Election slates fill up on filing deadline

Monday was the deadline for candidates to file with the Montana Secretary of State’s office or their local county clerk and recorder in order to appear on June’s primary ballot.

Candidates identifying with one of Montana’s three parties, Democrats, Republicans or Libertarians, had from Jan. 14 until March 14 at 5 p.m. to file their paperwork.

A representative for the Secretary of State’s Office said those looking to mount a write-in campaign have until May 3 to file, while those who are either indigent, unaffiliated with a political party or identify with a minor political party have until May 31 to file.

The Secretary of State’s Office said a total of 382 candidates filed for legislative district or nonlegislative races across Montana during the filing period, with 18 later withdrawing.

There are a handful of races for county offices throughout the Hi-Line as well.

Hill County

Ted Solomon, a Havre rancher and business owner is mounting an independent bid for the seat held by Hill County District 2 Commissioner Jeff LaVoi, also an independent. LaVoi decided against running for another term. Solomon will face Hill County Superintendent of Schools Diane McLean, a Republican from Havre, who LaVoi encouraged to run. Democrats failed to nominate a candidate.

Clerk of Courts Kathy Viglotti, a Democrat from Havre, is unopposed in her bid for re-election.

Blaine County

Four candidates are vying to succeed retiring Blaine County Clerk of Courts Kay O’Brien Johnson. Three Democrats, Rebecca Blankenship, Tami Sue Mitchell and Carrie Gilmore Mundlin, all from Chinook have mounted campaigns for the open seat. In the primary the Democratic field will be winnowed down to one candidate who will face Republican Pauly B. Miller, also of Chinook, in the general election.

Frank DePriest, a Republican from Chinook and first-term member of the Blaine County Commission, has no opposition in his bid to maintain his District 2 seat.

Chouteau County

After one-term, commissioner Stan Klimas, a Republican, has decided not to run for re-election. As a result, three Republican are running to succeed him: Jim Olson, Clay Riehl and Dean Rominger. No Democrats are seeking the seat.

Rick Cook, a Republican who has been clerk of courts, school superintendent and county surveyor since 2008, has no opposition in his bid for another term

First-term Public Administrator Karen Brooke is running for a second term. The Fort Benton Democrat is running unopposed.

Liberty County

Joette Woods and James A. Koffman, both Republicans from Chester, will square off in June’s primary to succeed outgoing County Commissioner Russ Temple, a Republican from Chester. No Democrats filed, so the winner of the June 7 primary will be the winner of the general election in November.

Democrat Ann Seidlitz-Melton of Chester is unopposed as she runs for a fifth term as clerk of courts.

All 100 of Montana’s House seats and half of its 50 Senate seats are up in 2016. That includes two Senate and four House races from the Hi-Line. Only in one of those Hi-Line races, House District 28 held by freshman state Rep. Stephanie Hess, R-Havre, is an incumbent seeking re-election.

Senate District 16

Incumbent Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, is unable to run for a third term to his seat. Rather, there will be four candidates competing to succeed Windy Boy, with all but one of them members of the Chippewa Cree of Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation.

Windy Boy has thrown his support behind fellow Democrat LeAnn Montes, attorney general for the Chippewa Cree Tribe.

Montes will face Bobbi Jo Favel, also of Box Elder, and former state Sen. Frank Smith of Poplar in the primary. The winner will go on to face state Rep. Bruce Meyers R-Box Elder, in November.

Senate District 17

State Rep. Mike Lang, R-Malta, is leaving his House District 33 for a bid for the state Senate.

The seat includes portions of Philips, Blaine and northern Hill counties up to the Canadian border and east to the North Dakota border.

Lang will square off against former state Rep. Walt Stahl, R-Saco, in the primary. The winner will go up against Democrat Douglas Adolphson of Glasgow.

The seat isbeing vacated by the term-limited John Brenden, R-Scobey.

House District 27

With Rep. Roy Hollandsworth, R-Brady, unable to seek re-election due to term limits, his former primary rival Darrold Hutchison of Hingham and former Choteau County Commissioner Jim O’Hara from Fort Benton, will seek to capture the party’s nomination.

The winner will take on Democrat Ryan Rominger of Floweree in the fall for the seat that runs from the Canadian border down to Cascade County.

House District 28

Rep. Stephanie Hess, R-Havre is running for re-election.

Two Democrats: retired Montana State University=-Northern professor Will Rawn and Jacob Bachmeier, vice chair of the Hill County Democrats, hope to deny Hess a second term.

House District 32

State Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, is hoping to recapture the seat he had held from 2003 to 2008. Due to term limits he is unable to seek re-election to the senate.

After only one-term, state Rep. Bruce Meyers has opted to make a bid for the state Senate.

Windy Boy faces no opposition in either the primary or general election.

House District 33

Two political newcomers, Casey Knudsen of Malta and Michael Burns of Glasgow, both Republicans, are in a primary race for the seat now held by state Senate candidate Lang.

The district stretches from west of Glasgow to the Port of Wild Horse north of Havre and encompasses parts of Blaine, Hill, Phillips and Valley counties.

Whoever wins the primary in June will go up against Democrat Mike Finley, a retired railroad telegrapher and clerk for BNSF Railway from North Havre.

Statewide races

Along with this year’s presidential race, all five of Montana’s five state officers are on the ballot as is the Treasure State’s only seat in the U.S House of Representatives. All six are being contested.

Secretary of State

State auditor Monica Lindeen, a Democrat, is vying to replace term-limited Secretary of State Linda McCulloch.

Republicans have a contender in former state Sen. Corey Stapleton of Billings.

Roger Root of Hamilton is running as a Libertarian.

State Auditor

State Senate Majority Leader Matthew Rosendale, R-Glendive, and former state legislator Jesse Laslovich, a Democrat, are running for state auditor.

Auditor Monica Lindeen is unable to seek re-election due to term limits and is instead running for secretary of state.

Superintendent of Public Instruction

State Sen. Elsie Arntzen, R-Billings, will square off against political newcomer Melissa Romano, a Helena teacher and Democrat in the race for Montana superintendnet of public instruction.

Incumbent Denise Juneau is unable to run for re-election due to term limits and is instead making a bid for Congress.

Attorney General

Hours before deadline Monday, former state Sen. Larry Jent, D-Bozeman, filed to challenge incumbent Republican Tim Fox who is running for a second term as state Attorney General.

Montana Supreme Court

Montana Supreme Court Justice Pat Cotter is retiring.

Three candidates from Great Falls will be competing in the state’s nonpartisan judicial elections to replace Cotter.

Kristen Juras of Great Falls, an attorney and former professor of law at the University of Montana School of Law in Missoula, is running for the number three seat on the Supreme Court.

Juras will face fellow Great Falls residents Eric Mills and Dirk Sandefur, a former Havre police officer turned District Court judge in Great Falls.

The primary will reduce the number of candidates to two in the general election.

Two other justices up for re-election, Chief Justice Mike McGrath and Associate Justice Jim Shea, are running unopposed.

Governor/Lt. Governor

Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, is vying for second term. His running mate will be Lt. Gov Mike Cooney. However, to get to the general election, Bullock will first have to knock off former State Rep. Bill McChesney and his ticket mate, Mike Anderson.

McChesney, a former three-term incumbent of Miles City filed Friday to challenge Bullock in the Democratic primary. Before entering the race, McChesney donated $50 to Bullock’s re-election campaign.

On the Republican side, Greg Gianforte, a high-tech entrepreneur from Bozeman, is running for his party’s nomination alongside Phillips County Commissioner Lesley Robinson of Zortman. However, this weekend Ravalli County Planning Administrator Terry Nelson of Hamilton and running mate Niki Sardot filed to challenge them for the party’s nomination.

Having primary opponents will allow Bullock and Gianforte to spend campaign funds donated to them that are earmarked for the primary election. Bullock has $666,642.41 and Gianforte $110,875.44 set aside to be spent in the primaries.

U.S. House of Representatives

Rep. Ryan Zinke, a Republican, is running for a second term to Montana’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The freshman congressman will face Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau, a Democrat, and Libertarian Mike Fellows, a Havre native who now resides in Missoula, in November.

President of the United States

All of the four remaining Republican candidates: real estate developer Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ohio Gov, John Kasich are on the ballot. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush who dropped out in February is also on the ballot.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., both Democrats, will be vying for their party’s nomination.