Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen emailed Cascade County commissioners in February as they considered candidates for the elections administrator position.
Jacobsen urged them not to hire Rina Fontana Moore, a Democrat, or any member of her administration. Fontana Moore ran elections for 16 years as the county’s clerk and recorder.
An investigator from the Montana Department of Labor and Industry’s Human Rights Bureau recently concluded, according to a report obtained by Montana Free Press, that reasonable cause existed to support Fontana Moore’s allegation of political discrimination. Furthermore, the investigator determined that it was Austin James, Jacobsen’s election director, who convinced Jacobsen to take the unusual step of weighing in on the county matter.
That February, Cascade County commissioners interviewed four candidates, including Moore and her longtime election manager Lynn DeRoche, for the elections administrator job after relieving Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant of those duties. They held public interviews on Feb. 6.
On Feb. 14, Jacobsen sent an email to Commissioners Joe Briggs, Rae Grulkowski and Jim Larson.
“Please do not hire Ms. Moore or a member of her administration as Cascade County’s Election Administrator,” Jacobsen, a Republican, wrote. “Doing so would directly undermine the voters of Cascade County, among other reasons.”
The next day, commissioners announced a unanimous decision to appoint Terry Thompson, the former CEO of the Great Falls Association of Realtors.
In testimony to a Human Rights Bureau investigator, Jacobsen stated that she doesn’t often interact with county election administrators and didn’t recall how she learned about the change of leadership in Great Falls. Fontana Moore was “not on her radar,” according to the report.
The documents state that James, the election director, made a “compelling case” to weigh in against Fontana Moore and suggested writing the email.
James began work for the Secretary of State’s Office in 2019 as an attorney before moving to elections director. He told the state investigator that Fontana Moore was the subject of “more than one” complaint from citizens for her conduct and that the office was behind on “voter cancellations.” He also noted that Fontana Moore was critical of the ElectMT election software, which replaced the older system in January 2023.
Fontana Moore participated in the development and testing of ElectMT.
Moreover, James believed that Fontana Moore should not be appointed election administrator because she lost her 2022 reelection to Merchant for clerk and recorder. Not hiring Fontana Moore for this reason would maintain the “integrity of the process,” according to the investigator’s report.
MTFP requested comments from Jacobsen and James. Secretary of State spokesperson Richie Melby sent a brief statement.
“Due to the ongoing nature of the proceeding, the SOS Office is unable to comment on the baseless allegations,” Melby wrote in an email.
In determining discrimination based on political belief, the Human Rights Bureau investigator noted that James and Jacobsen believed the hiring of Fontana Moore would undermine the 2022 clerk and recorder election.
“Until there is guidance to the contrary, if an employer takes an adverse act against an applicant because she was not elected, this looks like a form of political belief discrimination,” Bureau Chief Marieke Beck wrote in the investigation report.
In addition, the report said that Jacobsen’s position as Montana’s top election administrator meant that her opinion “carries a gravitas” that was different from someone else weighing in on the hiring decision.
All of this led the bureau to find there was reasonable cause that political discrimination occurred.
Speaking to MTFP, Fontana Moore said that she is no longer working with an attorney due to mounting legal fees. She said that a hearing will conclude the case, but it’s unclear if any damages will be awarded.
“I’m glad that it’s over,” Fontana Moore said. “I did the very best that I could do in the 16 years that I was in office, and I wanted to continue that work.”
Fontana Moore filed the discrimination case 11 days after commissioners chose Thompson to lead the elections department. The same case also made allegations of discrimination against the three county commissioners — Briggs, Larson and Grulkowski — as well as Cascade County.
Commissioners voted on Oct. 4 to settle the case brought by Fontana Moore for $52,500. An attorney retained by the county told commissioners that an investigator would likely determine that there was reasonable cause, which would open up the county to a potentially larger settlement. Grulkowski voted against the settlement.
After applying for the election administrator position, Fontana Moore spent much of 2024 running for a legislative seat in House District 20. She lost to Melissa Nikolakakos.
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This story was originally published by Montana Free Press and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.