As efforts to fight “dark money” gain momentum at the Legislature, Republican Kalispell Sen. Bruce Tutvedt is making his voice heard.
The senator was the subject of numerous mailers during his 2012 primary against newcomer Rollan Roberts II, as I reported in May. At the time when I spoke with Tutvedt, he was not shy about voicing his displeasure over the mailers, which he said contained “absolute lies.” And in recent interviews with media across the state, it’s clear he has no plans of backing down.
A Feb. 10 story by Lee Newspapers’ Mike Dennison noted that the attacks on Tutvedt “came primarily from obscure nonprofit groups that don’t disclose their donors or, in many cases, their spending — so-called ‘dark money’ groups that have become a growing part of politics in Montana and the nation.”
“I have no idea who their supporters were, who they really were, or what their issue was,” Tutvedt told Dennison. “They just threw mud as hard and as fast as they could.”
Tutvedt also spoke with Yellowstone Public Radio News Director Jackie Yamanaka about the dark money issue, as well as the role that he believes “school choice” played in the attacks. I wrote about that in June as well.
You can listen to the Yamanaka interview here. It’s worth checking out, especially for Flathead voters who recall the barrage of mailers flooding their mailboxes during the Tutvedt race.
Also, just today Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock and Republican Sen. Jim Peterson of Buffalo held a joint press conference in Helena to announce campaign finance reform legislation that they say will combat dark money.