Bachmeier rolls in House District 28 voting

Eight months after launching his campaign for state representative in House District 28, Democrat Jacob Bachmeier officially captured his party's nomination Tuesday.

Bachmeier, 18, who graduated from Havre High School two weeks ago and is vice chair of the Hill County Democratic Party, defeated retired Montana State University-Northern professor Will Rawn 53-45 percent.

When results were counted, Bachmeier carried all but one of the nine precincts in Havre, taking 654 votes to Rawn's 555, according to numbers provided by the Hill County Clerk and Recorder's office.

Nine others had cast their ballots for a write-in candidate.

State Rep. Stephanie Hess, R-Havre, who was unopposed in her primary received 976 or 98 percent of her party's vote, with 17 other voters casting their ballot for a write-in candidate.

"I think that tonight what we proved is that the thing that is important in politics is having hard work and effort and we have that," Bachmeier said, as he was catching his breath while standing in the street outside his grandparents' home.

Shortly after the results were announced, Rawn said he would vote for Bachmeier in November rather than Hess.

Upon hearing the news of his victory, Bachmeier and his equally young campaign manager, Daniel Almasl bolted out of the basement of Bachmeier's grandparents' house where they had been awaiting election results.

They then ran through the street letting out celebratory howls as they ran around the block and waved an open bottle of sparkling cider.

After a weekend of knocking on doors and encouraging his supporters in the Havre district to get out to the polls, Bachmeier said he did not spend much of primary day campaigning.

Though he thought the day would be much more frantic, he said he was excited but at the same time resigned to his electoral fate, whatever it might be.

Rawn said Monday that he planned on spending much of Tuesday fishing at Fresno Lake, before returning to his home in Havre later that night.

Bachmeier went to the polls at Havre High School at about 5:30 p.m, before stopping by the home of Pam Hillery.

Hillery, a powerhouse in Hill County Democratic politics, has been among his staunchest and earliest supporters.

Bachmeier said last fall he encountered Hillery while walking home from school, when she asked him if he was going to run for state representative.

Bachmeier had said he would not only enter the race but would be the district's next representative.

"And that is the fire in the belly you need to win a race," Hillery said.

Bachmeier said he has a 17-page platform touching on many issues, but the bulk of his attention will be on advocating for the needs of the middle and working classes, which he referred to as the backbone of the economy.

Come November, he said, he is confident that he will unseat Hess and reclaim the seat for Democrats.

Though Havre has traditionally been a Democratic stronghold, Republicans have bested them in state legislative races in the past four election cycles.

"There is no reason why a Republican should hold this seat," he said, noting that in statewide races Havre still tends to break for the Democrats.

Nonetheless, he has been warned by some such as Hillery that Hess is a formidable opponent.

Recent reports filed with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices show that she has at least $3,263 set aside for the general election, along with a county and state party that is firmly in her corner.

Debi Friede, a former chair of the Hill County Democratic Party, who backed Bachmeier, said that she doesn't think unifying the party will be difficult.

She said the tone during the primaries despite some differences has been largely civil.

"They've played nice in the sandbox, so to speak, so I think it will be more than easy for us to move on," Friede said.