HELENA – The four people nominated Thursday by state lawmakers to be the next commissioner over ethics and campaign complaints all have partisan ties.
Legislative leaders making the picks said people qualified to police campaign finance law all have had experience involved in partisan issues or politics.
Gov. Brian Schweitzer has the final decision as he weighs the four legislative nominees. He is not bound to the suggestions and can pick anyone he wants, although the state Senate can reject his choice like it did last year.
The governor is looking for a replacement for former Commissioner of Political Practices Dave Gallik, who resigned last week amid a dispute with staff over his work time. The person selected will be the fourth commissioner in less than two years.
Democratic legislative leaders nominated Susan Witte, a Democrat active in political campaigns, and long-time union leader Jim Murry. Republicans nominated Colleen Urquhart-Fillner, a former staffer to Republican Gov. Marc Racicot, and Johnny Walker, an applicant that emails inadvertently released last week described as a secret Republican.
House Speaker Mike Milburn said he would be comfortable with the governor selecting any of the legislative suggestions — even those coming from the Democrats.
Milburn nominated Walker, a former federal law enforcement officer who unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat in 2010 for the Cascade County commission. But an email Republicans inadvertently attached to his application package described Walker as “a Republican in Democrat’s clothing.”
The GOP email said it would be “a major coup” to convince Schweitzer to pick Walker. But Milburn said he disagrees with the analysis on Walker and believes his law enforcement experience would bring professional qualification to the commissioner’s office.
“He is probably a Democrat, although likely a conservative Democrat,” Milburn said.
The legislative leaders agreed that someone needs to be able to quickly take office because the 2012 election cycle is heating up.
“We have very, very critical situation going in 2012 that we haven’t seen the likes of before,” said House Minority Leader Jon Sesso of Butte. “There is going to be a tidal wave of this independent money coming ashore.”
Sesso nominated Murry, who was executive secretary of the Montana State AFL from 1968 to 1991 and has been involved in many political campaigns. He said such links are unavoidable.
“It is hard to find an individual that is free, absolutely free from political bias,” Sesso said.
State Senate Minority Leader Carol Williams of Missoula defended her choice of Witte, an attorney who is currently a volunteer on Steve Bullock’s Democratic campaign for governor. She said Witte has in the past worked for Republicans, too.
Schweitzer did not tip his hand on who he would choose. He has until Feb. 17 to make a pick.
“The governor will review all applications submitted to his office and make a decision within the statutorily allowed timeframe,” said spokesman Jayson O’Neill.