WHITEFISH – At a recent informational meeting, a group of citizens, including two Flathead-area state legislators, listened as Montana Political Practices Commissioner Dennis Unsworth explained how difficult it is to monitor smear campaign tactics. It wasn’t what most of the crowd wanted to hear.
The meeting featured a panel consisting of Unsworth, his staffer Mary Baker, attorney Diane Smith, attorney Brian Muldoon, former American Civil Liberties Union attorney Scott Wurster and Flathead Beacon Editor Kellyn Brown.
Rebecca Norton, a Whitefish resident, organized the event following what she characterized as a “mean-spirited” city council election in the fall. A series of third-party mailers and advertisements leading up to the November election irked many residents and prompted a string of heated letters to the editor, including one from Mayor Mike Jenson that suggested such aggressive political tactics were why more “good people don’t run for our office.”
Several people attending the Jan. 26 meeting, held at the Whitefish Library, echoed Jenson’s concerns that civic-minded citizens don’t want to run for municipal or statewide offices because of what they view as increasingly vicious and dirty politics. They asked Unsworth whether there are laws to prevent such campaigning or whether his office can stop it, or at least slow it.
The answer, essentially, was: not really.
Unsworth explained that all 50 states have some kind of campaign disclosure laws – regulations that require candidates to officially report where there contributions come from and how they’re spent, as well as laws governing other aspects of campaign finances and the role of political action committees. But when it comes to making attacks on a candidate’s character, the tricky business of libel comes into play, Unsworth said.
Because of a landmark 1964 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, Unsworth said libel is difficult to prove. In Montana, people can file complaints with Unsworth’s office, citing improper election practices. The Office of Political Practices Commissioner then launches an investigation.
But while fines are occasionally levied for improper campaign finances and other election practices, Unsworth said his office hasn’t verified a single libel complaint. When politics turn personal, and even nasty, it’s hard to prove outright that it’s libel, he said.
Baker, Unsworth’s staffer, agreed with the crowd that “it is getting uglier out there,” while Unsworth said he has a sign hanging in his office that pleads: “Play nice.” Candidates are asked to fill out a C-3 “Code of Fair Campaign Practices” form, but it’s not required and it’s not enforced. Baker said nearly all candidates used to fill it out and now about one-third do.
“They think, ‘Why bother signing another form if it’s not enforced?’” Baker said.
Rep. Mike Jopek, D-Whitefish, said at the meeting that he has made efforts in the past to strengthen campaign laws, but has met resistance. Jopek added that the process for investigating campaign complaints takes too long, sometimes several years. Unsworth said the statute of limitation for his office is four years.
Rep. Janna Taylor, R-Dayton, who was also in attendance, said she tried to introduce a bill during the last Legislature to give the campaign laws “more teeth,” but it was shot down in committee. Unsworth attributes this to a general resistance to give his office more authority, adding that the best way to change campaign laws is through a voter initiative.
“They were afraid of it,” Unsworth said of Taylor’s bill, explaining that the dissenting legislators thought: “We don’t need to give these guys any more power.”
While the Office of Political Practices Commissioner already struggles to sort out all of its investigations and business with its small staff, Unsworth said it now is facing a $100,000 loss of funding due to budget cuts. On top of that, the U.S. Supreme Court recently removed limitations on corporate political spending, potentially weakening states’ campaign laws as well.
In the weeks prior to the 2009 Whitefish City Council election, a series of third-party mailers and newspaper advertisements, paid for by independent expenditures, targeted incumbent Frank Sweeney and supported the other three candidates. There were three open seats on the six-member council.
Letters to the editor streamed in, accusing the mailers and ads of misinformation and unfair personal attacks. Sweeney ended up fourth in the voting, relinquishing his seat. He was in the crowd at the Jan. 26 meeting with his wife. While Sweeney didn’t speak, his wife said their family was harassed and felt threatened during election season.
John Sinrud, a former lawmaker and the current government affairs director for the Northwest Montana Association of Realtors, said dirty elections are nothing new in Montana. When he was campaigning, Sinrud said he received death threats and dealt with fliers that implied that he supported domestic abuse.
“It’s all corrupt,” Sinrud said. “That’s politics – it’s a dirty business.”
Unsworth said fliers like the one Sinrud referred to have stronger cases for libel than most.
“I have three fliers like that in my desk, hoping someone will file a complaint,” Unsworth said.