What Do We Know about the 2016 Montana Legislative Candidates?

3/19/2016

Montana's Square Butte

For the past week I’ve been sending out tweets, telling people which candidates have filed in which districts.

Today I’d like to compile all that information and give it to you.

Why is this important?

Well…it depends who you are.

If you’re a Democrat, this information is great because you can see who the moderate Republicans might be. After all, don’t we encourage Democrats to switch over and vote for them? We know we can’t field candidates in those districts that can win on their own.

If you’re a Republican, this information is great because you can see what ‘opposition’ you’ll face from the candidates that Democrats have fielded. What’s more, you can see who you’ll need to keep an eye on in terms of the legislature’s Committee on Committees.

If you’re an independent you’ll know all the people in Helena that will hate you next year…should you win.

If you’re a voter you’ll get nothing.

Oh, alright – you might learn the name of the person running in your district.

Since you probably don’t know what district you’re in anyways, this might not matter.

Yes, the legislature is exciting!

Let’s get right into these candidates and what we know.

I heard it on KGVO radio here in Missoula this week:

The Secretary of State reported that a total of 382 candidates are running for office in Montana this year.

That breaks down to 180 Republicans, 166 Democrats, 11 Libertarians and 4 Independents.

I suppose you might have heard this already from the Montana Democratic Party.

I’ve been removed from all but their fundraising emails, so I did not get that email.

You can read more about it in this the March 17 Logicosity post.

Sadly, MDLCC doesn’t really give us any info on who’s running.

For that you have to go directly to the Secretary of State page with candidate information.

Let’s do that, highlighting the interesting races:

Senate District 7

Jennifer Fielder is someone we need to get rid of in Senate District 7, which spans Mineral and Sanders counties.

Three Democrats have filed for this seat:

Terry Caldwell got in on the last day, though MT Cowturd calls him a fake Democrat. Personally, I can’t think of a better reason to vote for someone, if that site is attacking them.

Elizabeth Retallick of Hot Springs has filed as a Democrat to run against Jennifer Fielder in SD 7. There is no information on this woman at all, meaning Dems will probably support her.

Mark Sheets is the third Democrat that will be running against Jennifer Fielder again for SD 7. He ran before and I’ve been saying for months that we need to support him, and I’m not just talking about lip service.

Alas, we know Democrats will fuck that up. I'm willing to bet $10 that these 3 Democrats won't get any support from the Party

Thankfully there’s Glenn Ferren of St. Regis. He’s a Republican that has filed for Jennifer Fielder's SD 7.

For the past couple days he’s been trying to gain traction with a few comments on MT Cowgirl and in the legalize marijuana in Montana group:

The most important thing for concerned Democrats in SD 7 is to vote for Glenn Farren in the primary.

If he wins, Jennifer Fielder is done.

I hope we hear more from Ferren, I hope MT Cowgirl doesn’t drown him out.

Meaningless Senate Races

I see that Democrat Cody Casazza is trying to unseat Dee Brown from SD 2. Good luck with that.

A big race that you’ll hear about is Don K of Whitefish running for SD 3. He has Melissa Hartman as a Dem opponent, Keith Regier in the primary.

Mainly, this is a good one for Dems to support Don K in. Or is he worse than Regier? I don’t think so. Either way, Hartman won’t be winning.

Democrat Douglas Adolphson is running against Mike Lang in SD 17 (Glasgow/Malta region). This is another one I don’t think Dems have a chance in…and a March 11 filing date by Dems kind of affirms that for me.

Democrat Mary Meyer in Townsend is trying to unseat Scott Sales from SD 35. Again, I doubt this’ll happen.

W.D. “Dark Sevier” Kendrick is running against Democrat Jon Sesso in the Democratic Primary for Butte’s SD 37. I’m sure we’ll hear a lot about how Kendrick is a bad guy. I can’t find a thing on him.

Senate District 40

This is one I’m keeping my eye on, primarily because I want to see Joshua Manning lose.

He’s running against Hal Jacobson for the open SD 40 seat, as are two Republicans – Terry Gauthier and Drew Turiano.

I’m not fond of Manning because his step-mom was the main Bullock adviser that made Angela McLean’s life hell.

I just don’t want people like that in Helena. I’m not sorry about that, and you shouldn’t be either.

Senate District 44

Please do me a favor and write a letter to the Stevensville newspaper.

Tell them that “De-reg” Fred Thomas is an idiot, one that should never be voted for again after his 1997 deregulation bill ruined our state in so many ways.

The corporate-panderer is running again for the legislature and as an incumbent.

Honestly, how did we let this fool get back in? That is a monumental and glaring failure of Montana Democrats in the modern era. No wonder they don’t talk about this race.

Democrats Lee Tickell and James Olsen are running for this seat. Tickell filed on February 22 while Olsen waited until the last day.

To me, that says the party dredged up Olsen from whatever rock he was living under. The man most responsible for knowing which rocks to turn over is Eric Feaver.

Eric Feaver has been a monumental failure for the state so I’m confident whatever clowns he puts up will lose, and lose badly.

That’s why it might be best to support Lee Tickell for this race…at least until we know more (and when I say “know,” I’m not talking about the BS you read on Cowturd).

That said, expect to hear about Tickell’s “criminal background,” which consists of him breaking into a woman’s car in 1989, mainly because of some sexual harassment allegations. There were also family assault charges in 2009, though they were later dropped.

Whew!

Maybe Olsen will be the one to support in this race, at least if it means getting rid of De-reg Fred Thomas.

Let’s keep our eye on this one.

Montana House Races

Let’s run through these ones rather quickly, huh?

Dem Steve Haarstick of Libby will challenge Steve Gunderson for the open HD 1 seat.

David B. McGarry of Libby has risen up to challenge Mike Cuffe for HD 2

Democrat Susan Evans of Polson is running against incumbent Greg Hertz for HD 12.

Republican Nick Schwaderer was the incumbent for HD 14 in Superior but he withdrew. He’s leaving the state because he can’t afford to live here anymore, a common problem for skilled young people. In his place will be Denley Loge and Charles Woolley for the GOP and Bryan Foster for the Dems. Woolley filed first for the GOP, though Foster might have gotten the nod from Schwaderer. We’ll see what happens.

E. Wylie Galt of Martinsdale is running for the open HD 30 seat against Democrat Linda Johnson. Galt is of course related to Jeanette Rankin as Wellington Rankin’s widow, Louise Replogle, married Jack Galt in 1967. I don’t see Galt losing.

Democrat Jonathan Windy Boy is running for HD 32 unopposed. Let’s learn how he scares his opponents so much that they don’t run against him.

Speaker Austin Knudsen is running for HD 34 against Democrat Evelyn Carlisle, who was found 3 days before filing ended. There’s no information on her, and to me, that says she’ll lose.

Republican incumbent Daniel Zolnikov might not make it past fellow GOPer John Bedford in the primary for HD 45. If he does he’ll face Ken Crouch in the general. Since Crouch filed on the last day, I don’t see him winning this Billings race.

Democrat Jordan Matney has filed to run against Sarah Laszloffy in HD 53. She’ll have to make it past Dennis Lenz in the primary first. He filed on the last day, telling me that someone put him up to it, likely Eric Feaver.

Incumbent GOPer Seth Berglee is running in HD 58 against Dem Mike Crabtree. I don’t see Crabtree winning against this young, ALEC-supported Republican.

I was surprised to see Dirk Adams file to run for HD 59 in the Livingston/Wilsall area. He’s going against incumbent Republican Alan Redfield. We know Adams get little support from the party because of comments he made in the presence of Nancy Keenan at a Livingston Democratic Dinner. Why Keenan is still around is beyond me.

Art Wittich is running for HD 68 again, even though he’s on trial for corruption. He’s the incumbent in that Bozeman district and facing him will be Bruce Grubbs and Michael Comstock in the primary. Expect to see a lot of silent support among Dems to switch over in the primary and vote for Grubbs or Comstock…if Wittich is still around then. For the Dems we have David Andes, who filed on March 9. By now you probably know how I feel about late filers – they’re not serious.

Democrat Dennis Lester of Silver Star will go after Ray Shaw for HD 71. Shaw will face a GOP primary opponent in Robert Wagner.

No Republican filed to run against Amanda Curtis for HD 74. Well, isn’t she lucky? Can she still raise money…and if so, how does that work? I’d like more on this, please.

Mark Snider of Corvallis is the latest Democrat to try for Nancy Ballance's seat, HD 87. Dem A. Jo Young also filed.

In Missoula we have HD 92 open and Republican Party Treasurer Mike Hopkins is running for the GOP, as are Larry Dunham and Randy Vannoy. For the Dems we have Addrien Marx of Seeley Lake.

Shane Morigeau is the Democrats’ favorite for HD 95, though Curtis Bridges is also running. They’ll face off in the primary, though from the messages I’ve received from Bridges on Facebook, I know he doesn’t have much chance. The GOP fielded Kyndi Kenck.

Incumbent Andrew Person is running against Greg Hertz’s son, Adam Hertz, for HD 96. This was a tight race in 2014 and it could be tight this year. Expect the GOP to flag it as a pick-up. Democrats are already rallying around Person, knocking on doors for him. To me, this race will come down to turnout for the presidential race. Could go either way at this point.

Incumbent GOPer Brad Tschida looks safe to keep HD 97, as both Democrats Nick Davis and Patrick Maloney are unknowns with no information out there as to whether they’re running or not.

Just one Democratic legislative candidate is running against an incumbent, and that’s in HD 98…the district I ran for in 2014. It’s Michael Daniel Bowles taking on incumbent Willis Curdy. Bowles has a pretty detailed About Us page. Besides that, I’m not confident as to his chances.

Conclusion

There are 81 days until the Montana Primary.

There are 52 days until Montana absentee ballots begin to go out.

In my race I’ve already started getting donations and just yesterday I opened my campaign bank account.

I’ll get a few supplies I need. I’ve already designed my campaign card. Next it’s designing and ordering about 10 yard signs.

If you have access to the Voter Access Network (VAN), you can target the strongest voters in your district. They’ll likely let you put a yard sign in their yard.

That’s gold.

Alas, Montana Democrats won’t allow me access to the VAN so I’ll have to get creative.

I encourage you to get creative in your race as well. People don’t like boring or business as usual, especially in this year of discontent.

So get out there and get to work, try new things, and impress us.

You want us talking about you. If we’re not, no one will know about you and you’ll lose.

Good luck out there.

16 Comments

Rick

3/22/2016 09:56:25 am

Do you honestly think referring to the Cowgirl Blog as "Cowturd" reflects well upon you? It doesn't. Grow up and maybe someday you can be a legitimate candidate for public office. That day has not yet arrived however and will be reflected in the vote totals. Bank on it.

Greg Strandberg

3/22/2016 09:59:02 am

I have no qualms about calling an anonymous attack site Cowturd, Rick.

Rick

3/22/2016 11:00:42 am

Thank you for so clearly validating my point.

Greg Strandberg

3/22/2016 11:06:29 am

I guess I've lost your vote in HD 99 this year, Rick, as well as any future votes where I might be a candidate.

I'll go ahead and lose that one.

I mainly target the Democrats in this state that know things are not working, that know corruption in Helena is rampant, and know that taking marching orders from anonymous attack sites is not just foolish, but damaging long-term.

I write for a group that knows enabling an incompetent governor who's only capable of giving us one failure after another is not going to do anything to make this state better in 5, 10...even 20 years or more.

I guess most of all I'm writing for the people that are tired of business as usual and are just sick of seeing so many promises that their lives will get better with nothing ever to show for it.

If that bothers you, Rick, I'd encourage you to stop reading this site.

Rick

3/23/2016 10:21:52 am

Bothers me? Not at all. I get a huge kick reading your immature and often unfounded diatribes. That you are so blind to your own foibles just makes it more fun to read. Carry on. Please.

Greg Strandberg

3/23/2016 10:34:41 am

Thanks!

Greg Strandberg

3/23/2016 10:41:22 am

I'd like to mention that Sarah Laszloffy withdrew from HD 53 recently, though fellow Republican Dennis Lenz filed on the last day.

Dem Jordan Matney is going for the seat and he filed on March 10. This is a Billings race.

Mainly...are we seeing a trend by the party to remove some of these candidates that held up infrastructure in the House last go-round?

Laszloffy is gone, Schwederer too. Zolnikov has a primary challenger. I dunno...something to speculate on.

A quick Google search reveals nothing on Jordan Matey.

I will point out that Matey was one of the candidates mentioned in a Bozeman Chronicle post on March 18, one that told us the MDLCC higher-ups paid $525 for the filing fees of several candidates.

They'll of course be reimbursed for this. I, as a candidate that paid my $15 filing fee, cannot be reimbursed out of campaign cash.

Helluva system, eh?

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/politics/montana-political-parties-differ-in-approach-to-recruiting-candidates/article_8f8f9514-ce58-5039-86de-8a3b3348e81f.html

Alex

10/10/2016 04:27:47 pm

Hi Greg,
I'm a bit late to post, but I thought I could share my two cents on Jordan Matney. From what I can tell, Matney is devoted to the Billings community and wants to ensure that our fellow citizens get their fair say. A past volunteer for Montana Women Vote and current social worker at a non-profit, Matney understands the everyday challenges people face in today's world. Matney brings a fresh perspective to the race by challenging the status quo without imposing radical ideas of change. I hope that you have the opportunity to meet this candidate in-person so that you can hear Matney's strategy first-hand rather than from my vague synopsis. Best wishes -

Greg Strandberg

10/10/2016 04:48:19 pm

Thanks for the info.

James Olsen link

4/3/2016 10:37:43 am

Who the heck is Eric Feaver? Your comment about the rock seems disingenuous, since you appear to not know why I chose to run. It never hurts to ask. Maybe you could check our website and make an informed decision.

Greg Strandberg

4/3/2016 10:47:50 am

Why are you running, James?

James Olsen link

4/3/2016 11:21:50 am

--- A little background in politics in Ravalli County --

In the end, one of my goals is to get denigrating comments out of Democrat rhetoric - it simply does not help change minds. In fact, it has the opposite effect, only making our local Trump supporters feel more disempowered, encouraging them to consciously ignore his words because they love the emotional resonance. And, of course, then there is the right-of-tea-party mindset - which is alive, well, and is sometimes well organized in Ravalli County. But, there are enough Republicans and indies that they can usually be countered with a bit of grassroots organizing.

Greg Strandberg

4/3/2016 11:26:38 am

A hundred years ago Ravalli County wasn't just Democratic, it was progressive. We have Miles Romney and his son and the Western News to thank for that.

Alas, I think the change started when Miles Romney, Jr. died in the 70s. I'm not sure, as I don't know the area, but seems that things are bad there now.

MT Democrats have given up the area for dead. I don't see that changing, as a change would need to come from Party leadership or at least leading Democrats willing to change Party leadership.

I don't see either of those things happening anytime soon. I don't feel that you'll win down there, as you won't get any support from the Party.

Hey, I'm sure you'll get more than I - they won't even return my phone calls - but I don't think it will matter.

Voters in that area don't feel Democrats can do anything for them. That's a failure on the part of the Party, but the Party does not care.

It's written that area off.

Remember, the Party is perfectly happy playing second best in Helena every other year, have been for two decades.

James Olsen link

4/3/2016 11:51:55 am

As to support from the party, I don't really expect that much. When I ran in 2000, activist connection were much more useful. I hope their voter lists have improved. There list was so bad (people listed as likely democrats who were actually active in the republican central committee)compared to ours - that we ended up fixing the Dems list.

I has a lot of negatives due to the highway 93 fight, but still ran in the middle of the democratic pack. Of course, if I do get selected in the Primary - winning against Fred Thomas is very improbable.

But, Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. This gives me and my cohorts the freedom to provide A demonstration on how to run - number 1. Getting some issues out there that get the core of our problems instead of dancing around the edges - number 2.

Greg Strandberg

4/3/2016 06:25:11 pm

Then I guess I made a mistake about you and I'm sorry. Hopefully you'll get rid of De-Reg Fred Thomas for us.

James Olsen link

4/3/2016 08:32:46 pm

No worries. Thanks for your best wishes.

I hope to see you in Helena in January 2017 - maybe we can do some great things if we manage to get there. I might just show up even if I don't manage to win.