MT's Hill Won't Contest Money Ruling
A Montana district judge ruled on Wednesday that GOP gubernatorial nominee Rick Hill cannot spend a contested $500,000 contribution from the state GOP -- and the Hill campaign doesn't plan to appeal the ruling at this point, the Missoulian reports.
Hill received the contribution during a brief period in early October when contribution limits for political parties were struck down. When they were reinstated, the campaign continued to spend the big donation. They said in a Monday court appearance that they ceased spending it after a judge ordered them to stop.
The Missoulian, on this latest ruling:
A district judge ruled Wednesday that a disputed $500,000 donation to Republican governor candidate Rick Hill's campaign is likely illegal, and she continued to prevent Hill from spending the money.
The Hill campaign at this time doesn't plan to appeal the ruling by District Judge Kathy Seeley of Helena.
...
"The consequence of a $500,000 contribution in the context of a $1.5 million to $2 million, tight political race made in the final five weeks is significant," Judge Seeley wrote. "Such a contribution would likely affect the outcome of the election."
As we noted in our spotlight (subscriber) Wednesday, this race has been very tight since the primary, and the ruling gives Democratic nominee Steve Bullock a serious boost in the contest's closing days.
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