HELENA — Tuesday was the deadline for independent candidates seeking to get on Montana’s November ballot to turn in petition signatures – and two of the three independents running in congressional races believe they’ve done enough to qualify.
(Watch the video to hear from the two candidates.)
Candidates had until 5 p.m. Tuesday to get their signatures to county election officials across the state. Now, election staff are checking whether those signatures meet the requirements to be counted.
“We wanted to make sure that we have more than enough to clear that hurdle; we feel very confident that we do,” said former University of Montana president Seth Bodnar, running as an independent for U.S. Senate.
Bodnar says his campaign turned in more than 30,000 signatures – more than double the 13,327 he needs to qualify. The Montana Secretary of State’s Office reported that, as of Tuesday night, county officials had accepted 11,359 signatures and rejected 4,196, with many more yet to be processed.
“We heard from Montanans, we spoke with many Montanans and we heard a loud and resounding call for a new approach,” Bodnar said.
Election officials review petition signatures to make sure they’re from a registered voter in the county that received them, that the voter is active, and that the signature matches the one on file for that voter. They will need to submit their final tallies to the Secretary of State by Monday, June 1 – the day before the primary that will determine the partisan candidates for these races.
Bodnar’s campaign faced a late question over their signature gathering. Last week, a woman from Havre filed a complaint with the Secretary of State’s Office, saying she was in Missoula May 16 when a man approached her and offered to pay her if she would sign Bodnar’s petition.
A spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s Office says they have forwarded the allegation to the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices for investigation.
Bodnar says his campaign has taken the rules for signature gathering very seriously.
“We don't have an identity of this petition gatherer, by name or by description,” he said. “But I tell you, as soon as we received word of this, we reiterated once again to our entire team that our campaign will never tolerate the type of conduct alleged in this complaint. If we can find additional information, we will make sure we take all appropriate action.”
Commissioner of Political Practices Chris Gallus told MTN he is aware of the allegation regarding Bodnar’s campaign, but that there has not been a formal complaint filed with his office yet.
It’s unclear what action Gallus could take in response to this type of claim. Some of the laws that could be applicable, like the one banning “illegal influence of voters,” prohibit giving or offering money in exchange for voting, “refraining from voting,” or voting for or against a particular candidate or issue – but they don’t specifically mention signing a petition.
The Montana Democratic Party linked to a news article about the allegation on social media Wednesday.
“Out-of-state money paying out-of-state consultants to bribe Montana voters? Seems like the Republican playbook, not an independent one,” their post on X said.
In addition to Bodnar, there were independents running in both of Montana’s U.S. House races. In the eastern congressional district, Great Falls cardiologist Michael Eisenhauer said in a video posted to social media that he expected to qualify for the ballot.
“I'm ready now to put my administrative experience and passion for public service back to work on issues important to all of us, in support of small businesses, farms and ranches, and for the people and families of Montana's second United States congressional district,” he said.
Eisenhauer needs 7,274 signatures to reach the general election. The Secretary of State’s Office says counties had accepted 7,010 and rejected 4,210 as of Tuesday evening – again, with more yet to be processed.
In the western district, Kimberly Persico, an environmental consultant from Hot Springs, told MTN she knew she did not collect enough signatures to qualify for the general election. Her only signature gatherers were herself and a few volunteers, and she said weeks ago she considered it unlikely that they’d be able to get the 6,742 signatures she needed. The Secretary of State’s Office says counties had accepted only 562 and rejected 156 as of Tuesday.
Persico said she’s encouraging the people who supported her to vote for Democrat Russ Cleveland or Republican Ray Curtis in next week’s primary, saying she found them closest to her views on issues like opposing dark money in politics. She doesn’t plan to make another run, saying she saw this election as the best opportunity for an independent to appeal to voters frustrated with the major parties.
“This was a one-off for me,” she said.
In addition to the congressional candidates, three independents filed to run for the Montana Legislature – and the Secretary of State’s Office says one already appears to have enough signatures to get on the ballot. Shayne Morgan is running in House District 76, primarily covering Powell and Granite Counties; he needs 198 signatures to qualify and county officials have already reported accepting 199 and rejecting 39.
Counties have not yet reported any signature totals for Jason Wilson, running in House District 37, in Fergus and Petroleum Counties; or for Kelley Durbin-Williams, running in House District 90, primarily in Missoula and Mineral Counties.
