Dick Motta, a retired businessman from Philipsburg, filed the complaint Tuesday with the state commissioner of political practices.
Motta said Laslovich, who works as a state attorney in Helena and owns a house there with his wife, has not been a resident of Anaconda or any other part of Senate District 43 for the required six months before the general election.
Motta's complaint asks Commissioner of Political Practices Dennis Unsworth to rule that Laslovich is not a resident of SD43 and therefore is required to withdraw from the race.
If Laslovich is forced to withdraw from the race within 75 days of the Nov. 4 general election, he could not be replaced with another Democratic candidate, leaving Motta as the only valid candidate on the ballot.
Laslovich said the complaint is “without merit,” and that he's clearly a legal resident of Anaconda. Laslovich said his job in Helena is temporary and that he has always intended to return to Anaconda, where he grew up.
He considers Anaconda home, he said.
Laslovich has worked as an assistant attorney general in Helena since July 2007. He and his wife, Jill, also an attorney, bought a home in Helena in 2006 after she was hired by a law firm in Helena.
Laslovich, who is registered to vote in Anaconda, listed his parents' address when he filed to run for re-election in January.
State law says someone doesn't lose their residence “if the individual goes into another district of this state for temporary purposes with the intention of returning.”
“For me, it's pretty cut and dried,” said Laslovich. “My job with the attorney general is temporary, and I intend to return (to Anaconda).” He called the complaint “a tool that (Motta) is using to try to gain a political edge.”
Laslovich, 27, is running for a second four-year term in SD43, which includes Anaconda, Deer Lodge, Philipsburg and Drummond.
Unsworth, who was not available for comment Wednesday, hasn't formally accepted Motta's complaint. He will decide whether the complaint has been filed properly and its questions are under his jurisdiction.
Yet even if Unsworth rules Laslovich is not a resident of SD43, Laslovich wouldn't be automatically removed from the ballot.
Janice Doggett, chief counsel for Secretary of State Brad Johnson, the state's chief election officer, said Wednesday that only a state judge can decide whether to remove a candidate from the election ballot - and only in response to a formal petition from a citizen.
State law also says if a candidate has changed residency from where he or she filed to run, the secretary of state must notify them that they must withdraw. But Doggett said Johnson doesn't have the power to investigate and determine whether someone is a resident or not.
Last month, House Speaker Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, asked Attorney General Mike McGrath for a formal opinion on whether Laslovich is a resident of SD43. McGrath, a Democrat who appointed Laslovich to his current job, declined, saying it wasn't a proper issue for an attorney general's opinion.
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