HELENA — Montana’s chief political watchdog says the state Republican Party has failed to comply with an earlier ruling requiring it to provide better detail about electioneering activities in last fall’s legislative elections.
In his findings made public on Tuesday, Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan noted that the earlier ruling would have been dismissed if the party had updated its campaign spending report.
The ruling stems from a complaint filed by the Montana Democratic Party in September accusing Republicans of not properly detailing their spending on various legislative races.
Previous commissioner Jonathan Motl ruled in October that the Republican Party was required to more specifically describe how party funds were used on behalf of candidates.
After the GOP failed to immediately comply, Democrats filed another complaint in December.