John Adams is probably still stuck cross-eyed after staring at charts all night Monday, but before he lost his vision- he put together a graph depicting the primary fights for those running for the Montana legislature.
Adams also had this for The Great Falls Tribune:
Of the 125 state House and Senate seats on the line this election cycle, nearly half will feature contested primaries.
The Republicans are looking at 40 contested legislative primary races, with 28 of those occurring in the House. The Democrats are facing 25 legislative primary battles, with 20 of those taking place in the House.
Well hey, look at that….it looks like my friend John Pulasky is running for the legislature. Tom Lutey reports:
One local Democrat to watch is weatherman John Pulasky in the Billings Heights, said Lauren Caldwell, Montana Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee director. Pulasky has been giving Montana forecasts since 1976 and has a voice as familiar as Taylor Brown’s on Montana AM radio.
Brown, a Republican senator, owns Northern Broadcasting, which carries Pulasky’s reports. Republican Clayton Fiscus is the incumbent in House District 43, where Pulasky is challenging.
Caldwell said this is the first election cycle since 1978 that Democrats have a candidate in all 150 legislative districts. Democrats have 24 contested primaries, but only three contested incumbents.
Now for the next featured item….I think this is supposed to be a criticism of a conservative candidate in Whitefish, but most Montanans will probably take this as a strong endorsement. Either way, a good read by liberal blogger James Conner at The Flathead Memo:
Just 30 years old, his resume is already impressive: state champion high school debator, graduate of Flathead High School, honors graduate of Gonzaga University, law degree from Washington and Lee University in Virginia, legal practice in Pennsylvania. Then, a return to his boyhood home, the Flathead Valley. Today he serves on various nonprofit boards, once served on Kalispell’s school board, coaches legislative debate at Flathead High, and practices law in Whitefish. Among his legal services: gun trusts.
His name: John Michael Myers. His political persuasion: Republican. His ambition: representing Whitefish’s House District 5 (map) in the 2015 Montana legislature.
He has political promise, and he could be trouble for Ed Lieser and the Democrats.