HELENA — Hillary Clinton will look to pad her lead in Montana’s election Tuesday after securing enough delegates to win the Democratic presidential nomination, as state GOP leaders come to grips with the popular surge behind presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Montana’s primary was to be a side skirmish in the Democratic candidates’ battle to win California, which also votes Tuesday and has the most Democratic delegates of all 50 states. But according to an Associated Press count that includes unpledged superdelegates, Clinton locked up the nomination over Bernie Sanders on Monday.
There are 21 Montana delegates at stake for the Democratic candidates, and they will be proportionally divided based on the election’s outcome. The state’s six Democratic superdelegates have said they will commit to a candidate after Tuesday’s election.
Sanders became the first active presidential candidate to campaign in Montana, making stops in Missoula and Billings to thousands of cheering supporters last month. A week later, former President Bill Clinton spoke in Billings, and Hillary Clinton began setting up her ground game by opening offices in cities across the state.
As Clinton neared the required number of delegates, Montana Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy Kennan said voter interest in the presidential race remained high in the state. “I still think it’s important that the election happens and people come out to vote,” she said.
Trump spoke in Billings last month in something of a victory lap on the day he secured enough delegates to win the Republican nomination. He also won the endorsements of U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke and U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, a signal that Montana Republican leaders are consolidating behind the candidate.
Some are falling in line more quickly than others, Montana Republican Party Chairman Jeff Essmann said.
“I have talked to a large variety of Republicans that strongly support Trump, and there are others that are coming around more slowly,” Essmann said. “I think most Republicans will vote for the candidate who will most protect their economic freedoms and hopes, and that’s definitely not Hillary.”
Montana’s primary election also will decide or confirm the party nominees for governor, U.S. House, four statewide offices, three Public Service Commission spots and a slate of legislative seats. Three of the seven state Supreme Court positions are also up for election, though only one is contested.
Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock and his likely opponent in November’s election, Republican businessman Greg Gianforte, face only token primary opposition. None of the other top-tier congressional and statewide races features primary challenges.
The real primary contests are being fought in the state House and Senate, where an ongoing ideological split between moderate and conservative factions of the Republican Party is playing out with multiple incumbents being challenged by other members of their party.
Some of the contests have been bitter, with candidates filing allegations of campaign violations against their opponents and independent groups buying ads and distributing mailers attacking certain candidates.
Essmann acknowledged the split, but said there is a long period between the primary and general elections to unify the party.
“The month before the primary election, as any Democrat or Republican partisan will tell you, is the absolute worst month to be in politics,” he said. “You often have friends running against each other.”
Democrats also have several contested legislative primaries, but Keenan said those races aren’t as acrimonious as the Republican elections. The bigger issue will be uniting Sanders and Clinton supporters to defeat Trump in November, she said.
“I watched it in ’08, when Clinton lost to (President Barack) Obama. Folks said, ‘That’s it, I’m done, I’m not voting for Obama,'” Keenan said. “But when we as a country and as a party saw what was at risk, at stake, that’s when everybody comes together to fight the fight.”