With just four days left in the Montana filing season for legislative offices, both parties have a number of seats to fill.
On the Democratic side, there are four state senate seats and twenty-two state house seats with no Democratic challenger (as of 3/15/08). These seats include Senate Districts 6, 19, 34, and 36; and House Districts 2, 7, 9, 11, 14, 18, 27, 28, 30, 37, 39, 45, 50, 53, 56, 57, 61, 69, 70, 83, 89, and 90.
On the Republican side, there are ten state senate seats and eighteen state house seats with no Republican challenger. These seats include Senate Districts 16, 21, 24, 26, 33, 38, 43, 46, 47, and 60; and House Districts 15, 16, 22, 31, 32, 36, 49, 65, 73, 74, 75, 76, 80, 81, 85, 86, 91, and 95.
Don't expect all seats to be filled. Both parties usually leave a few without challengers simply because they cannot find anyone or (more likely) the seat is unwinnable.
Many times, a candidate may decide to file late for strategic reasons. Other times people just file late because they are just going to be a name on the ballot. When the filing fee is only $15 with no petition requirement, it's easy to throw your hat into the ring with minimal commitment. If you are going to run for the legislature, however, I believe that nothing beats an early start.
After the filing season is over, check out our elections page (upper right-hand column) to see updates on targeted legislative races. We should be able to narrow the field a bit after the filing deadline.
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