Within hours of an announcement that Montana Senior Senator Max Baucus would be retiring in 2014, political action committees have already been raising money to welcome Brian Schweitzer into the race.

The Political Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) has a website devoted to Schweitzer, in which it describes the former Montana Governor as "a bold progressive populist who supports single-payer health care and lists Paul Wellstone as one of his icons."

Elsewhere, a fundraising effort has netted 40 supporters with a total of $734 in contributions on the website ActBlue.com.

PCCC used the same tactic to raise money for Senator Elizabeth Warren. According to PCCC spokesman Matt Wall, the campaign for Warren raised "$100,000 before she ran...$1.17 million overall."

The same anonymous official that leaked Baucus' retirement plans also hinted that Schweitzer was considering a run for the seat.

In her article titled Schweitzer comments on reported Baucus retirement, reporter Marnee Banks of MTN News quotes Schweitzer as saying "Max has served in the U.S. Senate longer than any body in the history of Montana. "Nobody who lives in Montana can blame him for wanting to spend more time in Montana."

In the same article, Banks indicates that Schweitzer is not ready to jump into the U.S. Senate race quiet yet by and quotes him as saying, "I am focused like a laser trying to save 1,700 jobs at the Stillwater Mine."

 

 

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