MONTANA
      Nov. 4, 2014 U.S. Senate                                      

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 Sen.2
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+Steve Daines (R)
213,709
 		57.79%
Amanda Curtis (D)
 		148,184
 		40.07%
Roger Roots (L)
 7,933
 		2.15%

369,826
Registered voters: 674,264.  Votes cast: 373,831.
Plurality: 65,525 votes (17.72 percentage points)
 MT Secretary of State



REPUBLICAN PICK-UP
Notes:  This was an open seat.  Sen. Max Baucus (D) announced on Apr. 23, 2013 that he would not seek a seventh term, but a number of permutations followed.  On Dec. 20 President Obama announced his intention to nominate Baucus as U.S. Ambassador to China.  The U.S. Senate voted unanimously to confirm Baucus on Feb. 6, 2014 and he resigned to take up the position.  On Feb. 7 Gov. Steve Bullock (D) announced his appointment of Lt. Gov. John Walsh (D) to fill the Senate seat.

Walsh was relatively new to politics.  Before being tapped by Bullock to be his running mate he was Adjutant General of the Montana National Guard; he served in the National Guard for 33 years.  Walsh had already announced his candidacy for the open Senate seat on Oct. 3, 2013; his appointment to the Senate gave him a bit of an edge.  Democrats needed every advantage they could get, for in 2012 the Romney-Ryan ticket had carried the state by at 55.4% to 41.7% margin.

On the Republican side, freshman U.S. Rep. Steve Daines announced his candidacy on Nov. 6 (>).  Before being elected to the House in 2012, Daines worked in the private sector at RightNow Technologies and earlier at Procter & Gamble, and he also was the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor in 2008.

In the June 3 primaries, Daines won with 83.4% of the vote and Walsh with 64.0%, and a competitive general election race appeared set.  However, on July 23, the New York Times reported that Walsh had plagarized a final paper, and on Aug. 7 he quit the race.  Montana Democrats held a special nominating convention on Aug. 16 and selected state Rep. Amanda Curtis, 34, as their nominee.  A Washington Post headline described Curtis as "a gun control-supporting vlogger."

There was an early debate on June 14 in Butte featuring Walsh, Daines and Roger Roots (L).  In the fall there was one televised debate between Daines and Curtis, on Oct. 20 at MSU Billings (1, 2).
Campaign Managers:
Steve Daines  Jason Thielman
Campaign chairman on Daines' 2012 congressional campaign.  Vice president at Wiland Direct, 2009-12.  Campaign manager on Musgrave for Congress, 2009; district director to U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (CO), 2007-8.  Campaign manager on Bob Brown's campaign for Governor, 2004; chief of staff to Montana Secretary of State Bob Brown from 2001.  University of Montana graduate.  Chester, Montana native.
 
Amanda Curtis  Clayton Elliott
(ea. Sept. 2014)  Outreach director at the Montana League of Rural Voters.  Lobbyist and community organizer for the Northern Plains Resource Council from Apr. 2010.  M.S. in environmental policy and administration from University of Michigan, 2010; B.S. in economics, environment and natural resources from University of Wyoming, 2008.


John Walsh  Michelle Mayorga
Joined the campaign after serving as Western regional political director at the DCCC, Feb.-Oct. 2013.  Coordinated Director for the Democratic Party of New Mexico, 2012. National field director for Planned Parenthood.  Appointee to the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service in the Obama administration.  Mobile program manager at Rock the Vote.  Midwestern states/Florida political director on Richardson for President, 2007-8; deputy field director on Tom Vilsack for President, 2007.  In 2006 worked on the Jim Davis for Governor campaign in Central Florida, and finished the cycle in Nevada.  Deputy field desk (NV, OR, WA, WV) at the DNC in Fall 2004.  Speechwriter for the City of New York’s Department of Youth and Community Development under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.  B.A. in American studies and ethnicity, race and migration from Jonathan Edwards College (Yale College), 2003.  Miami, Florida native.

 
See also:
Kurtis Lee.  "With John Walsh's exit, Montana Democrats prepare to select new nominee."  Los Angeles Times, Aug. 12, 2014.

Jonathan Martin.  "Senator's Thesis Turns Out to Be Remix of Others' Works, Uncited."  New York Times, July 23, 2014.

Jonathan Martin.  "How Senator John Walsh Plagiarized a Final Paper."  New York Times, July 23, 2014.

Justin Franz.  "The Rise and Fall of John Walsh."  Flathead Beacon, Oct. 29, 2014.
 




dropped out Aug. 7, 2014
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