In a recent development, Raph Graybill, running mate of gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse, has admitted to violating campaign finance regulations. The Montana GOP has lodged a formal complaint with the Commissioner of Political Practices after an audio recording surfaced of Graybill acknowledging that he received confidential polling data that he was not authorized to access.
The recording, which was made public, captures Graybill, an attorney well-versed in legal protocols, discussing the contents of the poll. “We have a poll, and I wasn’t supposed to know about it. But we are within the margin of error of this guy. Okay. We are right on his heels. This is the key moment, but we need your help right now to close that gap,” Graybill is heard saying.
According to campaign finance regulations, sharing private polling data with a candidate is considered an in-kind contribution to their campaign. Since such polls are costly and often exceed contribution limits, they must be made public before they can be discussed.
Montana Republican Party Chairman Don “K” Kaltschmidt criticized the incident, stating, “Ryan Busse and Raph Graybill are so desperate to impose their radical, far-left agenda on Montana that they are even willing to break the law. If they can’t follow the rules to run for office, how can we trust them to run state government if elected?”
Recent public polls have shown Governor Gianforte maintaining a substantial lead over Ryan Busse.
