Montana attorney general didn’t violate campaign finance rules, elections enforcer says

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s elections enforcer said he found no evidence that the state’s attorney general violated campaign finance rules by inviting another Republican to run against him so he could raise more money for his reelection campaign.

Sheila Hogan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party, filed complaints against Attorney General Austin Knudsen and his primary challenger, Logan Olson, after both men acknowledged Knudsen urged Olson to run against him. Knudsen has said he recruited Olson “because our campaign laws are ridiculous.” Olson told the Daniels County Leader that he supported Knudsen’s candidacy and was running so Knudsen could raise more money.

The campaign contribution limit for the attorney general’s race in Montana is $790 by law, but candidates can receive twice that from individuals if they have a primary opponent.

In the last three decades, both Democratic and Republican candidates have had token primary challengers, Commissioner of Political Practices Chris Gallus found, but no complaints have been filed and the Legislature has not moved to change the law.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-parsely-url=«https%3A%2F%2Fapi.parsely.com%2Fv2%2Frelated%3Fapikey%3Dapnews.com%26url%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fapnews.com%2Farticle%2Fmontana-campaign-finance-complaint-dismissed-8420e7c624281e05364d8a3fa8ff4a50%26limit%3D9%26respect_empty_results%3D1%26sort%3D_score%26pub_date_start%3D2024-06-04%26exclude%3Dsection%3APress%20Releases%26exclude%3Dtags%3ACelebrity%20Birthdays» data-parsely-title=«Related Stories» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»>