HELENA — Montana’s chief political watchdog says the Montana Democratic Party failed to identify the issues and candidates that benefited from the party’s spending of about $375,000 on the 2016 general election.
Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan also found the party failed to include Supreme Court candidate Dirk Sandefur on a list of candidates it was supporting.
Mangan says he referred the case to the Lewis and Clark County attorney for potential prosecution, but that such cases are usually settled with a civil fine.
Jake Eaton of Billings, a former executive director of the Montana Republican Party, filed the complaint in July. He also suggested that the party and Sandefur’s campaign coordinated expenditures because both had the same deputy treasurer. The opinion found the deputy treasurer had only accounting duties with the campaigns.