The March 25th Special Election

I’m writing this blog during the day of the March 25^th Special Election for Montana Representative between Republican Greg Gianforte and Democrat Rob Quist.

Since I don’t yet know the election outcome I thought I’d write two versions in this blog in light of the recent assault charges again GOP Candidate Greg Gianforte.

Will Gianforte win or lose? Here are my two versions of this race.

Greg WINS!

Perhaps people realized they made a mistake during the governor's race, or Quist just had too much more baggage than Gianforte, but the assault on the Guardian reporter didn’t seem to slow down the alt-right from heading to the polls.

Conservatives are not big fans of the left-leaning press and may have seen the altercation as a positive rather than a negative and voted accordingly.

There was a stark difference between the two candidates on healthcare, the second amendment, public lands and taxes.

But the real issues in both campaign ads seemed to dwell on the candidate’s personalities and largely ignored the issues that are most important to Montanans.

Since Greg dodged a huge bullet, let’s hope he can put this distasteful episode behind him and represent us proudly in Washington.

Greg LOSES!

No question that a physical assault on a Guardian reporter probably turned many pro-Gianforte voters off and kept them home.

It was a side of him that supporters had never seen before.

Or, it could have been a backlash of anti-Trump feelings that still resonate with voters since the November presidential election and the assault was like stepping on the Democrat’s gas pedal.

Perhaps voters felt that Quist was just more in touch with them since he’d had financial problems that many voters could identify with.

Or, the Gianforte New Jersey millionaire tag worked just as well in this election as it did in the November race for governor.

For whichever of the above reasons, Rob Quist will be the next representative in Congress for the great state of Montana. We wish him well.

Some Final Thoughts

No matter how the race turns out, I have at least a 50-50 shot at calling it correctly.

There are times I’ve lost my temper — and that didn’t serve me well. Most of us have at one time or another. But violence seldom produces an outcome that’s satisfactory to all parties. Patience and constraint, while not as satisfying, usually work best in the long run.

I guess today’s question might be — “If you voted early — are you still happy with your vote?”

Comments below