Montana’s special election Thursday to replace GOP Rep. Ryan Zinke’s House seat is very close, and the candidates’ attacks on one another appear to have little influence on voters.
Zinke was nominated by President Donald Trump on April 28 to become secretary of the interior. Zinke’s following confirmation left his seat open in Montana, allowing GOP candidate Greg Gianforte and Democratic candidate Rob Quist to pounce.
“The race has certainly tightened in the final weeks, with GOP polling showing a race in the low single digits. Privately, national Democrats are a bit more skeptical of the prospect of an upset — instead looking ahead to next month’s special election runoff in Georgia as their chance to send a shockwave through the political system,” NPR reported.
Emerson College Polling reported in April that “Gianforte led Quist 52 percent to 37 percent in the Emerson College poll, seven percent of voters saying that they were undecided.”
Republicans are worried about loosing this seat in the Senate, and have brought up Quist’s financial ties and the reported tax-liens involved. His routine marijuana use was also brought to light, when court records were released saying he smoked marijuana “two or three times a month,” Politico reported. Medical records were even obtained about Quist, which said he has tuberculosis-causing bacteria “since grade school.”
Meanwhile Democrats worry Gianforte is too similar to Trump since he’s an outsider, a wealthy business owner, and has promised to “drain the swamp.” The Democrats have also claimed the GOP candidate has ties to Russia, according to Politico. Gianforte has also been especially criticized for his statements on health care, due to President Trump’s struggles with “repealing and replacing” Obamacare.
“There’s been so much money thrown at this race — it’s the most expensive race in Montana’s history and the shortest race in Montana’s history — [that] it’s reached a saturation point,” said Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines.
“Private GOP polling shows Thursday’s contest for Montana’s lone seat in the House of Representatives has tightened slightly in the home stretch. Gianforte confirmed as much on Tuesday, twice declaring to roughly 40 residents in a park here that, ‘This race is closer than it should be,’” Gianforte told Politico.
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