Candidates throw hats in the ring for U.S. House

The race for Montana’s soon-to-be-established second seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is starting to take shape, with Democrat Laurie Bishop and Republican Al Olszewski officially announcing their candidacies this month.

House District 60 state Rep. Laurie Bishop, who has served three terms in the state Legislature, announced she’ll be running on the Democratic ticket during a July 1 morning event in Livingston. Olszewski, a former GOP state lawmaker who most recently ran in the 2020 Republican primary for governor, was scheduled to announce his candidacy at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell at 6 p.m. on July 1.

The race has already been entered by former U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, who most recently served as Secretary of the Interior under the Trump administration and announced his candidacy in late April. Zinke’s announcement came on the heels of the news that Montana’s population has grown enough for the state to regain a second seat in the U.S. House—a seat it lost following the 1990 census.