Attorney General Final

For immediate release Oct. 7, 2008 EDITOR’S NOTE: These stories are produced by University of Montana journalism students under the supervision of Professor Dennis Swibold. They may be used without charge, provided editors retain the students’ bylines. Please contact Professor Swibold ([email protected]) with any questions. You can also find this story and others on the upcoming election at www.montanaschoice2008.blogspot.com.) Attorney general candidates offer stark choices BY MARK PAGE Community News Service UM School of Journalism For Democrat Steve Bullock and Republican Tim Fox, the race to replace Attorney General Mike McGrath is a clash of experience, ideology and even style. Fox, a 51-year-old lawyer born in Hardin but who now lives in Clancy, sports a cowboy hat and cowboy boots and packs a resume that ranges from criminal defense work to providing legal advice to bankers and state agencies that oversee Montana’s environment and oil and gas resources. Bullock, the 41-year-old Helena man in the button-down shirt and slacks, spent much of his career handling civil cases and appeals and working as an advocate for low-income wage earners. Neither has held elective office before; neither has prosecuted a criminal case. But Bullock wears the “insider” label by virtue of the four years he spent handling appeals for and administering the state Department of Justice, the office he now aims to lead. “He knows the position, he’s worked with every division in the Department of Justice,” said former Attorney General Joe Mazurek, Bullock’s former boss and now the treasurer of Bullock’s campaign. “He knows the entire department, and he knows the people working there.” Fox is not impressed. He says his experience handling more than 400 cases as a public defender gives him plenty of insight on law enforcement. Most recently a legal adviser to Mountain West Bank, Fox’s route to state politics has been circuitous. In the early 1990s, under the administration of thenGov. Marc Racicot, Fox worked for the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation. He lost the job in a dispute over whether to publish a study his boss didn’t think was ready.

“He was a young passionate guy wanting to pursue something,” said Tom Richmond, Fox’s supervisor at the time. “I guess the older you get, the more careful you get.” By the mid-90s, Fox was working as an attorney for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality under Mark Simonich “Largely a lot of their work was working with the staff in understanding their legal obligations,” Simonich said. “From a legal standpoint the DEQ is a very difficult agency.” Fox says the work gave him the management expertise necessary to run the 750-person Department of Justice. “Being attorney general is first and foremost being a manager,” Fox said. “I have experience being a manager.” Bullock’s path to politics started with his work for the Democratic Party in 1990. He served as chief legal counsel to Montana Secretary of State Mike Cooney in the early 1990s and ran Mazurek’s first campaign for attorney general in 1992. From 1997 to 2001, Bullock worked for the state Justice Department, testifying before the Legislature and representing Montana in cases before the state Supreme Court and the U. S. Supreme Court, where he successfully defended Montana’s stream-access law. He said he’s the candidate who truly understands the workings of the Justice Department. “I’ve been there,” he added. In 2001, Bullock went to work for a large law firm in Washington, D.C., where he also taught law at Georgetown University. He’s been back in Montana for four years, practicing law and grassroots politics. He’s a strong supporter of labor, and he led the 2006 initiative campaign that increased the Montana minimum wage. When it comes to the issues, Fox paints himself as a hard-charger who wants to change state law, not just enforce it. He said he wants new laws to fight cyber predators and a tougher, clearer law to safeguard Montanans who use deadly force to protect their homes. Fox said the attorney general can be instrumental in changing the law. Bullock counters that an attorney general’s ability to influence changes in the law is limited. The job, primarily, is to defend state laws, he added. “There are a couple of distinctions that I don’t think Tim appreciates,” Bullock said. “I’m not the great Caped Crusader who can go out there and make the laws.” Still, Bullock emphasizes the need for new tools to fight crime, such as expanding the Justice Department’s cyber-crime task force and establishing a prescription drug monitoring plan that would give police a heads up when individuals jump from pharmacy to pharmacy, trying to obtain controlled drugs like oxycontin.

Fox wants legislation to stop “doctor shopping” and a government incineration program to help people safely dispose of unused medication. He also portrays himself as the candidate who will do the most to support American gun rights. “What Steve has said to me and others is that many issues surrounding Second Amendment rights are not issues the attorney general should be involved in,” Fox said. A Montana attorney general has no power over federal laws, Bullock said. Even so, he insisted he has no aim to take away Montanans’ guns. A clearer difference is the two candidates’ stances on managing state lands. The attorney general has a seat on the board that monitors Montana’s 5.1 million acres of state lands, the proceeds of which go to fund public schools. Fox favors greater development of state resources, including massive amounts of coal beneath state tracts in southeastern Montana. Bullock said he’ll take a measured approach, giving more weight to conservation issues. Another indication of the differences between Bullock and Fox is the lineup of groups supporting them. Fox has been endorsed by the Montana Association of Realtors, the Montana Shooting Sports Association, the Montana Agricultural PAC, the Montana Contractor’s Association, Montana Right to Life and the Montana Chamber of Commerce. Bullock has been endorsed by the Montana Conservation Voters, the Teamsters Local No. 190, the Montana Public Employees Association and the American Association of State, County and Municipal Employees No. 9. -30-