Ask yourself, how often do “moderate” Republican legislators actually represent themselves as moderates when facing tough primaries? Answer: NEVER. Why? Because GOP primary voters do not vote for moderates. So these Big Government Republicans – whose DNA more closely matches that of the Big Government Democrats – try to deceive us by calling themselves “conservatives.” Once elected, the truth comes out. We discover that we have just elected another kissin’ cousin to the Democrats!
A perfect case in point is Flathead County, where two “RINO” Republicans are running for re-election against strong conservative primary challengers. Rep. Courtenay Sprunger in HD 7 went to Helena and consistently voted with the Democrats on important legislation, earning her a Montana Conservative Alliance scorecard rating of just 13%. Only slightly higher was Rep. Tony Brockman in HD 8, with an anemic 22% conservative rating. It is fair to say that these legislators are NOT limited government conservatives. When the chips are down, they vote with the Democrats and hope no one will notice. It’s no surprise that liberal Democratic special interests are targeting their races and helping to fund their campaigns.
I strongly encourage GOP voters to straighten out this misalignment mess by supporting Shaun Pandina in HD 7 and Lucas Schubert in HD 8. Rather than looking to government to solve all our problems, these two men look to the Constitution first, reject unconstitutional expansions of government, and place their faith in freedom and free markets. When Shaun and Lucas say they are conservatives, they mean it!
Roger Koopman, president
Montana Conservative Alliance