Special election will be grueling affair
Buckle up. The next three months of political campaigning promise to be a rollercoaster ride.
We got just a small taste of it this week, as both the Democratic and Republican parties selected their candidates by convention to run in the special election to choose the successor to Ryan Zinke as Montana’s sole representative in the U.S. House.
Sunday afternoon, in a highly competitive race, Creston-area musician Rob Quist got the win over Butte legislator Amanda Curtis for the Democratic nomination on the fourth round of voting. Curtis had considerable name recognition because of her failed campaign for senator against Steve Daines three years ago, but let’s face it, Quist is something of a Montana legend. He’s been entertaining local audiences for well over 40 years as a member of the Mission Mountain Wood Band, a solo act and in various other band configurations. For a political novice, Quist is a formidable candidate.
Monday night, the state Republicans came back and nominated their candidate with the best name recognition to face Quist. Greg Gianforte, who was nominated on the first ballot against a half dozen opponents, ran unsuccessfully for governor just last year against Steve Bullock. Whether familiarity will benefit Gianforte or hurt him remains to be seen. Democrats savaged him in the gubernatorial campaign, leaving him as the only Republican to lose a statewide race in 2016.
What became obvious within 24 hours of the special conventions is that this will be a no-holds barred campaign, funded by the deep pockets of the national Democratic and Republican parties and multiple special-interest groups.
By Monday, the first ads were running on TV painting Quist as a typical liberal Democrat. State GOP leader Jeff Essman sent out a press release calling Quist “a far-left supporter of mandatory gun registration, socialized health care, and sanctuary cities.”
And shortly after Gianforte was nominated, he was again being called a “New Jersey multimillionaire” by the Montana Democrats, who seized on their familiar litany of false claims that the Bozeman entrepreneur is against public lands, for a sales tax and against public schools.
Folks, that was just the first two days of the campaign. It’s going to get worse.
What’s a shame is that both of these candidates are decent, conscientious, caring Montanans who urgently want to be of service to their state and nation. If they sat in the same room together any time other than during a political campaign, we think they would like and respect each other, but politics in 2017 is a blood sport, and the chance of civic harmony this spring is as remote as Washington, D.C., is from everyday Montanans.
Like we said, buckle up. You probably won’t like the ride ahead.