they did not knowingly do so, and therefore didn’t violate the law.

“While Vincent arguably could have exercised more care in conducting the research for at least one of his campaign statements, there is insufficient evidence to prove that he violated (the law),” Unsworth wrote.

Unsworth ruled late Tuesday on separate complaints filed by the Republicans who defeated Vincent and MacDonald in close, high-profile legislative races in 2006.

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Helena Independent Record – July 30, 2008

The Montana Public Service Commission is sticking with a decision to get a legal opinion about money that member Brad Molnar took from NorthWestern Energy.

Molnar and fellow Republican Doug Mood were stymied Tuesday in an attempt to tone down a legal request being sent to Attorney General Mike McGrath.

Earlier this month, the three Democrats on the panel voted to specifically ask McGrath whether a $1,000 donation Molnar took from the company for a public service campaign was illegal.

The Republicans said Tuesday that they wanted to replace that letter with a more general letter that asked for clarification on rules surrounding the use of so-called ‘‘constituency accounts’’ held by many elected officials in the state.

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Helena Independent Record – July 30, 2008

The state’s top political enforcer said Tuesday he’ll look into a complaint alleging state Sen. Jesse Laslovich, D-Anaconda, is not a legal resident of his own district.

But Commissioner of Political Practices Dennis Unsworth said accepting the revised complaint doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll resolve the question of Laslovich’s residence.

And the man who filed the complaint — Republican candidate Dick Motta of Philipsburg — said he’s not confident that Unsworth will rule on the issue.

“I think he’s going to dance around this thing and basically just tell me to take it to court,” Motta said Tuesday. “I think he’s going to try to get out of it, just because it’s a political football and (state officials) don’t want to deal with it.”

As for Laslovich, he said he’ll cooperate with any investigation, which he believes would show that he’s a legal resident of Senate District 43 and entitled to run for re-election thi
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Helena Independent Record – July 29, 2008

Republican gubernatorial candidate Roy Brown demanded Monday that Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer apologize for what he called “a clear and intentional lie” over an interstate compact on brucellosis.

Citing an Associated Press story Saturday, Brown said Schweitzer was caught in a red-handed lie.

The AP reported that Schweitzer said he hadn’t signed a revised interstate compact with the governors of Wyoming and Idaho to address brucellosis when, in fact, he had.

Schweitzer signed the agreement on June 27, but told the AP on July 2 that he hadn’t. He didn’t publicly disclose that he signed it for nearly a month later.

“I consider something signed when I release it,” Schweitzer told the AP. “I am often in a position where I’m going to be gone and I tell my staff I will sign something and to keep it in a drawer until I call. Until I release it, I’m not acknowledging anything.”
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The Missoulian – July 26,2008

MILES CITY – Democrats will win legislative and statewide political races this year because of their strong record on the economy, energy, education and sportsmen’s access, compared with what Republicans have done, Gov. Brian Schweitzer told fellow Democrats on Friday night.

“For all the rhetoric of Republicans, it turns out they’re not very good with money,” Schweitzer told a crowd at a barbecue. “They gave tax breaks to out-of-state corporations and made homeowners pay more and more.”

Schweitzer, seeking a second term as governor this year, touted his proposal, backed mostly by Democratic legislators, that gave Montana homeowners a $400-per-household property tax rebate last year.
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Montana’s News Station – July 21, 2008

Yellowstone County Attorney Dennis Paxinos Monday endorsed Republican attorney Tim Fox in his race for State Attorney General.

Paxinos announced his support Monday, during a news conference in Billings.

The two men are working together to try to pass the Castle Doctrine law, which several other states have approved.

It supports the right to protect yourself and your home with a firearm under self-defense.

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Helena Independent Record – July 16, 2008

The Montana Republican Party complaint that Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer illegally made public service announcements after filing for re-election should be summarily dismissed, Schweitzer’s attorney said Tuesday.

Mike Meloy, a Helena lawyer representing Schweitzer, urged Political Practices Commissioner Dennis Unsworth “to ignore the hyperbole” and toss out the GOP complaint for not stating any legal claim upon which relief may be granted. Unsworth has retained William Corbett, a University of Montana law professor, to serve as hearings officer in the dispute.

The Republican Party filed an ethics complaint against Schweitzer in April. It charged that Schweitzer, helped by two state employees, made radio public service advertisements, or PSAs, to promote National Agricultural Month.

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Helena Independent Record – July 16, 2008

In a tense public session marked by accusations of a “political hatchet job,” a divided state Public Service Commission Tuesday voted to seek a legal ruling on Commissioner Brad Molnar’s use of private donations to fund an energy-conservation event.

The 3-0 vote, taken after Molnar and fellow Republican Commissioner Doug Mood walked out in protest, formally asked Attorney General Mike McGrath to clarify the guidelines for public officials accepting and using certain private donations.

All three of the five-member commission’s Democrats voted to submit the request to McGrath, who’s also a Democrat.

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Helena Independent Record – July 16, 2008

Campaign-finance and ethics complaints against Public Service Commissioner Brad Molnar, R-Laurel, are proceeding at the Office of Political Practices, although no ruling on the merits has occurred.

Commissioner of Political Practices Dennis Unsworth said the campaign-finance complaint is still under investigation, and that the ethics complaint will be handled by an independent hearings officer.

Unsworth said he’s not sure in which order the cases will proceed, or when they’ll be resolved. Complaints before the office usually take at least a few months to be resolved — and sometimes a year or more.

Both complaints were filed by Mary Jo Fox, campaign manager for Molnar’s Democratic opponent, Ron Tussing of Billings.,

Molnar is running for re-election in PSC District 2, which covers 10 counties in southeastern Montana, including Yellowstone.

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Billings Gazette – July 10, 2008

ELENA – State Sen. Jesse Laslovich, D-Anaconda, is not a legal resident of his Senate district and therefore should be disqualified from running for re-election, his Republican opponent said in a formal complaint filed this week.

Dick Motta, a retired businessman from Philipsburg, filed the complaint Tuesday with the state commissioner of political practices.

Motta said Laslovich, who works as a state attorney in Helena and owns a house there with his wife, has not been a resident of Anaconda or any other part of Senate District 43 for the required six months before the general election.

“If I have to live within all of the rules and I have to be a resident of the community and this district, why shouldn’t the same level of rules apply to the other person?” he said Wednesday.

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