An update from Rep. Schwaderer

A lot has happened in Montana politics recently, blurring in a big way from the state level into the federal level. Former Senator Max Baucus, who served in DC for longer than this State Representative has been alive, has been confirmed and is now the United States Ambassador to China. In this scenario, it is the Governor of the State of Montana who is charged with appointing the replacement of the Senator to serve the rest of the term.

Leading up to the appointment, there was a lot of rumor and speculation as to who Governor Bullock would pick. Would he pick Lieutenant Governor Walsh, who is running for the Senate seat’s election this November, or pick a neutral party to focus on serving Montana in DC the next 10 months and let the election play out on its own?

In the end, and despite the protest of many on both sides of the aisle, Walsh was selected and put in place as Montana’s newest Senator. He now has the not-so-enviable job of working in the Senate in DC while trying to win his first campaign for that very seat. The heat turns up early, as Walsh will be facing at least one primary opponent in June.

It is clear that this is a strategy being leveraged to attempt to give Walsh an “edge” in fundraising and name recognition for the election this fall. Will it work? The history proves inconclusive at best.

Nationwide, the previous attempts to use an appointment to win an election are on a winning streak and have done well. However, as Montana does things its own way, this has not been the case in our state.

Early last century one Montana Governor in a similar situation resigned his post, had the Lt. Gov. (now Governor) appoint him as Senator, and was roundly defeated in his attempt to be elected into that seat. In the ‘70s, Gov. Judge appointed Paul G. Hatfield to finish out the recently deceased Lee Metcalf’s term. Senator Hatfield also lost in a big way to Max Baucus.

However, the history is not what is important. Thankfully, neither trends nor elected officials have say over the final outcome of these elections: you, the voters do. It will be an interesting few months leading up to the election and I sincerely encourage you to keep a close eye on the Federal races.

Rep. Nick Schwaderer