Jefferson County Republicans welcomed U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy on Sept. 29 to their annual Fall Harvest Festival at Kleffner Ranch, where he and a raft of party candidates for state and local offices doubled down on core party themes leading up to the Nov. 5 general election.
“Common sense for Montana means a secure border, safe streets, cheap gas, cops are good, criminals are bad, boys are boys, and girls are girls,” Sheehy said in his keynote address to more than 150 local GOP supporters.
“Those of you who know these elusive Trump-Tester voters, believe it or not, they’re still out there,” he continued. “Trump’s leading the state by 20 points, and I’m up two, three, seven, nine — who knows? When you find these people, don’t be mean! Buy them a coffee, buy them a beer. Sit them down and talk to them about the issues. Because if Jon Tester runs on the issues, he loses. It’s that simple.”
In addition to candidates, the festival welcomed Montana State Republican Party Grassroots Director Debbie Churchill, who touched on the party’s opposition to Constitutional Initiative (CI) 126 and CI 127, which, if passed, would dramatically change Montana’s primary and general election procedures.
“These two initiatives are funded by dark-money, out-of-state, liberal groups who are spending millions of dollars to see them passed,” said Churchill. “126 and 127 basically implement ranked-choice voting in Montana, and they’re trying to pretend like they don’t.”
Sheehy, alongside Lt. Governor Kristen Juras, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, and State Senator Becky Beard, who is running to represent District 38, echoed the need for high voter turnout and community involvement in order for Republican candidates and party positions to succeed in November’s general election.
The Fall Harvest Festival, while largely a celebratory evening meant to support Sheehy and “circle the wagons” around other successful primary candidates now competing in the general election next month, placed particular emphasis on the race for vacancies to the Montana State Supreme Court.
“We’ve got the Legislature. We’ve got the Governor’s office. We’ve got all five state-wide land board representatives,” Knudsen said. “But the Supreme Court is killing us, folks. We’ve got two Supreme Court Justice candidates right here that we have got to get elected.”
The Court candidates, former deputy Attorney General Cory Swanson and Flathead County District Judge Dan Wilson, are vying for vacancies created by the retirements of Chief Justice Mike McGrath and Justice Dirk Sandefur, respectively.
“It’s very important that you support Wilson and I,” said Swanson. “It’s very important that we win both seats. I’ve spent a lot of time with Judge Wilson on this campaign, in discussions we’ve had about the law and how judges should do their job. It’s our duty to interpret the law and the Constitution. Not to change the law; leave that to the legislature.”
The current Clerk of Supreme Court Bowen Greenwood also spoke to the party’s perceived need to increase its influence over the court.
“I can say this for a fact; I am the one and only Republican anywhere near that court right now,” said Greenwood. “The rest of the Supreme Court runs on a non-partisan basis, but not me! I have the ‘R’ behind my name. I’ve been a Republican all my life. And I can’t change the court’s opinions. I can’t change the world. But the court is where the fight’s at. We’re getting good bills signed, but the court is stopping them. We can’t afford to lose our beachhead at the court.”
Other candidates who addressed the evening included Vice-Chair of the Montana Board of Public Education Susie Hedalen, who is running for Montana State Superintendent of Schools, and former Department of Health and Human Services employee Jill Sark, who hopes to represent House District (HD) 79 in the state legislature. Current Montana Service Commission President James Brown, who seeks election to the office of State Auditor and Insurance Commissioner, also joined the evening’s cohort.
