LEWISTON – The Maine Republican Party has filed a complaint with the state’s ethics commission alleging wrongdoing by Democratic Gov. John Baldacci’s campaign manager.

But the complaint, which alleges that Jesse Connolly misused the state’s computer system to solicit contributions for Baldacci, might not fall within the jurisdiction of the Commission on Government Ethics and Election Practices.

In the short complaint, Julie Ann O’Brien, the executive director of the Maine Republican Party, asks the commission to investigate an automated telephone call placed by Connolly encouraging people to attend a fundraising event for Baldacci with former President Bill Clinton.

“The issue which we raise is that calls were made to Maine state employees at their place of business,” O’Brien wrote, contending that is a violation of state law. The complaint does not allege that the calls were made from state telephones or made by state employees.

According to Connolly, the phone calls were placed to 28,000 people who were listed in the campaign’s database of supporters. The phone numbers had been collected over time from various sources, including when people had signed up to receive information from the campaign.

“We went back into the records and found that less than 70 numbers might be on the state government exchange,” Connolly said.

Those numbers have been removed from the database, he said.

An audio tape, made on a hand-held tape recorder, of the message was played for commission Executive Director Jonathan Wayne, but the original message is no longer available on the state’s voice mail system, according to ethics commission staff.

Under state law, it is a Class C crime to knowingly misuse a state computer system to prepare election materials or to solicit contributions. It’s a Class E crime to knowingly display or distribute political advertisements in or on state-owned or state-leased property.

“This wasn’t ever intentional,” Connolly said. “We feel very confident that no law was broken.”

According to Connolly, the law appears to prohibit someone from making a fundraising solicitation call from a government phone, but that it’s not illegal to receive a call at work.

Barry Flynn, a spokesman for the Maine Republican Party, said that one person brought the information forward to the party. At this point, because the inquiry is ongoing, Flynn said he would not release the person’s name because he “wouldn’t want to jeopardize his good standing at his job.”

The ethics commission, which received the complaint Wednesday, might not have jurisdiction, Assistant Director Paul Lavin said.

“I’m not sure that it’s something we monitor even if it is for election purposes,” Lavin said about the complaint and the state’s computer system.

The information has been turned over to Phyllis Gardiner, the assistant attorney general who works with the ethics commission, for her recommendations.

“We’re kind of taking a wait-and-see approach,” Lavin said. “We may have to refer this to someone else.”

That someone could be the AG’s office, Lavin said.

According to Lavin, the ethics commission wouldn’t likely be involved unless the campaign failed to report the expense of making the automated telephone calls. “Then it would be us,” Lavin said.

The next expenditure report for gubernatorial candidates is Nov. 1.