Election ruling goes against Senate candidate

Montana’s campaign regulator on Friday ruled against a one-time primary candidate in the Flathead Valley, along with a suite of groups and individuals he says violated state campaign laws during the 2012 Republican primary race.

After a four-week review, Commissioner of Political Practices Jon Motl found that Rollan Roberts II, who challenged incumbent candidate Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell, for the Republican nomination to the Senate District 3 seat, improperly used campaign funds, illegally coordinated with outside money groups and failed to fully report campaign expenses.

The decision also names American Tradition Partnership, Taxpayers for Liberty, the National Association for Gun Rights, the National Pro-Life Coalition, National Right to Work Committee, Montana Citizens for Right to Work, and Christian and Allison LeFer as violating state campaign practice law by not registering, reporting and disclosing or engaging in illegal corporate contributions.

Motl’s findings note that none of the corporate organizations filed campaign finance reports or registered as political committees in Montana in 2012.

Motl also names the Montana Family Foundation for not reporting campaign expenditures in a timely fashion.

He characterized the 2012 primary election in Senate District 3, between Tutvedt and Roberts, as a scheme in which Roberts was recruited, “vetted and then supported by an extensive array of professional and support services provided by individuals and groups” associated with the National Right to Work Committee.

“There was an established Republican office-holder and a longtime community member,” Motl said in a Friday interview, referring to Tutvedt. “It’s a pretty major disruption to the community. You’ve got a guy who’s been in the community a long time, and is then subjected to a very targeted, negative campaign.”

It was a close election, with Tutvedt winning narrowly by a 3.6 percent margin, or 66 out of 4,797 votes cast.

“I believe that all of those groups, by phoning, coordinating their efforts and [sending] timed mailers, absolutely it took a hit on me,” Tutvedt said Friday. “I’m one of the few that was able to live through it. ... But there were a lot of people that lost because of these out-of-state groups that came in and maligned people’s reputations.”

Motl’s decision charged that Roberts coordinated with National Right to Work, which he said made campaign expenditures “in cooperation with, consultation with, at the request or suggestion of, or the prior consent of a candidate.” Motl notes that Roberts had little to no presence in the valley prior to spring 2012, when he launched his campaign.

Referring to a candidate biography attributed to Roberts, he states that the “no-name” out-of-state candidate was able to gain widespread recognition through a variety of materials including print and online ads, mailings, phone calls and surveys.

Roberts allegedly attributed part of that success to consultations with state and national campaign consultants, which according to Motl must be disclosed as campaign contributions.

Motl implicated Christian and Allison LeFer as the operators of Drury Lane Consulting, the Colorado-based consulting company Roberts reported in his campaign filings.

His decision also states that the LeFers worked for the National Right to Work Committee and other corporate organizations.

The Montana Pro-Life Coalition, a local nonprofit group founded by Annie Bukacek, in May 2012 mailed letters specifically urging voters to support Roberts.

While the letter was written as a personal letter from Bukacek, Motl found that the inclusion of her position as president of the organization qualified as campaign activity by the coalition, triggering the requirement that it register as a political committee and a campaign finance report.

Reached for comment Friday, Bukacek said she had not had a chance to read Motl’s decision, but noted that her organization is a registered 501(c)(4) nonprofit, a designation that gives it more latitude in engaging in political activities.

Republican Sandy Welch filed a pair of complaints in April 2014, alleging illegal campaign activity by nearly a dozen groups in 2010 and 2012.

Motl combined Welch’s and Tutvedt’s complaints, applying some of the details from Welch’s case, which included references to National Right to Work, a key group missing from Tutvedt’s original complaint.

In a Friday interview, Welch said her complaint wasn’t specific to her loss during the 2010 House District 3 primary, but was in part based on her observations while she campaigned statewide in her 2012 bid for the Office of Public Instruction.

“I had a fairly unique perspective, looking at how they were working in a fairly coordinated way across Montana,” Welch said. “They weren’t telling anyone what they were about or where they were getting their money from. They achieved their goal in a number of elections across the state in promoting their chosen candidate over others.”

Siding with Welch, Motl concluded that many of the same organizations that backed her opponent in 2010 were also part of the network that supported Rollan in 2012.

Motl recommended the Lewis and Clark County Attorney prosecute Rollan and the other entities named in the decision in civil court. If the county attorney declines to take up the case, it heads back to Motl’s office for adjudication.

Motl said Friday he expects the county attorney will decline to prosecute, as he has for every other case sent to him.

If he were found guilty, Roberts could be barred from holding public office in Montana. Both he and the other parties could face fines up to three times the amounts of the contributions or expenditures.

Welch said she believes the impact of outside groups “absolutely” contributed to her election loss, with targeted mailers sent to voters that weren’t representative of where the money was coming from.

“What they would do, first they would send out a survey and the survey helped them to identify whether the right to work, tax issues, gun issues or pro-life issues concerned you the most,” she said. “Once they got the survey issues back, then you got the mailing that aligned with what you told them yourself.”

Roberts did not respond to emailed requests for comment Friday.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.