Bishop, Cooney, Gianforte on the ballot for governor: Mike Cooney

In the race for Montana's governor, Democratic Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney is facing Libertarian candidate Lyman Bishop and Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., who is making his second bid for the seat instead of running for re-election to the U.S. House.

Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock cannot run for re-election due to term limits and is challenging Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., in Daines bid for a second term.

Cooney said he is brushing off attack ads running against him.

"This is politics and you got to have a thick skin to be in politics," he said. "I'm being attacked for being a public servant for most of my life, and I'm very proud of the service I've provided to the people of Montana, I'm grateful that Montanans have given me that opportunity and as a result I've been able to bring results to the people of Montana throughout of my career." 

He said he finds ads attacking him for being in public service for 44 years "incredibly offensive" because Gianforte is attacking all public servants - teachers, military personnel, police men, firemen and people in public health.

To insinuate that someone in public service doesn't hold a real job is an incredible insult, Cooney said, adding that he thinks it really points out the character of his opponent and he should be ashamed of himself.

Cooney said he has run no attack ads, although independent groups are running ads attacking Gianforte.

"When you look at the one ad that I have out there it's a positive ad, I'm talking about how I've been able to bring results to the people of Montana and I think that's what Montanans want to hear," he said. "Obviously, politics is a tough business, and you got to be prepared for it."

Gianforte at a Governor's Income Tax Advisory Council meeting in 2002 said using a sales tax and lowering other taxes in the state was a good idea, and he once jokingly made the comment that the fairest tax is one others pay and he doesn't.

Ads are attacking him on that issue.

Gianforte said he never made those comments and says he opposes a sales tax.

Cooney said that ad is an independent expenditure - but something he talks about in his campaign is truth and accountability.

"Mr. Gianforte can't run from what he has said and the positions he has taken," Cooney said. "(Gianforte) has supported a statewide sales tax. He testified before the Legislature when I was a state senator in favor of the statewide sales tax, he said it was the ideal solution for Montanans, he also said the fairest tax is the one that we pay and he doesn't. Now, he wants to come out and say he never supported a statewide sales tax, and well that's simply not true.

"Remember this is the guy who lied to police and anybody who would lie to the police, how can Montanans trust them?" Cooney added.

Gianforte pleaded guilty to assaulting a reporter the night before he won a special election to the U.S. House in 2017. His original statements to the police were that he did not assault the reporter.

Cooney said people should trust him because he has a record in Montana. Montanans have chosen him on a number of occasions - state legislator, secretary of state, lieutenant governor, he said, adding that Montanans have been kind to let him serve till he has hit the term limits.

"Montanans can trust me because they know me, I'm a lifelong Montanan," he said. "I'm a fourth-generation Montanan and all throughout my public service all I have done is focus my attention on making Montana better, bringing results and my results really do show my commitment to the state of Montana and Montanans don't have to look very hard to find all of this."

COVID-19 has been a challenge, he said, and when the federal government passed the buck to the states, he said, he thinks the state has done well.

He said he and Gov. Steve Bullock immediately hit the ground running and were on the phone early on trying to find and obtain personal protective equipment, so that they could keep the state's first responders and front-line people healthy.

He added that they spent day and night doing that and are continuing to.

"We're not satisfied that we've solved all the problems, we've been working hard to make sure that we get testing materials because we know that if we are going to keep our people healthy we need to be able to test people, and to be able to make sure that we're following, to track, trace any outbreaks that happen," Cooney said.

He said too many people have died, but Montana still has an "incredibly low" death rate and infection rate compared to others states, and Montana's unemployment is one of the lowest in the nation.

"So we have not only worked hard to keep our people healthy and safe, but we're also trying to grow and get people back to work in our state, and that's got to be our focus," Cooney said.

" ... When I say this is about trust and about accountability people can look at how we've responded, people look what he has and hasn't done and they can certainly see where the rubber meets the road and who's getting the job done, who's not showing up and who doesn't take this seriously," Cooney said.

He said one thing would have done differently was instituting a statewide mask requirement, he said.

He said not everybody is staying home, people are traveling and he thinks the science out there behind the masks right now is irrefutable.

"We need to make sure that Montanans are wearing masks, and I think that I would've approached that differently than the governor," he added.

He said continuing to get Montana out of this crisis is going to remain first and foremost one of the issues facing the governor's office, and making sure that they maintain and do everything that they can to keep Montanans healthy, safe and at the same time continuing to work to get people back to their jobs and grow the economy.

"We can't take our eye off the fact that, even pre-COVID, we knew there were a number of issues that we had to face, obviously making sure that we are protecting our public lands and not selling to the highest out-of-state special interest group and I think that's very important,"  Cooney said, "making sure that we're dealing with health care in the state, making sure Montanans have access and to affordable health care throughout, protecting our rural health structure in the state - that's going to continue to be very important. Making sure that we're driving down the cost of prescription drugs."

Pre-COVID, he said, employers were telling him they were having a hard time to fill jobs they really needed because they were having a hard time finding people with skills.

He said the state and governor's office needs to make sure that the state has an education system that addresses that, and that allows Montanans to prepare themselves to take any job that comes their way, no matter where.

"I'm a lifelong Montanan, and throughout my career of public service I have led on increasing wages and job opportunities, on protecting and expanding access to our health care and defending public lands," Cooney said. "I've dedicated my life to serving Montanans, and I'm proud of that. I have a record of results and Montanans trust me to get the job done.

"I'm running to bring Republicans and Democrats together," he added. "I mean, you can't tackle big issues on your own, you need to build partnerships.

"... I grew up in Montana, I share Montana values and I'm running to protect future generations just like (Sept. 9) my grandson turned 11 weeks old, " he added "I want to be able to turn over a better Montana to him and his generation than what was given to me - that's gotta be our goal, that's a Montana value, that's what Montanans want to do."