HELENA — The Montana Republican Party is accusing Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock of misusing his state social media accounts during his 2019 campaign for president.
The party filed an ethics complaint Friday with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices.
The complaint points to Bullock’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, at the address “@GovernorBullock.” It says the accounts have frequently posted photos and information about official state events, but they were also used to promote Bullock’s presidential bid.
“Governor Bullock spent years using state personnel, time, and resources to build up his official @GovernorBullock social media accounts, then turned around and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars using those same accounts in his embarrassing presidential campaign," Montana Republican Party executive director Spenser Merwin said in a statement.
"This is an egregious abuse of Montana's ethics laws, and Bullock needs to be held accountable for once again using taxpayer resources to campaign,” he added.
The complaint comes amid speculation that Bullock could file to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines on Monday, the last day for candidates to declare.
