After Montana’s primary election on June 7, candidates in Montana’s gubernatorial race are building up their bank accounts to fund the contest in November.
Incumbent Democratic Governor Steve Bullock handily defeated his token primary opponent 91 percent to 8 percent. Because Bullock faced a primary opponent, Montana law allows him to keep over $900,000 he raised during the primary season.
Last week, Bullock infused his general campaign account with that unspent primary money.
Bullock's most recent campaign finance reports released Monday show the incumbent Governor has $1.4 million in his campaign war chest.
Republican challenger Greg Gianforte spent considerably more than his opponent during the primary season as he introduced himself to voters. He defeated his primary challenger 76 to 23 percent.
The Bozeman software entrepreneur also wrote himself another check to fund his campaign. The $100,000 donation brings his personal contributions and loans to his campaign close to half a million dollars.
Gianforte drained most of his primary account before Monday’s filing deadline. He spent more than $200,000 during the last filing period, over half of which was media buys and advertisements.
He now has just over a $13,000 in his campaign bank account.
Libertarian candidate for governor Ted Dunlap from Connor has not raised any money according to his finance records.
