The three statewide constitutional initiatives that Montanans will encounter on November’s ballot are largely being bankrolled by out-of-state organizations, according to public fundraising numbers.
The three initiatives are backed by two groups: Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights (MSRR) is the organization behind the push to enshrine the explicit right to pre-viability abortion in the state’s Constitution. Montanans for Election Reform is backing two separate but related initiatives. One would amend the state’s elections to be in an open primary format and the other would mandate majority rule.
Both groups are raking in millions from national organizations — including those who do not have to disclose their donors — and spending those millions pushing their initiatives.
CI-126 and CI-127
Montanans for Election Reform (MER) has continued to fundraise almost entirely from national organizations.
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Since the start of 2024, MER has raised nearly 99% of its cash from outside groups, meaning that individual donors only account for about 1% of the group’s total money raised since the start of the year. Over the course of 2024, MER has raised roughly $4.52 million and about $4.36 million of that cash has solely come from two national organizations: Article IV and Unite America PAC.
Virginia-based Article IV is a nonpartisan 501(c)(4) or what's sometimes referred to as a "dark money group" in which the group does not have to disclose its donors to election commissions. The group's homepage advocates for "Top-4 and Top-5 nonpartisan primaries where everyone, regardless of party, can participate ... "
Unite America PAC is a federal political action committee based in Denver that is not tied to any one candidate. They advocate for "nonpartisan election reform," according to their website. The PAC also donated to the South Dakota-based effort for open primaries.
The first of the coalition's constitutional initiatives, CI-126, would amend the state's Constitution to require a top-four primary election for all statewide candidates (like governor and attorney general), legislative candidates and Montana's federal delegation, but notably would not pertain to the Public Service Commission. All of the candidates, regardless of political party, would appear on the same ballot in the primary; Montana's primary ballots are currently broken out by party.
The top four vote-getters will move on to the general election, which is where their second initiative, CI-127, then comes into play. If successful, CI-127 would likewise amend the Montana Constitution to provide that candidates must get over 50% of the vote, as opposed to a simple plurality of the vote. If this initiative passes, the Legislature will be tasked with deciding on a mechanism — like ranked choice voting, for example — to implement if a candidate does not get a majority of the vote.
"We've been proud to dedicate time and resources to protect the citizens' initiative process in Montana and make sure every voter has the opportunity to weigh in on these two initiatives in November,” Frank Garner, one of MER’s leaders and a former Republican state representative, said in a statement.
When asked about the discrepancy in cash from individual donors versus organizations, Garner said “We've received over 500 individual donations from Montanans across 35 counties in addition to support from national groups focused on election reform. In an historically expensive election year, we're working hard to make sure every Montana voter knows these initiatives will give them better choices and greater accountability in our elections."
This past reporting period, which spanned from late June to late August, MER bucked its fundraising trend and did not receive any money from the national organizations, which also meant that the group raised far less than past reporting periods: $5,200 all from individual donors (one of whom was former Republican Montana Gov. Marc Racicot).
MER spent $862,128 from June to August — which is 166 times more than it raised during the same period — and ended August with $590,175 in the bank.
Clarity Campaign Labs, a data analytics company that tends to serve Democratic clients, was paid $107,500 for “survey and analytics to build persuasion and support voter models.” MER also spent $17,685 for a down payment on printing banners and yard signs.
MER's leaders include Republicans, Democrats and Independents and the group has continually reminded people that it is not aligned with any political party. That said, the Montana GOP is vehemently opposed to the effort.
To qualify a constitutional initiative for the ballot, the groups behind them must gather over 60,000 signatures from 40 legislative districts. From late June to late August, MER also spent $71,425 on the review of petition signatures in addition to $399,747 for the final installment of signature gathering.
Before MER’s two initiatives officially qualified for November’s ballot, the group hit multiple legal snags when attempting to have their signatures approved.
Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen was sued in July by MER and MSRR when her office barred county elections officials from tallying certain signatures. The Lewis and Clark County judge in that case ruled against Jacobsen, requiring her to reverse course and allow county clerks to count all valid signatures towards the effort. In Lake County, a group of Republicans including Speaker of the Montana House of Representatives Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, sued Jacobsen in an attempt to stop her from certifying CI-126 and CI-127 for the ballot. The judge in that case deferred to the Lewis and Clark County ruling and dismissed it with prejudice.
MER employed attorney Martha Sheehy to fight these legal battles and paid her firm $37,543. The group also paid $37,442 to a Washington, D.C.,-based law firm this summer.
CI-128
MSRR, the coalition behind the ballot initiative to amend Montana’s state Constitution to protect abortion access through fetal viability, raised about $8.2 million from June 26 to Aug. 25, and out-of-state organizations doled out big sums to bolster the effort. It's known as Constitutional Initiative 128.
The Advocacy in Action Fund, Inc., the political advocacy arm of the American Society for Reproductive Care out of Sacramento, California, wrote two checks for $3 million during the reporting period.
The Sixteen Thirty Fund, a Washington, D.C.,-based organization that has been categorized as “dark money” for progressive causes by multiple outlets, contributed $1.4 million during the last two months, bringing its total to $2 million since MSRR officially filed in Nov. 2023. In early 2024, Sixteen Thirty Fund donated $100,000 to MER.
Virginia-based Global Impact Social Welfare Fund, which provides funding across a slew of issue areas, gave $1.2 million, and another D.C.-based organization gave $750,000 plus a few thousand dollars of in-kind donations for consulting.
It was these big spenders that kept the organization afloat. Individual donations were typically much smaller, and they came from donors nationwide.
One exception is Gwendolyn Sontheim, an heiress to a multinational food corporation, who gave $1 million. Another is Deborah Simon, billionaire philanthropist from Indiana, who gave $100,000.
"Ballot campaigns are incredibly expensive,” Martha Fuller, CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, said in a statement. “We are grateful to all our donors — big and small — who share our commitment to protect the right of Montanans to make their own decisions about pregnancy and abortion."
MSRR spent $5.8 million between June and August, ending the reporting period with $3.8 million in cash on hand.
MSRR’s expenditures focused on building awareness around the ballot initiative, which was officially approved last month to be on the ballot in front of Montana voters this November. It spent $3.6 million on a broadcast advertisement buy and around $1.1 million on a door-knocking campaign focused on voter outreach through a Salt Lake City-based political firm.
These numbers mark a spike in both spending and fundraising for MSRR as the election draws nearer.
Throughout the spring, as MSRR waded through legal challenges to the ballot measure’s language, the committee had far less money in its coffers. Donations from committees were primarily in-kind from the likes of Planned Parenthood Montana Action Fund and ACLU Montana, covering expenses such as staff time and travel costs.
The Sixteen Thirty Fund started writing checks as early as Jan. 10, when it did so for $150,000. The ACLU Foundation gave things a boost in May with a $250,000 contribution.
The Fairness Project, an advocacy organization that works specifically on ballot measures, was one of the earliest out-of-state groups to pour money into the campaign, beginning with a $465,000 donation in May. It has since contributed a total of $1.3 million.
As of the campaign finance reporting period between May 25 and June 25, MSRR had just $1 million cash on hand, and it had raised under $232,000 during that time frame.
Much of its expenditures through late June were focused on getting CI-128 on the ballot via signature collection. MSRR paid a Helena-based consultancy for ballot initiative campaign advice and to Graybill Law Firm, which represented MSRR during the protracted back-and-forth between the Secretary of State’s Office and the coalition, for legal services. It is run by Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Raph Graybill.
"This is a home-grown effort and this coalition is made up of groups, volunteers and grassroots donors across Montana who are working together on this amendment. Over 500 Montana volunteers have been trained and are working in their communities to pass 128. We collected over 117,000 signatures from Montana voters to qualify for the ballot — a record number,” Fuller said in a statement. “Clearly, Montanans are excited to protect reproductive rights and voters will ultimately get to decide to vote yes or allow the government to intrude in their most personal medical decisions.”
Montana is not alone in attracting millions of outside dollars for ballot initiatives. According to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan organization that tracks money in politics, ballot initiatives in eight states in 2023 collectively received nearly $205.7 million and in 2022, initiatives in 39 states attracted $1.1 billion.