Complaint alleges AG candidate Graybill doesn't qualify

A complaint filed Monday with Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices earlier this week raises questions as to whether one Democratic candidate running for attorney general this year is actually eligible to do so.

Former state legislator David Wanzenried of Billings alleges Raphael “Raph” Graybill is ineligible to run for attorney general because he has not practiced law in the state for a sufficient amount of time leading up to the election. Graybill is currently the chief legal counsel to Gov. Steve Bullock.

According to state law, to be Montana’s attorney general, an individual must meet six requirements. One of those states he or she must be “an attorney in good standing admitted to practice law in Montana, who has engaged in the active practice thereof for at least five years before election.” By Wanzenried’s calculations, Graybill “appears to have been actively practicing law in Montana only since 2017, at most three years.”

The Montana State Bar shows Graybill was admitted to the practice of law in Montana in September 2015. At the time, he was clerking for a federal judge, but according to the complaint, federal rules in effect that year said law clerks were prohibited from practicing law.

However, in a response filed by Graybill’s campaign, this point is argued. The document states “the Montana Supreme Court has already answered this question. Under its rules, an admitted attorney’s service as a judicial law clerk is ‘active practice.”’

Following Graybill’s clerk position, his public LinkedIn site indicates he went to work for the firm of Susman Godfrey for one year. But the firm’s website does not have Montana listed as one of its office locations, and according to Graybill’s response, he was practicing at the firm’s Seattle location. The complaint states that Graybill, who became licensed to practice in Washington in February 2017, appeared on multiple cases during his time with the firm, but not in Montana, and “based on these facts, Candidate Graybill was not practicing law in Montana at all — either actively as required or even passively — while he worked for Susman Godfrey.”

But the response from Graybill’s campaign said he maintained his legal practice as an active member of the Montana Bar “the entire time he worked for Susman Godfrey,” which brings into question whether being licensed to practice in a state counts as “active practice.”

The complaint also asserts Graybill is unqualified to run in both the primary and general elections. According to the timeline Graybill provides, on the day of the primary election on June 2, Graybill would be over three months short of the five-year requirement.

The term “election” is defined in Montana code as a “general, special, or primary election held pursuant to the requirements of state law, regardless of the time of purpose.” But Graybill’s campaign contests the definition.

“There is only one election that entitles the successful candidate to serve as Montana’s Attorney General — the general election. Had the Constitution’s framers wished to limit who a party may nominate to run for Attorney General, they would have said so,” the response states.

The Graybill campaign has called for the Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan to give “a prompt opinion on the matter” to prevent “an extended period of doubt” around Graybill’s campaign.

“The request before the Commissioner now represents the worst of whisper-campaign politics. A campaign’s surrogate asks COPP to do the work the campaign is unwilling or unable to do itself – using public resources to accomplish purely political objectives,” the Graybill campaign states.

In Wanzenried’s complaint, he described the potential issues surrounding Graybill’s eligibilty as a matter of statewide importance.

“If the election of Candidate Graybill is challenged and he is unable to serve as Attorney General after winning either the primary or the general election, Montana voters will be disenfranchised. Candidate Graybill could be prohibited from being sworn in and the preferences of Montana voters will be nullified,” he wrote.

Should this happen, he maintains, the losing candidate in the general election would be awarded the position of attorney general instead.

“It’s deeply concerning to learn details of my opponent’s apparent failure to meet the eligibility requirements for this office,” wrote Kimberly Dudik, a legislator from Missoula and Graybill’s opponent in the race for the Democratic nomination, in an email. “I understand and respect his desire to serve the citizens of our state but there is too much at stake in this election to take a chance on a nominee that is not eligible for the office.”

She wrote she had no part in filing the complaint, but believes it raises questions about Graybill’s electability that need to be addressed.

Wanzenried is described in the Graybill campaign’s response as a fundraiser for Dudik. He served in the Montana Legislature from 2001-2015, and was the House Minority Leader from 2005-2007.

According to documentation submitted by the Graybill campaign, Wanzenried hosted a campaign fundraiser for Dudik in Billings on Sept. 9, 2019, and donated $100 to the campaign in the last quarter of 2019.

The response compares Wanzenried’s complaint to a 2019 case in Kentucky where that state’s current attorney general, Daniel Cameron, won a lawsuit in October that challenged his eligibility. Cameron accused his opponent of trying to “cheat us off the ballot,” reported the Lexington Herald-Leader following the ruling.

Because of the importance of the case, Mangan said making a declaration on the case is “a top priority.”

Graybill has been seen as a strong contender for the Democratic nomination. He received the endorsement of Missoula Mayor John Engen in September, and the Cook Political Report wrote on Oct. 25 it expects Graybill to win the primary election.

Dudik herself has not avoided controversy. In June 2019, a complaint was filed that alleged Dudik violated campaign finance laws by “bulk emailing messages advocating her candidacy from the University of Montana computer system to university employees,” according to the commissioner’s report.

The Missoulian reported Dudik’s campaign said it addressed that situation immediately and that it “the campaign team fully strives to comply with all reporting and campaign finance requirements.”

Reporter Colin Gaiser may be reached at 758-4439 or cgaiser@dailyinterlake.com.