A legislative aide for a Republican state senator found a Democratic campaign strategy memo near a copy machine five months before a critical election, implicating possible illegal campaigning with state resources.

Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, said in a release Wednesday he unintentionally brought the strategy documents to the Capitol in late spring or early summer after accidentally switching binders with Matt Swentkofske, director of the State Senate Democratic Committee. Miller had just returned from a political meeting outside the Capitol with Swentkofske — whose committee coordinates to elect Democrats to the Senate — and left his things in a copy room next to his office where he hangs his coat.

According to Keith Gilkes, executive director of the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, an anonymous aide to an anonymous Republican senator found ready-made copies of the political memo in the copy machine.

The election this November is crucial for Senate Democrats, who hope to pick up the three seats needed to take over the Republican-controlled Senate — but the memo could do some damage. It has provided Republicans a glimpse into Democratic campaign fundraising and polling strategies for months.

Jay Heck, executive director of the nonpartisan Common Cause in Wisconsin, said no state laws appear to have been broken within the memo or in the coordination between Miller and the SSDC. But Heck added with the SSDC being led by Sen. Minority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit, the latest incident raises long-held questions with legislative campaign committees.

"We have long asserted those legislative campaign committees ought to be abolished," he said. "The function of raising campaigns ought to be in the control of the political parties of Wisconsin."

Though illegal in federal campaigns, it is not illegal under Wisconsin law for a party committee, such as the SSDC or CERS, to coordinate election activities with outside expenditure groups, such as the Teamsters Union. It is illegal if a candidate for state office coordinates with outside expenditure groups, which are supposed to be independent.

"[Wisconsin] law should be changed to distinguish a real clear line between the party activities and the independent expenditure groups," Heck said, "because obviously the party committee has direct contact with the candidates and obviously this could be problematic in the sense there might be some contact between a candidate and the independent expenditure group."

And it is also illegal to use state property and state time to work on campaigns. Five former legislative leaders were convicted in connection with the 2002 Legislative Caucus Scandal for misusing their public offices for private campaign work.

But Miller attested he has always held ethics in high regard.

"Anyone familiar with me knows that I demand high personal integrity from myself and my staff," Miller said. "That is why there is no merit to these Republican allegations."

Yet it remains unclear if a similar action will be taken as was taken in the past legislative scandal.

"For the Republican charge to have any credit, it needs to be on record that here's what happened, here's how it happened and here's evidence so an investigation can be undertaken," Heck said.