Lawsuit filed against groups accused of sending illegal campaign mailings

Two linked issue advocacy groups are accused of breaking state campaign laws after sending out mailers attacking legislative candidate Brad Hamlett and the Montana Conservation Voters.

Great Falls attorney Ben Graybill believes that Bozeman-based Western Tradition Partnership and the Coalition for Energy and the Environment teamed up to send mailers without saying who paid for them or listing treasurers for either organization, a requirement of state law.

Graybill also alleges that Western Tradition Partnership sent mailers without registering as a state political committee and failed to file required campaign reports.

On Friday, Graybill filed complaints against both groups with Dennis Unsworth, the state's commissioner of political practices. The complaint was not filed on behalf of Hamlett.

Montana law stipulates that when political committees distribute campaign materials, they must attribute who paid for the ad, followed by the name and address of the person who made or financed the expenditure. Committees also must list the name of the committee, its treasurer and the addresses of the committee and treasurer on any mailed advertisement.

The mailers in question attack the Montana Conservation Voters and Brad Hamlett, a Cascade Democrat running against Republican Jim Whitaker for the Senate District 10 seat. The ad states the group and Hamlett are "trying to trick Cascade County" and that they are "conservation extremists who are costing Montana taxpayers money and hurting our economy."

The mailers were sent to voters in Senate District 10, which covers southcentral Great Falls and the southern two-thirds of rural Cascade County.

Hamlett could not be reached for comment Saturday.

The Montana Conservation Voters support Hamlett's campaign because he supports access to public lands for hunting and fishing, according to a news release from the group. Graybill is on the conservation group's board of directors.

Western Tradition Partnership was formed in May by Rep. John Sinrud, R-Bozeman, and former U.S. Rep. Ron Marlenee as a nonpartisan organization dedicated to responsible land and natural resource development.

Phone messages left for Sinrud and Marlenee were not returned Saturday.

Little is known about the Coalition for Energy and the Environment, as the organization does not have a Web site or a listed phone number. A campaign finance report lists Fawn Kirkpatrick of Bozeman as the group's treasurer but doesn't provide any contact information. She is not listed in the Bozeman phone book.

The report also states that Sinrud donated $2,250 to the group, while Kirkpatrick donated $2,000.

Montana Conservation Voters' executive director, Theresa Keaveny, said Western Tradition Partnership and the Coalition for Energy and the Environment sent out similar mailers attacking other candidates in Montana during this year's primary elections. They also are active in Colorado, she said.

"(The complaint) is an attempt to have them be held accountable," Keaveny said.