On Jan. 14 the filing season opens for anyone intending to run for public office in Montana who plans to be a candidate in the June 8 primary election. This formal opening of election season marks a time when political junkies start poring over maps of state legislative districts, reporters (like me) swing by the county courthouse every day or so to bother the elections officials there over whether anyone new has filed, and normal people groan and shake their heads in disbelief that it’s been only a year since the last big election.
The Montana Democratic Party sent out an e-mail blast today soliciting funds and touting three of its declared candidates in battleground districts: Willis Curdy in Missoula’s H.D. 100; Sheila Hogan in Clancy’s H.D. 77; and Kendall Van Dyk in Billings’ S.D. 25 – a race with the potential to be the spendiest in Montana political history.
For those wondering, the filing season runs from Jan. 14-March 15. May 10 marks the deadline for voter registration for the primary, though a late registration period begins after that.
In the Flathead, we ought to have some interesting races shaping up, particularly Kalispell’s H.D. 8, where incumbent Cheryl Steenson has declared she won’t run.