Sheehy, E
<a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/05/16/12656/judicial-candidate-blames-mystery-nonprofits-attacks-defeat">http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/05/16/12656/judicial-candidate-blames-mystery-nonprofits-attacks-defeat</a><div>
</div><div><div class="main-body" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: tablet-gothic-narrow, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.199999809265137px; line-height: 20.212499618530273px;"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden clearfix" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="field-items" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="container container_12" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 960px;"><div class="field-item even first" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="body-copy-inner" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 230px 0px 80px; border: 0px; font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.33em; font-size: 0.95em; width: 620px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">When Ed Sheehy looked at his mail one day last fall, he was startled to see his face staring back at him, posed alongside the notorious “Christmas Day Killer.” Sheehy, as a public defender, had represented the man a year earlier. Now Sheehy was running for a seat on the Montana Supreme Court and someone was using the double-murder to accuse him of being soft on crime.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">“I was furious,” the 60-year-old Sheehy, who was born in Butte, Mont., and now resides in Missoula, told the <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">Center for Public Integrity</a>. “It was misrepresenting what I did and what I do as a lawyer.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">So who was behind the attack?</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">The <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/05/15/12662/montana-growth-network-mailers" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">mailer</a> showed only that it was paid for by the “Montana Growth Network,” a “social welfare” nonprofit, registered under Section 501(c)(4) of the U.S. tax code. Montana election records revealed next to nothing about the organization, which, because of its tax status, is not required to disclose its donors. The nonprofit’s <a href="http://www.montanagrowthnetwork.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">website</a> says its goal is to make Montana “more business friendly.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Despite finishing on top in the summer’s primary election, Sheehy lost in November.</p></div></div></div><div class="container container_12" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 960px;"><div class="field-item odd" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><aside class="relation packaged" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="relation-inner stacked cols8" data-sigil="relation" style="margin: 0px 10px 1.33em 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 620px; float: right; clear: right;"><div id="node-12666" class="node node-image teaser-8col clearfix" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 0.893em;"><div class="field field-name-field-image-file field-type-image field-label-hidden" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="field-items" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="field-item" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; float: none; width: auto;"><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/05/16/12656/judicial-candidate-blames-mystery-nonprofits-attacks-defeat" class="active" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;"><img src="http://cloudfront-6.publicintegrity.org/files/styles/8col/public/img/montana_mailer.jpg?itok=yIyIq1rS" alt="" itemprop="image" data-sigil="image" data-width="620" data-height="296" style="border: 0px; width: 620px;" /></a></div></div></div><div class="text-wrapper" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><span class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden" style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; display: inline;">Part of a mailer from the Montana Growth Network.</p></span></div></div></div></aside><aside class="relation packaged" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="relation-inner stacked cols6" data-sigil="relation" style="margin: 1.33em 10px 1.33em 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 460px; float: right; clear: both;"><section style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div id="node-12652" class="node node-article teaser-view title-author-16x9-6col clearfix" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><header style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; float: none; width: auto;"><hgroup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="field field-name-field-mini-image field-type-relation field-label-hidden" style="margin: 0px 0.665em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; float: left;"><div class="field-items" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="field-item even" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; float: none; width: auto;"><div class="item even" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div id="node-12674" class="node node-image title-16x9-6col clearfix" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 0.893em;"><div class="field field-name-field-image-file field-type-image field-label-hidden" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="field-items" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="field-item" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; float: none; width: auto;"><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/05/16/12652/lax-state-rules-provide-cover-sponsors-attack-ads" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;"><img src="http://cloudfront-1.publicintegrity.org/files/styles/16x9-6col/public/img/oimg.png?itok=yBSTiwtI" width="460" height="259" alt="" itemprop="image" data-sigil="image" data-width="460" data-height="259" style="border: 0px; width: 449.8999938964844px;" /></a></div></div></div><div class="text-wrapper" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;" /></div></div></div></div></div><h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 1.3775em; line-height: 1.33em; color: rgb(100, 100, 100); letter-spacing: -0.047em;"><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/05/16/12652/lax-state-rules-provide-cover-sponsors-attack-ads" title="Lax state rules provide cover for sponsors of attack ads" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(100, 100, 100);">Lax state rules provide cover for sponsors of attack ads</a></h2><div class="field field-name-field-authors field-type-relation field-label-hidden" style="margin: 0.665em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><h4 class="authors" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 0.855em; line-height: 0.665em; color: rgb(50, 50, 50); display: inline;">By <span class="author" style="padding: 0px; margin-right: 0px; background-image: none; color: rgb(100, 100, 100); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/authors/alan-suderman" title="Alan Suderman" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(100, 100, 100);">Alan Suderman</a></span></h4> <h4 class="pubdate" style="margin: 0px 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 0.855em; line-height: 0.665em; color: rgb(50, 50, 50); font-weight: normal; display: inline;"><time datetime="2013-05-16T00:01:00-04:00">May 16, 2013</time></h4><div class="field-items" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;" /></div></hgroup></header><div class="main-body" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;" /></div></section></div></aside><aside class="relation packaged" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="relation-inner stacked cols4" data-sigil="relation" style="margin: 1.33em 10px 1.33em 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 300px; float: right; clear: both;"><div id="node-12663" class="node node-image teaser-4col clearfix" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 0.893em;"><div class="field field-name-field-image-file field-type-image field-label-hidden" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="field-items" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="field-item" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; float: none; width: auto;"><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/05/16/12656/judicial-candidate-blames-mystery-nonprofits-attacks-defeat" class="active" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;"><img src="http://cloudfront-3.publicintegrity.org/files/styles/4col/public/img/IMG_0183.JPG?itok=3NnJTuTC" alt="" itemprop="image" data-sigil="image" data-width="300" data-height="225" style="border: 0px; width: 300px;" /></a></div></div></div><div class="text-wrapper" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><span class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden" style="color: rgb(100, 100, 100);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; display: inline;">Montana judicial candidate Ed Sheehy. He blames mailers and radio ads opposing him paid for by the Montana Growth Network for his defeat in a 2012 state Supreme Court race.</p> </span><span class="field field-name-field-image-credit field-type-text-long field-label-hidden" style="color: rgb(150, 150, 150);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; display: inline;">Courtesy of Ed Sheehy</p></span></div></div></div></aside><div class="body-copy-inner" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 230px 0px 80px; border: 0px; font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.33em; font-size: 0.95em; width: 620px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><strong>Mystery mailers</strong></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">He blames the mailers and similarly themed radio ads paid for by the group for his defeat, and he is angry that it was not required to report the full extent of its spending — much less the names of those who bankrolled it.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Montana, in fact, is one of 35 states where disclosure laws for independent groups like the Montana Growth Network are less stringent than what federal election law requires, according to a <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/05/16/12652/lax-state-rules-provide-cover-sponsors-attack-ads" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">new analysis</a> by the <a href="http://www.followthemoney.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">National Institute on Money in State Politics</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Sheehy, the nephew of a former Montana Supreme Court justice, first faced off against attorney Elizabeth Best and Laurie McKinnon, a district judge, in a three-way, nonpartisan primary in June. The top two vote-getters advanced to the general election in November.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Ahead of the primary, the Montana Growth Network endorsed McKinnon and touted her in a <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/05/15/12662/montana-growth-network-mailers" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">mass mailing</a> as “fair,” “honest,” “constitutional” and “the <em>only</em> nonpartisan choice for Supreme Court.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">The group’s mailers also focused on Sheehy’s work defending a murderer and criticized Best for pursuing a lawsuit to “seize control of the state’s atmosphere … to stop global warming.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Sheehy, who finished first with 34.3 percent of the vote, spent $32,000 during the primary, and McKinnon, who finished second with 33.6 percent of the vote, spent about $30,000, records show. Best came in at third with 32.1 percent.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Best raised more than the other two candidates combined — $128,000, which included roughly $20,000 of her own money. She was the only candidate to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV0BA1SI9qA" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">advertise</a> on television.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">The Montana Growth Network spent roughly $42,000 during the primary election — more than either Sheehy or McKinnon’s own campaigns.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><strong>Outsider spends big</strong></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Best told the Center for Public Integrity that she was “stunned” by the result.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">“Hearing from the candidates doesn’t matter anymore,” she said, adding that what matters is who has well-financed outside supporters to “cast candidates as something they aren’t and to tip the scales.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">McKinnon, Best said, was “running as a partisan with unlimited backing.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">The amount spent by the Montana Growth Network in the primary was required by state law to be disclosed because the mailings urged voters to support or oppose a candidate — a line the nonprofit says it didn’t cross with its subsequent activities, whose costs it did not disclose.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Ahead of the November election, <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/05/15/12662/montana-growth-network-mailers" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">one direct mail piece</a> from the Montana Growth Network argued that under Sheehy, justice would be “beholden to a political party,” based on Sheehy’s past financial support of Democratic candidates.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Additionally, both mail and radio advertisements said that Sheehy had an “activist agenda” for his defense of Tyler Michael Miller, the so-called “Christmas Day Killer” who murdered his girlfriend and her 15-year-old daughter “in cold blood” in 2010.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">While defending Miller, Sheehy had unsuccessfully sought for Montana’s death penalty process to be ruled unconstitutional because a single judge, not a jury, is allowed to assess whether “mitigating factors” exist that might rule out a death sentence.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Sheehy says he was simply “doing his job.” Miller is currently serving two life sentences after ultimately pleading guilty.</p></div></div></div><div class="container container_12" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 960px;"><div class="field-item even" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><aside class="relation packaged" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="relation-inner stacked cols5" data-sigil="relation" style="margin: 0px 10px 1.33em 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 380px; float: right; clear: right;"><section style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div id="node-12662" class="node node-freeform node-teaser teaser-view teaser clearfix" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><header style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; float: none; width: auto;"><hgroup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 1.3775em; line-height: 1.33em; color: rgb(100, 100, 100); letter-spacing: -0.047em;"><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/05/16/12662/montana-growth-network-mailers" title="Montana Growth Network mailers" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(100, 100, 100);">Montana Growth Network mailers</a></h2></hgroup></header><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="field-items" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="field-item even" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; float: none; width: auto;"><div id="DC-search-projectid-8932-montana-mailers" class="DC-search-container" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div id="projectid-8932-montana-mailers" class="DC-search-embed DC-unselectable DC-query-original" style="margin: 12px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clear: both; overflow: hidden; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial; -webkit-user-select: none;"><div class="DC-document-list" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden; height: 307px;"><div class="DC-document-tile-container" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="DC-document-tile " href="http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/700892-montana-pdf-1.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(85, 85, 153); margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px 80px; border: 1px solid transparent; outline: none; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; float: left; width: 283px; height: 86px; position: relative; overflow: hidden;" /><div class="DC-document-thumbnail-select" style="margin: 0px 6px 4px 0px; 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width: 60px; height: 75px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); float: none;" /></div><div class="DC-document-title" style="margin: 2px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 17px;">Montana Growth Network Christmas Day Killer mailer</div><div class="DC-document-organization DC-interface" style="margin: 4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 10px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Helvetica, Arial; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(128, 128, 128); line-height: 12px;" /></div><div class="DC-document-tile-container" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="DC-document-tile " href="http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/700890-montana-pdf-3.html" style="text-decoration: none; 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padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: absolute; left: 3px; top: 3px; width: 70px; height: 85px;"><img src="http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/700890/pages/montana-pdf-3-p1-thumbnail.gif" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width: 60px; height: 75px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); float: none;" /></div><div class="DC-document-title" style="margin: 2px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 17px;">Montana Growth Network McKinnon mailer</div><div class="DC-document-organization DC-interface" style="margin: 4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 10px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Helvetica, Arial; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(128, 128, 128); line-height: 12px;" /></div><div class="DC-document-tile-container" style="margin: 0px; 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padding: 0px 0px 15px 80px; border: 1px solid transparent; outline: none; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; float: left; width: 283px; height: 86px; position: relative; overflow: hidden;" /></div><div class="DC-document-thumbnail" style="margin: 0px 6px 4px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: absolute; left: 3px; top: 3px; width: 70px; height: 85px;"><img src="http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/700891/pages/montana-pdf-2-p1-thumbnail.gif" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width: 60px; height: 75px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); float: none;" /></div><div class="DC-document-title" style="margin: 2px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 17px;">Montana Growth Network When Partisans Call mailer</div><div class="DC-document-organization DC-interface" style="margin: 4px 0px 0px; 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padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Three mailings produced in 2012 by the Montana Growth Network, which is organized as a 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organization.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">The Montana Growth Network reported costs associated with sending the "McKinnon mailer" to the state, as required by law, because it advocated for Laurie McKinnon's election in the nonpartisan Supreme Court race.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">The groups says it wasn't required to file expenditure reports about the other two mailers because they were "issue advocacy," which don't have the same disclosure requirements as "express advocacy" on behalf of candidates.</p></div></div></div></div></section></div></aside><div class="body-copy-inner" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 230px 0px 80px; border: 0px; font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.33em; font-size: 0.95em; width: 620px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><strong>Ads tread fine line</strong></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Instead of urging people to vote against Sheehy or support McKinnon, the ads advised voters to “contact Ed Sheehy and tell him that you want an impartial Supreme Court” and to sign an online petition.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">How much was spent on these advertisements is not public.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Montana media outlets reported on the anti-Sheehy radio ads, and Sheehy called on McKinnon to denounce them, which she did.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">“Negative advertising has no place in a nonpartisan race,” McKinnon <a href="http://www.ravallirepublic.com/news/state-and-regional/article_3f4ffa0c-e224-57f5-8517-6dd30df788f6.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">said</a> in a press release at the time. “I ask for your vote based on who I am, not on negative portrayals of my opponent.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">On Election Day, McKinnon bested Sheehy by 12 percentage points.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">She had also been endorsed by the <a href="http://www.montanachamber.com/files/Chamber%20Endorsements/Montana%20Chamber%20Candidate%20Endorsements%202012.pdf?1349295125" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">Montana Chamber of Commerce</a> and spent about $35,000 on the general election campaign. Sheehy, who had been endorsed by the <a href="http://www.mtaflcio.org/?zone=/unionactive/election_list.cfm" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">Montana AFL-CIO</a> and state’s <a href="http://www.mea-mft.org/mea-mft_members_only/mea-mftcandidate_endorsements.aspx" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">teachers’ union</a>, spent roughly $44,000.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Being painted as an “activist” by the Montana Growth Network, Sheehy said, was insurmountable.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">“In judicial elections, that does you in,” he said.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">University of Montana political science professor Jim Lopach said he was surprised by the election results.</p></div></div></div><div class="container container_12" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 960px;"><div class="field-item odd" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><aside class="relation packaged" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="relation-inner stacked cols6" data-sigil="relation" style="margin: 0px 10px 1.33em 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 460px; float: right; clear: right;"><section style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div id="node-12667" class="node node-freeform node-teaser teaser-view teaser clearfix" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><header style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; float: none; width: auto;"><hgroup style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 1.3775em; line-height: 1.33em; color: rgb(100, 100, 100); letter-spacing: -0.047em;"><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/05/16/12667/state-report-card" title="State report card" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(100, 100, 100);">State report card</a></h2></hgroup></header><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="field-items" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><div class="field-item even" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; float: none; width: auto;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/05/13/12652/lax-state-rules-provide-cover-sponsors-attack-ads" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;"><img alt="" src="http://cloudfront-4.publicintegrity.org/files/styles/12col/public/img/shutterstock_120814561.jpg?itok=dM6yX359" style="border: 0px; height: 267px; width: 460px;" /></a></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">The National Institute on Money In State Politics graded each state by the strength of their independent spending disclosure laws. <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/05/13/12652/lax-state-rules-provide-cover-sponsors-attack-ads" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">How did your state score?</a></p></div></div></div></div></section></div></aside><div class="body-copy-inner" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 230px 0px 80px; border: 0px; font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.33em; font-size: 0.95em; width: 620px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><strong>Name didn't help</strong></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">“It’s amazing that Sheehy didn’t win with name recognition he had," Lopach said, adding that McKinnon came across as the "more conservative" candidate.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">One fact that is known about the Montana Growth Network is the name of its founder and treasurer — Republican state Sen. <a href="http://leg.mt.gov/css/Sessions/63rd/leg_info.asp?HouseID=2&SessionID=107&LAWSID=12548" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">Jason Priest</a>, who donated the legal maximum of $620 to McKinnon’s campaign.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">McKinnon declined to be interviewed for this story. Priest told the Center for Public Integrity that Best and Sheehy “disqualified themselves” during the race.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">“The voters made their own decision based on the information they had,” Priest said. “We told voters that you’re better off with a nonpartisan court.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Priest said the Montana Growth Network didn’t report the spending to the state because it was “issue advocacy,” which is not required to be disclosed.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">In the months since the election, the Montana Growth Network has continued to produce issue advertisements, including <a href="http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/opponents-of-medicaid-expansion-launch-counter-attack/article_9805b85e-4d0a-5632-bf39-957a19fb9745.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">mailers</a> that encouraged Montana lawmakers to reject the expansion of Medicaid coverage called for under the health care reform law signed by President Barack Obama.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Jim Murry, the <a href="http://politicalpractices.mt.gov/default.mcpx" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">Montana Political Practices Commissioner</a> until he resigned earlier this year, told the Center for Public Integrity that “voters should be angry and upset” about the lack of transparency at the state level regarding political ads.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/01/03/7782/big-bucks-flood-2012-election-what-courts-said-and-why-we-should-care/" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;"><em>Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission</em> decision</a> in 2010, which lifted a ban on corporate spending on political ads that call for the election or defeat of federal candidates, many lawmakers have attempted to update regulations at the state level.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">During its most recent legislative session, a bipartisan group of Montana lawmakers pushed for new campaign finance rules that would have required disclosure of “electioneering communications” — defined as ads run within 90 days of an election that show or mention candidates without explicitly advocating for their election or defeat.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">The Montana state Senate passed the bill in March on a <a href="http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0211W$BLAC.VoteTabulation?P_VOTE_SEQ=S1148&P_SESS=20131" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">29-21 vote</a>, but it died in committee in the Montana House of Representatives. A motion in April to bring it to the House floor without committee approval <a href="http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0208W$BLAC.QueryView?P_BILL_DFT_NO=LC1821&P_BLAC_APPL_SEQ=39&P_SESS=20131" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">received majority support</a> but fell six votes short of the three-fifths required.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">Secret spending in judicial elections concerns Adam Skaggs, senior counsel at the New York-based <a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">Brennan Center for Justice</a>, which advocates for fair and impartial courts.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;">“There are real concerns that judges will be partial to the individuals or the interest groups that are responsible for putting them on the bench,” he said. “The power of the judiciary depends on its reputation.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.33em; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><em>For more information about money in state politics, visit the National Institute on Money in State Politics online at <a href="http://www.followthemoney.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: red;">www.followthemoney.org</a>.</em></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="container container_12" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 960px; font-family: tablet-gothic-narrow, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.199999809265137px; line-height: 20.212499618530273px;"><div class="calais-tags-wrapper" style="margin: 1.33em 230px 0px 80px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; width: 620px; float: left;"><h4 style="margin: 0.266em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 0.95em; line-height: 1.33em; color: rgb(50, 50, 50);">More stories about</h4></div></div></div>