Missoula attorney and Democratic State Representative Kimberly Dudik says she’s running to be Montana’s attorney general in 2020.
Current Republican Attorney General Tim Fox can’t run again because of term limits. Dudik is the first candidate to announce a bid to replace him.
She’s making public her 2020 plans shortly before she heads to the state capital for the legislative session beginning in early January.
The four-term state rep. says her behavior as a legislator will not change now that she is seeking the office of attorney general.
“I think what resonates with anyone regardless of their political party is they want people who seek elected office to agree to work together, to not fight, to not engage in partisan bickering. And that they want to see people who are willing bridge divides, work together and collaborate for what is best for Montana,” Dudik says.
Dudik’s campaign announcement follows success she had in the last legislative session carrying criminal justice reform bills that passed with wide bipartisan support.
Dudik says she running to make communities safer, protect children and to end the cycle of criminal recidivism in Montana.
The attorney general seat in Montana has, in recent years, become a stepping stone to the governor’s office. Current Democratic Governor Steve Bullock previously served as attorney general, a path also followed by Montana’s governor in the late 1990s, Marc Racicot.
Sitting Attorney General Tim Fox has said he’s considering running for the executive seat when he terms-out of his current office.
