Spending ramps up in local campaigns

Spending ramps up in local campaigns

By SAM WILSON

Daily Inter Lake

The makeup of Montana’s next Legislature will be decided in nine days, and spending in state-house campaigns will likely ramp up as candidates make a last-minute push for votes.

Eleven House seats and four Senate seats are up for reelection in Northwest Montana. While most of these races take place in solidly Republican districts, a handful have attracted significant political contributions on both sides from individuals and political committees.

Christopher Muste, a political science professor at the University of Montana, said many donors are likely looking more closely at statewide and state-house races as many national polls appear to give Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton an edge over Republican Donald Trump in the waning days of the campaign.

“There’s more spending from party organizations in general, and political organizations, and some of that is fallout, I think, from the presidential race not being close,” Muste said. “You’ll look around the country and try to figure out where that money might make a bigger impact.”

The final pre-election deadline for campaign finance reports for legislative candidates was Thursday, covering contributions and expenditures from Sept. 30 through Oct. 22. During the final run-up to the election, candidates are required to submit reports within two days of receiving contributions of $100 or more from a single source. The next periodic report isn’t due until after Election Day.

The Daily Inter Lake compiled total contributions to local legislative candidate based on data available from the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices’ office. Contribution totals include loans and in-kind contributions made to candidates, along with cash donations from individuals and political committees, but exclude refunded expenses and most low-dollar donations made during fundraising events.

AMONG THE four local Senate races, the open Senate District 3 seat has attracted the most campaign spending between the two general election candidates.

Democrat Melissa Hartman of Whitefish has brought in the most contributions thus far, with a total of $17,757 received through Oct. 22. She reported spending more than $5,000 since the end of September, leaving $753 in the bank at the end of the reporting period. Nearly all of those contributions came from individual donors, with about $530 coming from political committees.

Her opponent, Republican Rep. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, reported $1,308 cash-in-hand, with $16,040 in total contributions to his campaign, although only $3,185 of that came during his general election campaign. Independent political action committees gave him $3,065 throughout the election cycle, and he loaned his campaign $2,500 during the primary election.

Incumbent Sen. Jennifer Fielder, R-Thompson Falls, holds a significant fundraising lead over her Democratic challenger for the District 6 seat, Thompson Falls Mayor Mark Sheets. Fielder’s $11,408 in contributions includes $3,523 in loans and $5,344 left over from her primary contest. Political committees gave $730 to her campaign during this election cycle, including $530 from the Mineral County Republicans.

Sheets, who has only raised general election money, has pulled in $6,000. A $500 donation from the Sanders County Democrats was his only committee contribution. Both campaigns reported about $4,500 cash-in-hand as of Oct. 22.

In Senate District 6, Democrat Rolf Harmsen has neither spent nor raised any money in his admittedly long-shot campaign. Republican candidate and current Rep. Al Olszewski, R-Kalispell, reported raising $11,580, all from individual contributions, including many health-care professionals around the state.

Although running unopposed for reelection to her District 2 seat, incumbent Sen. Dee Brown, R-Hungry Horse, has raised more than $5,000 during the election cycle. Political committees contributed close to $2,000.

WHILE REPUBLICANS currently hold all but two of the 11 House districts in Northwest Montana, five of those races feature tight fundraising contests.

Looking to unseat one of those Democrats is Republican Taylor Rose, who has gathered $10,530 in his bid for House District 3. Political committees have given him $1,269.

Incumbent Rep. Zac Perry, D-Columbia Falls, has raised $14,766, including $2,160 in committee contributions. Perry reported only $804 in the bank, compared with Rose’s remaining warchest of $4,672.

The other Democrat-held seat, House District 5, is open after current Rep. Ed Lieser, D-Whitefish, opted against running for reelection. His endorsement went to fellow Whitefish Democrat David Fern, who has pulled in $17,446, all but $870 of which came in the form of individual donations.

His Republican opponent, Chet Billi, has raised $9,423, of which $2,018 were from independent and party-affiliated political committees. More than $10,000 remained on hand between the two campaigns, according to their most recent reports: $3,197 for Billi and $7,598 for Fern.

In the race for Olszewski’s soon-to-be-vacated House District 11 seat, Democrat Eileen Bech has outraised Republican Derek Skees, with $10,771 raised, including close to $3,000 in loans. After raising nearly $7,000 in the primary, Skees has raised just $1,075 during the general election and has $2,333 left over from his primary campaign.

Neither has raised significant money from political committees. As of Oct. 22, Skees reported just $264 on hand, while Bech had $3,904.

Kalispell Republican Rep. Frank Garner has raised $5,761 in his reelection bid in House District 7, with all contributions from individual donors. He is opposed by Democrat Lynn Stanley, also of Kalispell, who has raised $6,286. Her committee donations totaled $430.

Another Republican-held House seat in Kalispell features a close money race between incumbent Republican Rep. Steve Lavin and Democrat Paige Rappleye, both of Kalispell.

Lavin has raised $2,425 in his House District 8 reelection campaign, with $1,665 coming from political committees. Rappleye has pulled in $2,232, of which political committees contributed $630.

Complete campaign finance data and reports for political candidates and committees in Montana can be found at camptrackext.mt.gov/CampaignTracker.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.