by WTF 406 Staff | Nov 26, 2022 | Elections
Had enough of election politics? Well, that’s true for most of us here in Montana. But then came the news that Montana’s former Secretary of State – turned mediocre country western singer – Corey Stapleton is running for president. Stapleton obviously has no lack of ego and a certain attraction to delusional thinking, that’s for sure. So let’s take a quick look at his illustrious political career just to see what kind of president he might be.
Is he a political hack?
In 2020, a court ordered Stapleton to remove the Green Party from the ballot following revelations that the Montana Republican party spent $100,000 to qualify the Green Party for a slot on the ballot. It was an obvious underhanded attempt to siphon votes from Democratic candidates. As Secretary of State, Stapleton not only supported this kind of game, he appealed the court decision to the US Supreme Court . . .twice. His petition was denied both times.
Is he ethically challenged?
In August of 2020 the Billings Gazette wrote an editorial with the following title: “Stapleton Shows Why He is Unfit for Any Office.” The editorial says it better than we possibly could: “There was the issue of the nonexistent voter fraud that Stapleton referred to in public, then blamed the media for reporting. There was the problem with the unauthorized expense to the state for a personal ‘big truck’ he used to commute to work. There was the attempt to declare a bill vetoed by the governor as the law of the land, a move a judge found to be ‘without constitutional or statutory support.’ There was the botched voter guide and rush-job $265,000 correction, commissioned from a political ally’s print shop without bid. And there was the fine for using resources from the Secretary of State’s Office to announce his campaign for governor — a campaign he later abandoned to run instead for Montana’s House seat when that position looked more easily attainable.” Thank you, Billings Gazette.
Is he an ambitious politician?
In 2000, he was elected to the Montana Senate where he sat for two terms. In 2012, he ran for governor and lost the Republican primary to Rick Hill. In 2013, he announced he was running for the U.S. Senate but withdrew when Steve Daines also announced. Instead, he ran for Congress, losing in the 2014 Republican primary to Ryan Zinke. In 2016, he ran for Secretary of State and won – going on to prove his arrogance and incompetence in public office as summarized by the Billings Gazette above. In 2019, he again announced his intention to run for governor but withdrew and ran for Congress, losing in the 2020 Republican primary to Matt Rosendale. And now he is running for President of the United States.
Wait! We almost forgot. . .now he is a country western singer. He just released his second album. So is he a good country singer? Um. . . meh. Check it out for yourself. https://ffm.to/westernson
Well, there we have it. Now Corey is running for president. Who on earth would vote for an ethically challenged hack with a record of failure and mismanagement? Maybe country music fans? Of course he won’t win. . .will he? Well, most of us thought the same about Donald Trump. Stay tuned.
by WTF 406 Staff | Nov 7, 2022 | Elections
By K.T.
Wondering which political party will benefit from the inclement weather we are likely to see election day? Of course no one really knows but a quick cruise on the internet finds plenty of opinions. As most of us know, the media pundit class has been predicting a Republican victory nationally and here in Montana. As usual, their speculation is not based on much but their own bloviated opinion, verbal vehemence and continued reliance on polling which has proven to be inaccurate. . . particularly in the Trump Election of 2020.
But still the human desire to know the unknowable drives most of us to speculate on the many factors that create an electoral victory. Did the candidate work hard enough? Raise enough money? Did the candidate have a compelling message? Was the candidate’s “profile” appealing to some imagined voter? Some of these things can be based on facts but most of it is conjecture and speculation.
And that brings us to the weather. Most of us agree that you don’t really know what the weather is going to be. . . until a day or two before it happens. Unlike prognosticators and politicos the people who predict the weather have a fairly good record when it comes to short term forecasts. The question is, will inclement weather affect the election?
First, it’s important to remember that a lot of people have already voted by mail. The political site FiveThirtyEight (ABC News) says about a third of all voters vote by mail and that Democrats are far more likely to vote by mail. If true, then a big storm on election day would work to the advantage of Democrats.
But remember, in the 2020 Montana election all voting was done by mail (with return postage included) because of the pandemic. The result was a lot of low information voters, and people who rarely voted in the past cast a ballot because it was so easy. . .and they voted for Trump and voted for a straight Republican ticket. So much for the idea that Democrats do better with mail ballots. One could argue that because these voters aren’t likely to vote if they have to sign up for absentee ballots and buy a stamp they won’t show up again. Who knows?
Another interesting factor is that the election denier crowd is extremely distrustful of mail ballots. They are almost universally hard-core conservatives and Trump supporters. If they vote at all (they may not because they believe the whole system is corrupt) they will do it on election day. If the weather is bad they may just stay home. Problem is we don’t know how many of these folks there really are and by most accounts they are a very small vocal minority.
If you are reading this blog we hope you already voted by mail. If you haven’t, get out your winter boots and go vote. Here’s a link to polling places https://www.voteinmt.org/cascade
by WTF 406 Staff | Nov 1, 2022 | Abortions Rights, Elections, Housing, LGBTQ+ Issues, Militia and Hate Groups
By K.T.
What do you say about a husband and wife team serving in the legislature and representing your community? We thought we did away with the concept of royalty long ago. Of course this is different, but it still feels so. . .feudal. And in the tradition of a feudal system, Steven Galloway and Lola Sheldon-Galloway seem to be in lockstep with each other when it comes to their politics.
Steven Galloway is currently running for House District 24. He was swept into the position in the 2020 Trump wave. He defeated Barbara Bessette, who is currently running against him to regain her seat.
Steven and Lola Galloways have six children and are active in the Mormon Church. Politically, both are on the far right of the Republican Party. They have hosted local militia meetings (See our post https://wtf406.com/2022/09/galloways-host-militia-fundraiser/) and participated in the efforts to undermine our election system by advocating Donald Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen, despite the fact that Republicans won every race in Cascade County, (https://wtf406.com/2022/09/the-big-lie-in-cascade-county/)
Steven calls himself a businessman. He and his wife, Lola, own 23 apartments, six rental houses, and six commercial properties. Those commercial properties include the local Dairy Queens, Do It Best Hardware, and Great Falls Lumber. All in all, he has built quite the little kingdom. Galloways’ real estate investments alone are worth almost $2.5 million.
Politically, he is ultra conservative. He also introduces legislation that affects his business interests. He’s sponsored five bills dealing with property valuation and/or landlord tenant relations. He’s endorsed by the NRA, The Montana Family Foundation, and the Montana Shooting Sports Association (if the NRA is too liberal for you, MSSA is for you)
Lola is loopy, agitated, and angry. She was elected in 2017 to represent House District 22. You might wonder how she and her husband both serve in the House of Representatives from different districts when they live in the same house. Well, Steve doesn’t live in the district he represents. This seems to be common among Great Falls Republicans (See our previous post about Representative Steve Gist’s residency issues (https://wtf406.com/2022/10/where-in-the-world-does-steve-gist-really-live/ )
Lola consistently shows up at far-right gatherings in Great Falls. She protests abortion at Planned Parenthood, pushing a baby carriage with a doll in it. She helps the militia raise money. She pushes election conspiracy theories. She helped organize efforts to stop legal marijuana sales in Great Falls.
The bills she carries in the legislature are consistent with her activism in town with a pinch of Trump conspiracy theories as well. In the last session, she brought bills to limit marijuana sales (died), prohibit censorship by social media (died), revise election laws related to absentee ballots (died), and to establish a “pain capable” unborn child protection act (passed. . . unfortunately).
The House of Galloway has thrown its support behind the efforts of far-right takeover of the local and state Republican Parties. The hard right in Great Falls is now centered in the local Pachyderm Club after losing a long and acrimonious battle with moderates for control of the Republican Central Committee. Lola received The Pachyderm Club’s highest award, the Golden Tusk in 2020. She is currently on the State Republican Party Executive Board, which took a dramatic turn to the right at its last convention. She was also a Montana Delegate to the last National Republican Convention.
by WTF 406 Staff | Oct 28, 2022 | Elections, Housing, LGBTQ+ Issues, Recovery, Schools
By K.T.
It’s called a “Super Majority.” And Republicans are just two legislative seats away from having it. It means that, in addition to the crappy bills they pass in the legislature, they will be able to change the foundation of our government that protects citizen rights. . . the Montana Constitution. And they just can’t wait to do it.
First, they will be able to propose constitutional amendments by referring them to the ballot, if they garner the support of two-thirds of legislators. That means that 100 politicians in Helena can put amendments to our constitution on the ballot. Currently, amendments can only be proposed by gathering enough citizen signatures. It’s hard to do, meaning that lots of amendments are proposed, but few actually make it to the ballot.
Second, a super majority can call for an unlimited constitutional convention by referring a convention call to the ballot. If approved, a convention can propose changes to virtually anything in the constitution by a vote of the delegates. At a time when large swaths of the Republican Party support the January 6th insurrection and believe the hocus pocus dished out by the likes of Donald Trump, it is scary to think about what they would do to our constitution.
We encourage everyone to look at our constitution. It is an amazing document. https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca_toc/index.htm We thought it would be good to list a few of the rights we stand to lose if the Republicans achieve their super majority in this election.
Section 4. Individual dignity. The dignity of the human being is inviolable. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws. Neither the state nor any person, firm, corporation, or institution shall discriminate against any person in the exercise of his civil or political rights on account of race, color, sex, culture, social origin or condition, or political or religious ideas.
Section 8. Right of participation. The public has the right to expect governmental agencies to afford such reasonable opportunity for citizen participation in the operation of the agencies prior to the final decision as may be provided by law.
Section 9. Right to know. No person shall be deprived of the right to examine documents or to observe the deliberations of all public bodies or agencies of state government and its subdivisions, except in cases in which the demand of individual privacy clearly exceeds the merits of public disclosure.
Section 10. Right of privacy. The right of individual privacy is essential to the well-being of a free society and shall not be infringed without the showing of a compelling state interest.
Article IX (1) The state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations.
Article X, (2) The state recognizes the distinct and unique cultural heritage of the American Indians and is committed in its educational goals to the preservation of their cultural integrity.
Of course these are just words on paper (or pixels on a screen). The constitution comes alive over time and primarily through actions in the court system. Here in Montana and nationally conservative Republicans believe they have lost many of their goals in the courts. One result is that they have made it a priority to replace judges who don’t share their views. This is probably the reason so many evangelicals supported Trump. . .and he delivered for them by appointing three Conservative Supreme Court justices. Here in Montana, Supreme Court candidate Jim Brown is the epitome of a judge with a Republican agenda.
Changing our constitution would be the Holy Grail for the far right in Montana. And they are very close to being able to do it in the Montana Legislature. The stakes in this election are very high. If you care about protecting our constitution, vote for Democrats.
by WTF 406 Staff | Oct 27, 2022 | Abortions Rights, Elections, LGBTQ+ Issues
By K.T.
Well, Election Day approaches, and it appears there is a scramble by the Republican Party to put money into Scot Kerns’ bid for House District 23 (See our article on Kerns https://wtf406.com/2022/10/separation-of-church-and-state-not-for-kerns/).
In the last monthly reporting period that ended October 15, Kerns reported receiving over $6,500. A large chunk of that came from Republican organizations and officials. Here’s a breakdown.
Former and current legislators:
Mark Noland (Flathead County)…………………………………….$250
Steve Fitzpatrick (Cascade County)……………………………..$100
Steve Gist (Cascade or Flathead County?)……………………$400
Jedediah Hinkle (Gallatin County)………………………………..$250
Brian Hoven (Cascade County)…………………………………….$200
Wendy McKamey (Cascade County)…………………………….$50
Jerry Schillinger ((McCone County)……………………………….$250
Jon Sonju (Lewis and Clark County)………………………………$100
Other Republican Leaders and Officeholders :
Kristen Juras (Lieutenant Governor)…………………………………………$100
Joe McKenney (Great Falls City Commissioner)………………………..$100
Desma Meissner (Lost primary to McKamey)……………………………$50
Russ Miner (Legislative Candidate Cascade County)…………………$100
George Nikolakakos (Legislative Candidate Cascade County)…….$208
Republican PACs:
Cascade County Republican Central Committee………..$200
Cascade Republican PAC………………………………….$400
So, why do you suppose Kerns is getting this late infusion of cash from politicos in the Republican Party? Could it be that they can see that Kerns’ opponent, Melissa Smith, has run a strong campaign? Could it be that Kerns has not run a good campaign? Could it be that this house district has the best “numbers” for Democrats in Cascade County? Probably all of the above.
