HELENA – A college business professor from Laurel says she is going to enter the Republican primary to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg.
A.J. Otjen bills herself as a “Teddy Roosevelt Republican,” and says current party leaders are too far to the right.
The Montana State University Billings marketing teacher is the fifth candidate for what will be Montana’s lone statewide race next year. Three Democrats are seeking that party’s nomination.
Otjen says that Rehberg is a far-right Republican.
The newcomer to Montana politics is proposing some ideas that run counter to leading Republican ideas, such as an increase in the top tax rate to help reduce the debt and support for legalized abortion based on the principle of individual freedom.
A spokeswoman for Rehberg welcomed Otjen to the race.