It is expected that term-limited Montana Governor Steve Bullock will announce his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination later this month. That will give Montana its first presidential candidate in nearly 70 years. The last Treasure State political figure to be considered for the White House was Democratic U.S. Senator James Murray in 1952. Murray received 12 favorite son votes from his state’s 20-member delegation on the first ballot of the DNC in Chicago that July. Only Wyoming (1924, John Kendrick), North Dakota (no candidate), and Nevada (no candidate) have had longer droughts.

Posted in Political Crumbs

1 Comments

  1. John Chessant on May 5, 2019 at 9:02 pm

    If Bullock wins the nomination, he would be the second Montanan to appear on a state-winning presidential ticket.

    The first was Sen. Burton K. Wheeler (D-Mont.), who was the Progressive Party’s nominee for vice-president in 1924 on a ticket headed by Sen. Robert M. La Follette (P-Wis.); the ticket won “Fighting Bob”‘s home state of Wisconsin over incumbent President Calvin Coolidge (R) and Democratic nominee John W. Davis (D).

    Bullock seems especially likely to run for president, given his palpable disinterest in challenging Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.). This is one of several “recruiting failures” for the Democrats’ hopes for re-taking the upper chamber in 2020, alongside Stacey Abrams in Georgia, the Castro brothers and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke in Texas, and former agriculture secretary (and former Gov.) Tom Vilsack and first-term Rep. Cindy Axne in Iowa.

    Reply

Leave a Comment