HAMILTON – A Republican lawmaker from Victor says he is resigning from his post in a party committee because he disagrees with the negative aspect of the group’s campaign advertisements.
State Rep. Gary MacLaren, who is running for re-election, told the Ravalli Republic that he didn’t like being identified as the treasurer on top of the attack advertisements being mailed by the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee. He said he originally agreed to the post as a formality.
The mailers targeted Democratic candidates in races near MacLaren’s own for Montana’s Legislature. They branded Ravalli County candidates Terry Moran and Wayne Stanford as “ultra liberals that supported Democrat schemes that have cost us billions and failed to create jobs.”
MacLaren said he thinks campaigns should be run on real issues, and that he has apologized to Moran.
“I told her that I didn’t know anything about these and didn’t have anything to do with them,” he said.
Billings state Sen. Jeff Essman, chairman of the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee, said the group respects MacLaren’s decision. MacLaren has been replaced as treasurer by Jake Eaton, former executive director of the Montana Republican Party.
Essmann said Monday that Democrats are making the same kind of attacks, just more anonymously. He pointed to a recent Billings Gazette story that showed money from the Democratic Party was flowing through other groups before it was being used to attack Republicans.
“We stand behind our ads drawing contrasts with Democrats. We are not ashamed to put our name on them,” said Essmann.