Montana GOP financially backs Wilson for state Supreme Court

A new law passed by the Montana Legislature last year opening the door for political parties to become more directly involved in judicial elections has begun to financially pay off in the state Supreme Court race.

Judge Dan Wilson, a district court judge in Flathead County making his second run at a seat on the state’s highest court, received $20,000 in contributions from the Montana Republican Party, according to the latest filings with the Commissioner on Political Practices. 

House Bill 39, carried by freshman Rep. Tom Millett, R-Marion, was one of the biggest judicial victories for Republicans during the session, after a number of top court reform priorities stalled out. The bill tweaked Montana laws to allow for political party involvement in judicial elections by financially contributing directly to a candidate. 

Wilson also reported receiving $1,080 from the Mineral County Republican Central Committee during the first quarter of the year. 

When the bill was heard throughout the legislative process, representatives of the Montana State Bar argued against the appearance of partisanship among judges, and pointed out that the state’s code of Judicial Conduct which lays out limitations for how candidates should conduct themselves during political activity. 

Wilson’s opponent in the race is Amy Eddy, also a district court judge in Flathead County. 

Eddy has said she will not accept donations from political parties and said repeatedly that she believes in keeping politics out of the state’s nonpartisan judicial elections. 

In her latest financial disclosure, Eddy raised $55,004, but has more than $240,000 in her campaign account heading into the next quarter.

Wilson raised a total of $95,646.50 during this quarter, and began the next with more than $196,000 in the bank. 

In the push to make judicial races more political, the state’s Republican party has rallied behind Wilson, who headlined the party’s election kickoff event earlier this year. He has called himself a “constitutional conservative,” but also has followed the letter of the law by describing himself as a “nonpartisan candidate.”

GOP chair Art Wittich has made no secret of the party’s support of Wilson and their goal of putting a thumb on the scale of the race. 

“The Republican Party has to do something and say something about the leftward tilt of our court,” Wittich said while introducing Wilson at the event. 

The party has also opposed attempts by a group of organizations behind a constitutional ballot initiative that seeks to preserve the nonpartisan nature of judicial races.

On Wednesday, the state Republican Party announced its executive board had passed a resolution formally opposing Constitutional Initiative 132 which is currently gathering signatures to get on the November ballot, and called the Supreme Court a “partisan Democratic bench.” 

“The MTGOP believes Montana should retain judicial elections, but reform them to be free, fair, and honest by allowing candidates to run with a political designation if they so choose, in keeping with their basic First Amendment rights, as well as giving voters the knowledge they need to make an informed decision,” the resolution states.

CI-132 was brought by Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts, and is one of two ballot initiatives put forward to keep judicial races nonpartisan. The other one, from Montanans for Fair and Impartial Judges, endorsed CI-132 in order to combine efforts and resources. 

Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts is a coalition comprising multiple advocacy groups throughout the state including Montana Federation of Public Employees, Big Sky 55+, ACLU of Montana, Forward Montana, and Catalyst Montana.

The state GOP in announcing their opposition to CI-132 decried the effort as being partisan itself, calling the traditionally Democratically-aligned groups comprising the coalition as being “funded by the same network of out-of-state, far-left billionaire donors … which has spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on Montana Supreme Court races.”

“So-called “nonpartisan” judicial elections do not remove politics from the judicial process,” according to the GOP. “Rather, they serve only to obscure politics, leaving ordinary voters in the dark under the false pretense of neutrality and nonpartisanship.”

Montana for Nonpartisan Courts says they’re defending a staple of Montana democracy that’s been in place since 1935.

The group announced last week that it had gathered 45,000 signatures, enough to qualify at least 23 legislative districts, and touted endorsements from more than 2,323 individual Montanans, including nine retired Montana Supreme Court Justices.

“Montanans are adamant that we keep politics out of our courts, and they want judges and justices who answer to the constitution and Montana citizens, not political parties and special interests,”MNC spokesperson Caitie Butler said in a statement.