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    Legislative Control Final

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    The parties are racing for control of the 2009 Montana Legislature, with Republicans trying to regain majorities in the House and Senate. Currently Democrats hold a narrow majority in the Senate while Republicans control the House. All 125 legislative seats are up for election in November. Both parties see many districts as competitive and are campaigning aggressively across the state. The outcome could impact the ability of the Legislature to pass a budget and legislation, as partisan divisions led to a collapse in the 2007 session.

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    Legislative Control Final

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    dennis.swibold3413
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    The parties are racing for control of the 2009 Montana Legislature, with Republicans trying to regain majorities in the House and Senate. Currently Democrats hold a narrow majority in the Senate while Republicans control the House. All 125 legislative seats are up for election in November. Both parties see many districts as competitive and are campaigning aggressively across the state. The outcome could impact the ability of the Legislature to pass a budget and legislation, as partisan divisions led to a collapse in the 2007 session.

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    The parties are racing for control of the 2009 Montana Legislature, with Republicans trying to regain majorities in the House and Senate. Currently Democrats hold a narrow majority in the Senate while Republicans control the House. All 125 legislative seats are up for election in November. Both parties see many districts as competitive and are campaigning aggressively across the state. The outcome could impact the ability of the Legislature to pass a budget and legislation, as partisan divisions led to a collapse in the 2007 session.

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    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    52 views3 pages

    Legislative Control Final

    Uploaded by

    dennis.swibold3413
    The parties are racing for control of the 2009 Montana Legislature, with Republicans trying to regain majorities in the House and Senate. Currently Democrats hold a narrow majority in the Senate while Republicans control the House. All 125 legislative seats are up for election in November. Both parties see many districts as competitive and are campaigning aggressively across the state. The outcome could impact the ability of the Legislature to pass a budget and legislation, as partisan divisions led to a collapse in the 2007 session.

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    of 3

    For immediate release

    Oct. 7, 2008

    EDITOR’S NOTE: These stories are produced by University of Montana journalism


    students under the supervision of Professor Dennis Swibold. They may be used without
    charge by any news publication, provided editors retain the students’ bylines. Please
    contact Professor Swibold ([email protected]) with any questions.
    You can also find this story and others on the upcoming election at
    www.montanaschoice2008.blogspot.com.)

    Parties race for control of 2009 Legislature


    By MOLLY PRIDDY
    Community News Service
    UM School of Journalism

    Despite the unprecedented spotlight on the race for president, the most competitive
    and influential races in Montana may be those for the chronically divided state
    Legislature.
    “As close as the Legislature is, everything is really important,” said Kevin O’Brien,
    Montana Democrat Party spokesman. “There’s not one place in this state that’s not
    competitive right now.”
    Erik Iverson, Montana GOP chairman, said Republicans will try to regain control of
    state politics by taking majorities in both the state House and Senate.
    “We’ve put a premium on winning back the Montana Legislature,” Iverson said.
    “That’s my No. 1 priority.”
    Although districts near Billings and Whitefish and in the Bitterroot Valley have been
    targeted as swing districts, O’Brien said Democrats are campaigning door-to-door, border
    to border.
    “This thing is close and every race matters a lot,” O’Brien said. “If you have one
    candidate out there who’s not working that hard, that could cost you the majority.”
    Currently, Democrats have a 26-24 majority in the Senate, while Republicans hold a
    50-49 edge in the House. The conservative Constitution Party holds one seat, giving the
    GOP an effective majority on typically partisan issues like spending and taxing.
    In all, 125 seats are up for election in November: half of the 50-seat Senate and all
    100 seats in the House.
    Montana has been Red state in recent decades, O’Brien said, but Democrats are
    making a comeback.
    “There’s not one place in this state that isn’t competitive for Democrats right now,
    and that wasn’t the same thing 10 years ago.”
    He credits the shift to strong Democrats elected in the past 10 years, like Gov. Brian
    Schweitzer, U.S. Senator Max Baucus and U.S. Senator Jon Tester.
    “We feel good in areas that are traditionally Republican strongholds,” O’Brien said.
    He expects gains in the Bitterroot Valley, where Democrats now hold majority of
    county commissioner seats, and in traditionally Republican Flathead County, where the
    party has made inroads
    “If you would have said that to somebody 10 years ago, they would’ve thought you
    were crazy,” O’Brien said.
    Iverson said the Republicans are taking a more scientific approach to legislative
    races. Of the 125 legislative seats up for grabs, Iverson said the GOP is focusing on 32
    seats: If they win those seats, they would have solid majorities in both houses.
    He broke the races down into three categories: vulnerable incumbent Republicans,
    vulnerable incumbent Democrats and open seats.
    The party’s money will go only toward races that are close, he said.
    “We’re not going to get involved in a race for the state Legislature in a seat that isn’t
    somewhere between 45 and 55 percent Republican seat,” Iverson said. “I’m not going to
    spend money on a race where our candidate is going to win 70 to 30 or our candidate is
    going to lose 30 to 70.”
    Western Montana is a hotbed of swing districts in the state Senate, according to
    Iverson.
    “Two of our best opportunities to take seats away from the Democrats in the
    Montana senate are right here in Western Montana,” he said.
    In Senate District 2, where incumbent Sen. Dan Weinberg, D-Whitefish, decided not
    to seek re-election, Republicans are betting on newcomer Ryan Zinke, a 48-year-old
    retired Navy SEAL who supports small-business growth.
    Zinke is pitted against Democrat Brittany MacLean, a 38-year-old widowed mother
    of four from Whitefish, who is campaigning door-to-door.
    In Senate District 7, which encompasses Sanders and Mineral Counties, incumbent
    Democrat Sen. Jim Elliott is leaving an open seat due to term limits. Republican
    contender Greg Hinkle of Thompson Falls will battle Rep. Paul Clark, D-Trout Creek.
    Iverson added that the GOP is especially interested in the district because of a write-
    in campaign run by Judy Stang, a former Democratic county commissioner who lost to
    Clark in the primary election. Iverson said splitting the Democratic vote could benefit
    Hinkle.
    In Billings’ Senate District 2, Republican Taylor Brown, a well-known farm and
    ranch broadcaster, is challenging incumbent Sen. Lane Larson. Both Brown and Larson
    have considerable war chests, and the race is projected to be the most expensive in the
    state.
    House District 8 features a battle between incumbent Rep. Craig Witte, R-Kalispell,
    and Democrat Cheryl Steenson. Witte won the traditionally Republican seat in 2006 by
    only 37 votes.
    Both parties agree that every seat is crucial for the upcoming legislative session. The
    2007 session collapsed because of partisan bickering, with legislators failing to pass a
    state budget for the first time in history.
    Iverson said lack of civility was to blame for the Legislature’s debacle in 2007.
    “Republicans and Democrats are equally guilty for what I think is an embarrassingly
    partisan tone,” he said.
    While the races are still up in the air, Iverson said another split session is a distinct
    possibility.
    “We want to win the election,” he said. “But more importantly, once the election is
    over we have to govern. We have to figure out a way that we can reach across the aisle
    and bring in enough Democrats that we can pass an agenda that we want, and that means
    compromise.”
    For Republicans, the 2009 agenda includes legislation for job creation, developing
    existing natural resources, property-tax relief and cuts in state spending.
    O’Brien referred to the 2009 Democratic platform as a “common sense agenda,”
    focusing on children’s health care, education, energy solutions and public access to land
    and water.
    -30-

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