HELENA – Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton has been fined $4,000 for using state resources to announce he was seeking the Republican nomination for governor in 2020.
Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan ruled Monday on a complaint filed by the Montana Democratic Party.
He found Stapleton used state facilities, equipment, supplies and personnel to make his campaign announcement on Jan. 2.
Mangan found Stapleton sent his announcement from his personal email account to his chief of staff’s work email account. She forwarded it to another employee who formatted the announcement on letterhead with a state seal before emailing it, from her state account, to 154 members of the media.
The complaint against Stapleton was filed by the Montana Democratic Party.
Employees in the Secretary of State’s office said requests for comment should be emailed to the office manager.