Bodnar expects to clear signature threshold for independent U.S. Senate campaign

Signatures were due Tuesday for the independent candidates hoping to qualify for the November ballot, including federal and state legislative seats.

Seth Bodnar, former University of Montana president and independent U.S. Senate candidate, told Montana Free Press Tuesday that Bodnar’s campaign has gathered more than double the 13,327 signatures necessary to qualify for statewide office.

Michael Eisenhauer, an independent candidate for U.S. House in Montana’s Eastern District, told the Billings Gazette in early May that his campaign had already collected the necessary signatures.  

Elections officials will determine whether the petition signatures are valid over the coming weeks. Only after certification by the secretary of state’s office, for which there is no deadline, will independent candidates know whether they have qualified to appear on the November general election ballot.

Candidates have been gathering and submitting signatures for months. Montana law requires that petitions be submitted to the county elections office where the person signing the petition resides, no matter what community they were in when they signed.

Six independent candidates are registered with the Montana secretary of state’s office. For federal office, in addition to Bodnar and Eisenhauer, Kimberly Persico, of Hot Springs, is gathering signatures to qualify her candidacy for the U.S. House in Montana’s Western Congressional District.

Three independent candidates are running for the state House: Jason Wilson of Lewistown, Shayne Morgan of Deer Lodge, and Kelley Durbin-Williams of Huson.

Montana candidates who aren’t affiliated with a major party are required to gather signatures to qualify for the ballot. Those candidates must submit petitions containing a number of signatures equal to 4% of the votes cast for the winning candidate in the previous election for the office they’re seeking.

For U.S. Senate, the required number of signatures is 13,327. For the U.S. House Western District, 6,742 signatures are required. For the Eastern District, the number is 7,274. Depending on the state legislative seat, the requirement can be as few as 90 signatures.