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Montana politics, elections and legislative news

Monica Lindeen Enters The Race For Montana Secretary Of State

Monica Lindeen.
Courtesy Monica Lindeen

State auditor Monica Lindeen hit the campaign trail this week, announcing her bid to become Montana's next secretary of state. Fellow Democrat Linda McCulloch currently holds that position and was re-elected back in 2012.

Montana State University-Billings political scientist, Craig Wilson, says the term-limited Lindeen loses nothing by getting an early jump on her campaign to replace McCulloch.

"I think she thinks there may be some benefit to going first, going early and try to raise some money. She's going to have to build some name identification so that people can link [her] with issues as [she] talks about them in terms of the secretary of state's office. My guess is that way less than half of Montanans know who the people are who hold these lesser statewide offices."

There's no U.S. Senate race next year in Montana and the current secretary of state, auditor and state school superintendent will all be term-limited out of office.

Wilson predicts a busy primary season.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see contested Democratic and Republican primaries for all three seats because of the nature of being an open seat."

Monica Lindeen's deputy, Jesse Laslovich, announced last month his candidacy to fill Lindeen's current position.

Gov. Steve Bullock is also actively fundraising for his re-election campaign.

Edward O’Brien first landed at Montana Public Radio three decades ago as a news intern while attending the UM School of Journalism. He covers a wide range of stories from around the state.
edward.obrien@umt.edu.  
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