HELENA — Last week, the Democratic candidate in Montana’s eastern congressional district filed a lawsuit challenging an independent candidate’s qualification for the ballot. On Monday, though, he decided to drop the case.
Democrat Brian Miller, an attorney from Helena, had asked a judge to rule independent Michael Eisenhauer had not received enough valid petition signatures to get on the general election ballot. It came as authorities in Cascade County investigate hundreds of potentially fraudulent signatures on petitions for Eisenhauer and independent U.S. Senate candidate Seth Bodnar – though they have said none of the signatures in question were counted and they don’t suspect the campaigns themselves of wrongdoing.
(Watch the video for more on what led to the lawsuit being dropped.)
Miller, representing his own campaign, was set for a scheduling conference 9 a.m. Monday in state district court in Helena. However, Judge Michael McMahon vacated the hearing, when Miller hadn’t arrived ten minutes after the scheduled time.
Miller told MTN he was mistaken about the time of the conference, and he showed up an hour later.
“I take responsibility for that,” he said. “That’s on me.”
Miller said he remained concerned about the signature issue, but that in light of the tight deadlines and the other responsibilities he is dealing with, he decided he would drop the legal case rather than ask to reschedule.
“Given the need to resolve this case on an expedited timeline, and undersigned counsel’s failure to appear on time, it would not be fair to inconvenience the Court any further with this matter,” he wrote Monday in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. “This is not a reflection in any way on the merits of the case, but simply an acknowledgement of the limited time present here.”
McMahon accepted Miller’s motion and dismissed the case without prejudice.
Eisenhauer, a cardiologist from Great Falls, told MTN the lawsuit was a “frivolous and desperate move” he believed would have been thrown out anyway. He said he’s keeping his attention on providing an independent alternative in the 2nd Congressional District.
“My focus is being sure that the Trump-rubber stamp incumbent, Troy Downing, is sent packing home,” he said. “Congress is broken, and Mr. Downing has become part of the problem.”
Miller said he continued to hear from people who believe their names were put on the petition without their permission. He said he would wait for findings from Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki’s investigation, then potentially pursue the legal issue again.
Eisenhauer said his campaign followed all the rules and regulations in its signature gathering and that he was grateful to Cascade County law enforcement for reiterating that. He said he’s confident in how local election officials and the Montana Secretary of State’s Office reviewed signatures.
Miller criticized Eisenhauer for not making public statements about the signature gathering issue before Racki confirmed the investigation last month. Eisenhauer told MTN he did disclose the issue to the Federal Election Commission, but that he didn’t believe it was appropriate to comment further on an ongoing investigation.
“it would not have been appropriate to go out and potentially interfere with that investigation,” he said.
