Republican Hopefuls

The year to come is an election year and as such it is a great year for politicians, pundits, campaign strategists and politically oriented columnists like yours truly. The rest of you, on the other hand, will be forced to suffer through campaign ads and political stumps (assuming any of the candidates visit Glasgow more than once this time around, but I digress). For those of you not as enthralled by the gladiator show that is primaries and general elections the following should catch you up on the Republican hopefuls for the Senate nomination.

Troy Downing is a California businessman, and Air National Guard veteran. Early turmoil in Downing’s camp, however, has likely harmed his shot at landing the nomination. If you missed it, it was revealed that Downing was cited for certain hunting violations that more or less proved he was not strictly a Montana resident, but rather a California resident hunting cheaply under the auspicious of being a Montana resident despite being a multi-millionaire. That, for obvious reasons, has not helped his prospects in the Big Sky State.

Next up for the Grand Old Party is Ron Murray. Murray is also a businessman, albeit a much smaller businessman than Downing. The Belgrade resident currently works as a dog trainer amongst other entrepreneurial gigs.

Murray has no political experience, but hammers home his support of the normal Republican issues. Notably he supports infrastructure spending, his website alludes to immigration control under its “security” paragraph, and he supports using natural resources and most notably coal in Colstrip (of which I have expressed my skepticism on, but has seemingly become a hallmark issue for right wing hopefuls in Montana). Murray is not without his own early turmoil. Lee Newspapers reported he had been investigated, along with eight other Republican candidates, for coordinating their campaigns and taking illegal donations from a national anti-union group. This was in 2010 during a failed attempt at a State House run. Murray settled with the commissioner of political practices, agreeing to pay a $6,000 fine and perform $14,000 worth of community service.

The next Republican hopeful is Dr. Al Olszewski. This Great Falls native grew up in a blue collar house, and put himself through medical school. He then served 10 years as an Air Force doctor before settling with his wife and five kids in the Flathead Valley. He worked as an orthopedic surgeon for a couple decades before successfully running first for State House and then successfully for State Senate. He currently serves Senate District 6. Although a fairly typical Republican, his crusader topic is railing against regulations. He specifically targets regulations that he claims made it hard for him to treat patients in his private practice. He is very much opposed to the Affordable Care Act (which was a pretty unpopular place to be in 2017 for most Montanans who benefited from the law) and this is despite the fact that he left for politics in 2014 just a few years after the ACA was enacted. That being said, he is currently without scandal, which is anomalous on this list so far.

Not quite last, but certainly a strong candidate for the Republican ticket is Russell Fagg, a former judge and sometime guest columnist to the Courier. He is a Billings native and graduate of U of M Law School. After graduation he served as a Supreme Court clerk, two state legislature terms, as a prosecutor and assistant district attorney in Yellowstone County, and finally as a judge for over 20 years in Billings.

Fagg is a pretty straight forward Republican with well thought out policy on education, jobs, and a balanced budget. He is also without a major controversy, and as a 20-year elected judge, he has experience in campaigning and winning elections. He was also apparently identified by the Montana Democratic Party as a strong favorite in the race. Check out some of his opinion pieces in the Courier to get a feel for his political mind.

Last, and certainly a candidate I will be talking about again in 2018, is Matt Rosendale. Rosendale is currently the state auditor, and he has quite the colorful persona. Claiming to be a rancher (which he bought after making lots of money), and the “son and brother of U.S. Marines” (he didn’t serve himself, mind you) he wears a high and tight flat top that is rivaled, in politics at least, only by his potential opponent Jon Tester. His work experience was in growing a real estate firm from one office to four, and he joined politics in 2010 by successfully obtaining a seat in the state legislature. In 2014 he became the senate majority leader, and in 2016 became the state auditor. To say he is unique is a mild way of putting it. Endorsed by national conservative luminaries such as Ted Cruz, he is a champion of Tea Party values (like balancing the budget and reducing the deficit despite his party voting for corporate tax relief adding trillions of dollars to the debt, but again I digress). In essence, he is a strict conservative Republican who really doesn’t deviate from the far right agenda at all.

Other than Cruz his other mainstream political endorsement from outside the state is Mike Lee, a Utah delegate Senator who was instrumental in Trump’s reduction of Bears Ears and Grande Staircase-Escalante. So as if being supported by law makers who are diligently anti-public lands wasn’t enough, he is also endorsed by the most controversial face in modern politics today. That is Steve Bannon for those of you not in the know. The same Steve Bannon who supported Roy Moore inspire of his failings in Alabama. If that election is a bellwether to how the future plays out for extreme conservatism than Rosendale’s endeavor could be a difficult one.Even if he gets the party nomination.