As of the candidate filing deadline Mar. 11, election season is now fully underway. Some offices will proceed directly to November’s general election, such as Jefferson County’s District 3 Commissioner race, while others, like Senate District (SD) 38, have finalized slates for the upcoming June primaries.
In the Commissioner’s race, only two candidates have emerged to represent Montana City and Elkhorn in county government.
Keith Foley, Board President of the Jefferson Local Development Corporation (JLDC), and Craig Doolittle, who served as Sheriff in the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office for nearly 20 years, are both community advocates who hope to utilize their experience on behalf of their communities.
Foley, a U.S. Army veteran with a breadth of federal contracting experience, hopes to reinvigorate the county’s strategic planning effort through project-specific grant-seeking and actionable yearly goals. “My work with the JLDC has given me unique insight into some of the problems we face in the county,” said Foley. “I have an understanding of this community’s long-term needs, and of what successful community building looks like.”
Doolittle, who was reelected County Sheriff five consecutive times, says he has intimate knowledge of Jefferson County’s emergency management function and the day-to-day operation of county-wide services. “I managed 50 employees for 20 years, right here in Jefferson County,” said Doolittle. “This is clearly very different work from that of the Sheriff’s Office, but there’s overlap in the skills and knowledge needed to successfully serve this community. The challenges I faced as Sheriff have well prepared me for the challenges of this office.”
The newest contender for SD 38’s seat in the legislature, HD 78 Rep. Gregory Frazer, will face SD 40 Sen. Becky Beard and Jeremy Mygland, a Montana native and local small business owner, in a Republican contest this summer to determine who will face Democrat Jeffrey Benson in a general election this fall. Frazer and Beard both have been redistricted out of their former roles.
Frazer, a two term state representative who spent nearly 20 years working in a variety of roles for the Department of Corrections, aims to build his campaign around union protections, criminal justice reform, and addressing property tax hikes that have deeply affected everyday Montanans.
“After two sessions up in Helena, I’ve learned how critical it is to invite stakeholders and fellow legislators to share their experience and expertise, and to inform policy,” said Frazer. Frazer hopes to utilize his Corrections and legislative experience to support criminal rehabilitation programs, and to articulate policy that prepares offenders to participate in normal life.
“Do we want a system that sends out people who reintegrate with society, or do we want one that sends out criminals?” said Frazer. “We don’t want people who enter the criminal justice system to leave it and just return to crime; that only creates more victims.”
While Foley and Doolittle begin campaigning for November, and others for an impending primary season, local candidates are also launching bids for special district races, including library, fire and water boards. They are listed in an accompanying chart.
