HD 3 race draws high interest from donors

Of all the state legislative campaigns underway in the Flathead Valley, one has raked in an especially high amount in contributions, demonstrating the power of online fundraising tools and word of mouth in the digital age.

The race to represent House District 3 pits Democratic Rep. Debo Powers, who spent most of her career as a school teacher and principal in Tallahassee, Florida, against Republican Braxton Mitchell, a 20-year-old Flathead Valley native and enthusiastic supporter of President Donald Trump. The district covers Columbia Falls, Hungry Horse, Martin City, Coram, East Glacier, Essex and the North Fork up to the Canada border.

The Flathead County commissioners appointed Powers, 69, to her seat in October 2019 after Democrat Zac Perry resigned to attend graduate school. Since she filed to run for election in November 2019 through the middle of October, her campaign received more than $26,400, according to a review of finance reports filed with the state.

That's more than double what Mitchell has raised. His campaign reported receiving a little more than $11,930 between early January, when he filed to run, and mid-October.

Much of Powers' fundraising success can be attributed to ActBlue, a web service that makes it easy for voters to wire money to Democratic candidates and progressive causes across the United States. ActBlue only charges campaigns a 3.95% processing fee on each donation.

More than half of Powers' campaign funds were donated through the site, and almost all of that money came in the form of individual donations averaging about $94.

Many of her campaign donors are Flathead Valley residents, and many live in her district, but more than 100 contributions through ActBlue came from outside Montana.

A few donors listed addresses in Tallahassee, where Powers used to live. Others include a software engineer in Chicago, attorneys in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., a property manager in Portland, Oregon, and a resident of Austin, Texas. Out-of-state contributions to Powers' campaign have totaled nearly $9,400.

Mitchell criticized Powers for accepting that money, noting her campaign received a $50 donation from a Brooklyn-based writer for Jimmy Kimmel's late-night TV show.

"I mean, has this guy ever heard of Columbia Falls? No." Mitchell said. "To see it in a local race like this, I mean, it is just crazy, and you're not seeing this in other races across the state."

Powers emphasized that none of her campaign funds are "dark money" and every contribution lists the name and address of the donor, in accordance with Montana law. She also noted that ActBlue is "used by lots of Democratic candidates, all over the country."

Early in her campaign, Powers said, contributions trickled in regularly through ActBlue, and in the form of checks sent to her post office box.

"I didn't have to work terribly hard for it," she said. "People were excited about our campaign."

Powers said the pace of contributions really picked up when Future Now, a progressive organization that works to tilt state legislatures Democratic, endorsed her campaign and began soliciting donations on her behalf.

"And then we kind of got overwhelmed there, for a while," she said, adding that she wasn't expecting the surge of money when she filled out Future Now's candidate questionnaire.

Powers said she was equally surprised – and upset – when mailers attacking Mitchell began arriving in local mailboxes. One described Mitchell as an extremist and featured his picture beside photos of known white supremacists. Then there was a six-second TV ad saying Mitchell would support sales of public lands, an allegation he denied.

The mailers and the TV ad were paid for by the Montana Democratic Party. Powers said she was never consulted about them, and has spent her campaign funds primarily on local radio and newspaper ads.

"If you take a look at my ads, my mailers and my ads that are in the newspaper, I never even mention [Mitchell's] name. I don't want to get him name recognition," she said. "It's only about my name and what I stand for. I've never even mentioned him, and I don't believe in attack ads. I don't condone it."

Even with her immense financial advantage, Powers appears to face an uphill battle after garnering just 38% of votes in the June primary.

Reporter Chad Sokol can be reached at 758-4434 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com