You may not have heard much about Sandra Merchant, Republican candidate for Clerk and Recorder in Cascade County. But you probably have noticed that Trump cult members across the country are focusing on local election offices to advance their conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being stolen from Trump. So the question we have is, does Sandra Merchant buy into that mythology or does she not?
So we looked around to see what she had to say about her reasons for running for office. First stop, of course, are her campaign materials. Her web site is https://merchantforcountyclerk.com. Not a lot of content here, but that is not unusual in a campaign. Though you don’t always see scrolling advertisements for gun shows on a candidate website as you will on hers. She also lets readers know that she organized a homeschooling group “in her community.” Hard to say where or when that was. Of course neither of these things have a hell of a lot to do with local election integrity.
So, on to her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/smerchant4cascadecountyclerk. Not a lot here either. Nice photo of Ronald Reagan and nice photo of her and a saddle horse. Always interesting to look at “friends” on these pages. Her friends list has some people from the right flank of the local Republican Party including local legislators, Jeremy Trebas, Steven Galloway, and Steven Gist. Far right county commission candidate Rae Grulkowski is also a friend. Interestingly the Clerk and Recorder’s office reported that Grulkowski accompanied Merchant into their office to file for office, introducing her to the staff saying Merchant had come to file for the Clerk and Recorder position.
Perhaps the more interesting thing about her friends list is that none of the “moderate” local Republican officials (like Fitzpatrick, McKamey and Buttrey) are on her friends list. Desma Meissner, who ran from the right against Wendy McKamey in the Republican primary, is on her friends list. Last but not least, the wackiest Republicans in Great Falls . . . Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci and Sheriff Jesse Slaughter are also on her list of friends. With that said, we don’t think many of us would want to be judged by the list of people on our Facebook friends list.
Next up, public statements in the media. Unfortunately local politics are simply not covered in the Great Falls Tribune, which is now a shadow of its former self. The Great Falls Electric is good but doesn’t cover local political campaigns. Neither of these papers provide for local editorial comment which is where most campaigns will put out pieces on issues of the day. This is a big problem in Great Falls and perhaps a topic for another day. For the purposes of this article, there is just nothing there.
So, what to do? Well, check the local right-wing rag. . .the E-City Beat. Interestingly E-City started this election cycle with bold proclamations about doing tough candidate “surveys” for their readers but backed off when Republican activists pointed out to them that it might damage Republican candidates. So now they are just taking puff pieces from candidates. . .all Republican. And, of course, they still publish hit pieces on local Democrats. . .particularly female Democratic candidates.
Bingo! E-City Beat has a piece by Sandra Merchant. Unfortunately not a lot here. The only thing we could find about the election fraud mythology was this statement, “Election security is a big topic right now. I will do all I can to be sure we have fair, accessible, honest, and accountable elections.” Meh.
OK, let’s try looking at her campaign’s contributor list. Some of the activists from the Great Falls election fraud promoter crowd appear here. See our post https://wtf406.com/2022/09/the-big-lie-in-cascade-county Lola and Steven Galloway ($500), Rita and Ron Staley ($800), Jan Wenass ($50), Desma Meisner ($50) to name a few. But hey, you can’t just assume that candidates share the views of their contributors. . .completely.
After looking through all of this stuff all we can really tell is that she doesn’t have any experience or education for serving as Clerk and Recorder. It appears she lived in New York and had a “horse business” there but nothing about how or why she came to Montana. She also worked as a medical coder for ten years and served in the Civil Air Patrol. None of that indicates any knowledge of the duties of the Clerk and Recorder. But probably most important her materials ignore the “elephant in the room,” election fraud.
So, we reached out to Sandra Merchant and just asked for her position on the election fraud myth. Here’s the email we sent:
Dear Ms Merchant,
We are preparing an article on your candidacy for Cascade County Clerk and Recorder. Unfortunately we have been unable to find much information on your positions on specific issues. In particular, we would like to know your position on whether or not significant election fraud occurred in the 2020 election and specifically whether you believe that Donald Trump won the 2020 election. We look forward to your reply. Thank you.
Why I’m supporting Penny Ronning for Montana’s Eastern Congressional District
Montana’s newly created Eastern Congressional District is a three-way race between Republican Matt Rosendale, Independent Gary Buchanan, and Democrat Penny Ronning. You likely have heard why Matt Rosendale sucks – he celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election on January 6th, and there’s a lot more ugliness where that came from. Rosendale is largely absent from Montana with a reputation for avoiding meetings with his constituents. But you might have noticed that Independent Gary Buchanan and Democrat Penny Ronning have supporters within typically Democratic circles in Great Falls. What the Funk wanted to provide our readers two comparison opinion pieces of why some people are supporting Gary Buchanan and why others support Penny Ronning. You can check out our guest contributor post about Gary Buchanan on the blog.
But for me, I’m voting for Penny Ronning for Congress.
The first time I met Penny Ronning was at a meet and greet event in Great Falls. I wasn’t sure who I was supporting in the Democratic primary, and I wanted to make sure that the candidate I voted for was a true advocate for LGBTQ rights, abortion rights, working people, and the environment. Penny did not let me down. She spoke strongly to the heart of why those issues are important and how she will fight for them.
Penny Ronning is a force for change.
Ronning effectively served on the Billings City Council, led community organizations to develop economies, and co-founded the Yellowstone County Area Human Trafficking Task Force. She has been a long-time advocate for victims of human trafficking and has participated in national committees developing policy and authoring legislation to combat this devastating issue. Penny Ronning has traveled all over our Congressional district to meet voters where they are and listen. Since the first time I met her in Great Falls, she has made the consistent effort to return again and again. Penny Ronning is working hard to be a voice for everyday Montanans.
Penny Ronning has a proven track record of support for human rights that are currently under attack in our country. I know that she will stand up for LGBTQ rights, because she already has. I know that she will stand up for reproductive rights, because she already has (numerous times, see here too!).
When I vote for Penny Ronning, I know what I am getting. A fighter for me. For us. For Montana. Penny Ronning has been consistent and honest about her stance on the issues since day one. We deserve someone brave and willing to put in the work day in and day out. We deserve Penny Ronning in Congress.
Let’s start with the easy stuff. Matt Rosendale is a bigot and a liar. His race baiting statement in opposing the Juneteenth Holiday was a blatant racist dog whistle. His stomping around the state in a cowboy hat and big belt buckle calling himself a rancher when he owned no cattle and didn’t even have a registered brand was and is a bold-faced lie. Just two examples. I will support whoever I think will really go after him . That person is Gary Buchanan.
I am a lifelong liberal Democrat having run twice successfully for the Montana Senate and once for the Montana Public Service Commission. I served as a local Democratic Central Committee Chair and did a stint on the State Executive Board. When I was in the State Senate, I also served as one of four board members of the Montana Legislative Campaign Committee. This is the first time in my life I have supported an independent candidate for anything.
In my career in politics, I learned how to look at the numbers of past elections. The simple fact is that it would take a truly extraordinary democrat to win in the Eastern Congressional District. At a minimum, that person would have to have name recognition across the district and connections beyond the usual Democratic constituent groups. More importantly, that person would have to be able to raise enough money to be a serious contender against Rosendale’s bank roll provided by the far right. Looking at the field of Democrats in the primary I simply didn’t see anyone who met these basic criteria.
I’ve supported plenty of Democrats over the years who were unlikely to win. To me it’s about more than that. To beat Rosendale, we need someone who will aggressively and effectively go after his record in Montana and in congress. Win or lose Gary Buchanan will do that. I know it from personal experience.
The electric deregulation mess is fading into the past. Just remember that it is the worst economic disaster in our history. When the bill passed in 1997, I was amazed at the broad support it received from politicians, big business, and even organized labor. The opponents at the time were seniors, low-income advocates, and environmentalists. It was a lop-sided political battle, but Buchanan didn’t care. He saw the economic folly of the proposal and got active. I watched him give testimony, read his editorials, and had numerous discussions with him about deregulation and its politics. He was fearless and forceful. He did not give a damn about partisan politics or who he might offend.
I don’t agree with Buchanan on lots of things. I’m not impressed that he has worked for both Republican and Democratic administrations. I’m not enamored with his profile as a serious businessperson or the support he is receiving from so-called moderate Republicans. I’m not persuaded by those who argue that he will split the Democratic vote and be responsible for Rosendale’s re-election. A traditional Democratic campaign, underfunded and over matched, has almost no chance of winning anyway.
I know that Buchanan will say what he means and do what he says. He’s not going to play a bunch of political games to get elected. He understands that Matt Rosendale is an embarrassment to Montana. He has the character, experience, and personality to call Rosendale out.
Do y’all remember when folks with kooky ideas were mostly just fun? Sure, they thought aliens built the pyramids. And maybe they were convinced that the Illuminati were secretly controlling the world. But those ideas were easy to dismiss because we collectively understood that information that couldn’t be verified was essentially fiction. Unfortunately, this kind of fun kooky persona has evolved into something far more sinister. Now, we face real world danger based on wild and unsubstantiated lies. What’s more, we’ve learned that simply being an elected official does not indicate a person is sane, stable, or even capable of good judgment.
Enter Jeremy Trebas, former House Rep and current candidate for Senate District 13. Trebas is facing off against Democrat Casey Schreiner. To be clear, I didn’t support Schreiner in his previous bid for Governor, and I don’t consider Schreiner to be a progressive. I don’t live in District 13 so I have no personal stake in this matter. I just think Trebas is really, really stupid, and the folks in his district deserve to know that.
Trebas’ concerns and areas of focus have become increasingly odd, to say the least. Most recently, Trebas spoke out in support of the Montana woman who killed and skinned a husky. An odd position to take, because loving dogs is perhaps the only truly a-political position Montanans all share. We’re dog people, even those of us who don’t hunt. Hunters too, shared a state-wide shiver seeing the innocent animal skinned and paraded as if this woman hadn’t just murdered a household pet.
In a surprising show of tenacity, Schreiner recently shared a number of Trebas’ more concerning posts. Among them, Trebas criticized Malmstrom’s Pride Month celebrations equating the events to “parad[ing] mental illness and degeneracy.” Perhaps Trebas is unaware that the military community includes service members that are also LGBTQ+? Does he view these service members as degenerates as well?
In conjunction with Trebas’ well-documented bigotry, he has vocally joined forces with another vile and destructive propagator of human pain, much like himself. That’s right, Candidate Trebas is here to tell us that we should all be kinder to- Polio. No, really. A resurfaced post of Trebas states, “There was no need for the polio vaccine.” Personally, I respect Trebas’ bodily autonomy (even if he doesn’t respect mine). Therefore I am totally okay with Trebas needlessly catching polio. But to argue that we didn’t need a vaccine for a disease that was killing and paralyzing kids? That’s heartless. Even for an anti-choice, anti-puppy, homophobic Republican.
So to close: Trebas is PRO shooting huskies and ANTI polio vaccine. Let’s hope he includes this info on his next mailer.
Representative Ed Hill of Havre strikes again with a tone deaf, ignorant, and embarrassing slew of statements on all sorts of issues at the most recent Hill County Pachyderms meeting. Instead of focusing on local issues that the people of House District 28 really care about (access to healthcare, inflation, infrastructure, funding public education, public lands) the Hill County GOP spent their meeting spouting off Tucker Carlson’s latest conspiracy theories about Public Education. Which is pretty ballsy considering word on the street is some folks voted for Hill for the Legislature in 2020 solely to REMOVE him from the school board.
The question-and-answer session focused on wildly unfounded beliefs about public schools and even calls to eliminate multiple subjects. The idea that public school curriculum needs to be reduced to only the essentials was echoed by Havre City Council President Andrew Brekke. “Reading, writing and arithmetic, forget all the other crap, teach a skill that, as an employer, I can hire, that’s what I want,” Brekke said. The Hill County GOP are clearly interested in children as future laborers rather than children as whole and well-rounded individuals. GOP supporters further expressed belief in a conspiracy theory that public school is part of a plan to destroy religion and the family.
“Not to talk about conspiracy theories, but people have been planning this for many, many years,” Brekke said. “Part of it is the destruction of families, the destruction of God, all of these things.” As it so often does, comments about religion soon turned to outright lies and bigotry. The discussion quickly moved to the blatantly false and homophobic idea that children in public schools are being “sexually groomed” a common homophobic and transphobic sterotype about the presence of LGBTQ+ educators and learning material featuring the presence of LGBTQ+ people.
Hill did not push back on any of these ideas. Rather, he tacitly endorsed the discriminatory lies, stating that efforts to groom children in education are wrong and anyone who doesn’t like it can leave the state.”
Instead of calling out these blatant lies, HILL DID NOT PUSH BACK ON ANY OF THESE IDEAS. Read it twice. The worst part of this whole meeting was the fact that these people said these comments OUT LOUD knowing the press was recording their every word. As a person in leadership I know what it’s like to get misquoted by the media, but I also know that they use tape recorders for nearly every meeting they report at…..so, no excuse.
Does the Hill County GOP really think they represent the majority and there would be no pushback? Social Media is currently engulfed by Ed Hill’s current dumpster fire of public comments. Let’s hope voter turnout for Paul Tuss is enough to extinguish it come November 8th.
For the complete bat shit story, check out the link below from Havre Daily News.
By Lindsey Ratliff Lindsey is a lifelong Montanan born and raised in the Malt Barley Capital of the World (Fairfield, MT). A Dirt Road Democrat and political junkie, she interned in Sen. Baucus office in 2012 and has been active with local Democratic races since. She currently lives in Havre where she teaches kids how to draw, paint, and discern between facts and bullshit. She is currently serving her 2nd term on the Havre City Council.
This past Friday, Democrats across the city gathered for an annual gathering of food and fundraising, but a new and welcome attendant joined the otherwise routine evening- Fury. Historically, Dems have been known for playing fair and avoiding ad hominem attacks. I’ve long been a critic of this incremental nice-guy approach, especially as the MAGA train has squashed any notion of polite politics. And while our candidates stayed true to their core value of focusing on issues and not their opponents, there was a newfound fire on stage last Friday.
We’re mere weeks out from the most important state election of our time. Republicans are a few seats away from a supermajority, and they have vowed to dismantle our State Constitution. This move is not only to ban abortion, but to fundamentally reshape Montana. While it’s clear our Dem candidates are still willing to work across the aisle, it seems they’re also done taking any shit when it comes to fighting for our rights.
Candidate for HD23, Melissa Smith, summed up what’s at risk this election saying,
“This is another 2016 moment. Are we going again to fail to do enough to stem the tide of right wing extremist who will ban all abortions, rewrite our Montana constitution – taking away our right to a clean and healthful environment, to privacy, to a quality public education, our voting rights, to understand the complete history of where we live with Indian Education for All, the right to love who we want to love, and to be free to be our authentic selves.”
First-time candidate Kari Rosenleaf is running to represent HD26. Rosenleaf may be a newcomer to politics, but she’s been an advocate for children her entire life. Rosenleaf used her 3-minutes to tell the audience she’s ready to fight for us, saying,
“I’m a public school teacher! I deal with and defuse tantrums all day. I wrangle and educate our most vulnerable kids. I can sure as hell deal with Republicans in the legislature.”
Indeed, the energy on the stage felt wholly different than other Dem events I’ve attended over the years. While the values and commitment to our state and its people have never waivered, the urgency of the moment seems clear to all. We’re at a turning point in Great Falls and in Montana. We’re dangling on the edge of immense government overreach, and a total loss of our freedom as we know it. While some have counted Great Falls out, this slate of candidates confirms what we’ve always known about our city- we’re scrappy af and we won’t go down without a fight.
My favorite speech of the night- the one that made me cry and fucked up my eyeliner, was from former Legislator and current HD24 candidate, Barbara Bessette. The only Indigneous candidate in our city, Bessette wore a ribbon skirt and a Roe shirt, owning her identity and her values with pride. It’s been a summer of overt racism towards Montana’s Indigenous peoples, but we’ll save that for another article. Too often, we ignore the fact that almost everyone in the room is White. We may like to fight on behalf of BIPOC people, but there’s seldom any real effort to follow their lead. Bessette’s speech was a fantastic reminder that Indigenous peoples were here first. They’re still here. And they’re still fighting.
So, Barb Bessette ruined my makeup, starting with this line from her speech.
“Im Standing up here because my ancestor’s survived genocide and oppression for centuries. I feel their strength and perseverance in everything I do. Their spirit is always with me.”
Truly, every candidate on the stage impressed me this weekend. They didn’t just name their values and read their resume. They acknowledged the danger we’re in, the weight of the oppression many of us face, and they told us how they’re going to take the Republican boot off of our necks.
House Candidates from left to right: Jasmine Krotkov, Lela Graham, Kari Rosenleaf, Barbara Besette, Melissa Smith
