Why Montana matters.
At the Secretary of State Project, one of our goals is to stop the next Katherine Harris. In 2006 we were successful in Ohio, Nevada, Minnesota, Iowa and New Mexico in keeping Republicans out of the office that controls our elections.
This cycle, one of our key states this cycle is Montana. Where a Republican operative who serves as Secretary of State threatens to roll back pro-democracy reforms and suppress the votes of students and minorities.
In the 2006 election, Montana farmer Jon Tester won his Senate race by less one percent, a mere 3,562 votes. The margin can be attributed to increased turnout as a result of Election Day Registration.
Transparency, democracy reform, and fair elections. That's what the Secretary of State Project works to achieve in key states. Election Day Registration in Montana helps more people cast a ballot that counts. and when more people vote -- especially people who have been traditionally disenfranchised like students, low-income folks, and African Americans -- we get leaders who represent all of the people, not just the monied interests.
Take a close look at this year's race for Montana Secretary of State. Linda McCulloch is challenging incumbent Republican Brad Johnson. She wants to help students and Native Americans vote. He wants make elections less fair and limit which citizens can cast a ballot on election day.
She's a former teacher and librarian, and currently holds the statewide office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. In that job she manages more people and a larger budget than the Secretary of State. Who is Brad Johnson? He's a Republican operative and former software salesman. He self-funded his first run for office with $117,000 or 66.37 percent of his campaign funds coming out of his own pocket, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics. He opposes Election Day Registration which provided the margin for Jon Tester's Senate win in 2006. She supports it.
This year Brad Johnson is vulnerable, but he's also outspending Linda McCulloch and can go deep into his own pockets to defeat her insurgent campaign to throw him out of office.
Montana has very low campaign contribution limits which means high number of small campaign contributions from the grassroots can make a big difference. Personally, I'm not a big political giver, but I gave $310 -- the maximum allowed by law -- to Linda McCulloch's campaign for Montana Secretary of State.
Electing reform-minded Secretaries of State is the most effective way to ensure clean elections. If you want to stop voter suppression at the source, make a contribution to McCulloch and our Secretary of State candidates in Oregon, Missouri and West Virginia today. Tell your friends who care about stopping the next Katherine Harris to consider us, too. Together we can take back our democracy.
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