Election filing deadline draws near
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MONTANA — With the filing deadline for county, state and federal offices less than a week away, candidates are tossing their proverbial hats in the ring… or at least thinking about it.
Several county offices are open, including county attorney, clerk and recorder, south county commissioner, justice of the peace, sheriff, superintendent of schools and treasurer. As of last Friday, March 4, Republican incumbents Katie Harding (clerk and recorder), Robin Vert-Rubel (county assessor/treasurer), and Carolyn Hall (superintendent of schools) were facing no opposition.
Republican James Lapotka, a current deputy county attorney, has filed to replace his boss, Steve Eschenbacher, who has not filed for reelection; and Sheriff Don Bell is facing opposition from Ronan police officer Corey White. Steve Stanley, who was appointed to fill Dave Stipe’s seat when he retired last summer, will face primary competition from at least two Republicans, Max Krantz and Roy Anderson. Two candidates are vying for the nonpartisan position of justice of the peace – current Polson city judge Mike Larson and Rick Schoening, a former detective with the Polson Police Department.
Incumbents Susan Gardner and Sigurd Jensen have filed to retain their positions with the non-partisan Lake County Conservation District; three seats are open on the board for four-year terms.
On the legislative landscape, seats are open in Lake County for House Districts 10, 12, 15 and 93 and Senate Districts 5 and 8. As of Friday, Republican State Sen. Bob Keenan of Bigfork had filed for HD 10, as had Republican Rob Tracy, while Keenan’s counterpart in the House, Republican Rep. Mark Noland, had filed for the SD 5.
Incumbent Democrat Susan Webber of Browning was unopposed in sprawling SD 8, which includes portions of the Blackfeet and Flathead reservations. In HD 15, which also spans the reservations, incumbent Democrat Marvin Weatherwax Jr. of Browning faces opposition from Democrat Adrien Owen Wagner of Heart Butte and Republican Betsy Johnson of Ronan.
Incumbents Linda Reksten of Polson (HD 12) and Joe Read of Ronan (HD 93), both Republicans, have filed to retain their seats, with Read facing competition from Polson Libertarian Devin Braaten.
Craig McClure, former chairman of the Lake County Democrats, has been part of his party’s efforts to reach out to potential candidates for local and legislative seats. “We do have several folks who are considering running and we’re hoping to have good candidates for HD 93 and 12 and the commission race,” he said. “Those are the ones we’re putting the most effort into.”
He notes, however, that a thorough trouncing of solid Democratic candidates during the 2020 election makes recruitment a challenge – that and the fact that running for, and serving in, the Legislature represents a major commitment of time and energy.
“It’s no small effort to run for office. In addition to spending four months in a legislative session, you’ve got a least four months prior to that to get out there and meet and greet and interact with people,” he said.
With Republicans holding solid majorities in the statehouse and the executive branch, “successful Democrats have to work harder in Montana to be elected. It takes a very special person to have the time and commitment to do that.”
Tracy Sharp, chairman of the Lake County Republicans, acknowledges that his party is riding high right now, making it easier to recruit candidates for local and statewide posts.
“We don’t really have any trouble on our side because we have incumbents who are doing a tremendous job for us,” he says. “But when you start getting down to the lower levels, it’s difficult for people to run for school board or for city positions.”
He also noted that recruiting legislative candidates is challenging for either party. “It’s a big sacrifice, whether for Democrats or Republicans, to go four months to Helena and be there for the winter months working in the Legislature every other year… so I think both parties have difficulty in getting people to serve in office at the state level.”
That doesn’t, however, diminish the need for engagement. “The political party doesn’t matter as much as getting good, ethical citizenry involved in politics again,” he says. “We don’t want an elite cadre. Ordinary citizens should be making the legislation that he supports and thinks we should be living by.”
Sharp, who grew up in Hot Springs and moved to Polson in 2012 after a lengthy military career, describes the local party as energized. “The people that I see are very anxious to get back to normality and I think they see normality as more on the Republican side than the Democrats’ side.”
In contrast, McClure, who has been engaged with local politics since moving to Polson from Yellowstone Park over a decade ago, describes the current political scene as “discouraging.”
“This last legislative session was an alarming situation for Democrats as far as what was jammed through the Legislature because Republicans had total control,” he says. “That’s one of the reasons folks are considering running – they know how important it is for Lake County and Montana to balance things out.”
Meanwhile, he’s encouraged to see younger people joining the party and enlisting in leadership roles. “As they get their feet on the ground and start moving forward, those of us who are a little long in tooth are standing by to help them out.”
By the time the filing deadline rolls around at 5 p.m. Monday, March 14, he’s confident Democrats will have stepped forward to vie for local and state positions. And he hopes that those who didn’t file, but considered it, “will be able to run in a future cycle.”
The filing deadline for Special Purpose Districts, including rural fire, water, sewer and irrigation districts, closed Feb. 7. School board candidates must file with their district office by March 24. Those elections take place jointly May 3. The primary election for county, state and federal offices is June 7.
For more information, visit www.lakemt.gov/election/election.html or the Secretary of State’s office, sosmt.gov/elections/.
