Another election season is officially underway.

Filing opened for the 2013 municipal races Monday, April 29. It closes June 27 and the election is Nov. 5.

This year’s election features races for mayor in both Kalispell and Columbia Falls. Tammi Fisher announced earlier this year that she would not seek reelection after serving one term as Kalispell’s mayor. Don Barnhart has served as Columbia Falls’ mayor since 2009.

One mayoral candidate emerged on opening day. Mark Johnson filed on Monday for the Kalispell position.

There are four city council seats open in Kalispell and three in both Whitefish and Columbia Falls.

The open seats in Kalispell are currently served by Bob Hafferman in Ward 1, Jeff Zauner in Ward 2, Jim Atkinson in Ward 3 and Tim Kluesner in Ward 4.

Sandy Mundahl Carlson filed as a candidate in Ward 1 and Chad Graham filed in Ward 2.

The boundaries of Kalispell’s wards were tweaked and amended in January 2012. Click here to view the latest districts.

In Whitefish, the councilors whose terms are ending are Phil Mitchell, Bill Kahle and Chris Hyatt.

In Columbia Falls, the councilors whose terms are ending are Shawn Bates, Dave Petersen and Mike Shepard. No candidates filed on opening day.

A municipal judge position is up for election in both Kalispell and Whitefish as well. Bradley Johnson filed for reelection for the Whitefish seat. Lori Adams is currently serving as Kalispell’s city judge after replacing Heidi Ulbricht, who was elected to district court in November. Adams, a former Flathead County deputy attorney, was the lone applicant to replace Ulbricht.

For those interested in keeping an eye on who's filing, check out the county's website.

 

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Political figures from across the country have been commenting on the news of Sen. Max Baucus’ retirement, including the president, who thanked the senator for his decades of public service. I’ve attached several of the statements released today.

President Barack Obama:

“I want to thank Max Baucus for his nearly 35 years of service to the people of Montana. Max has made small businesses a top priority, often taking ‘Work Days’ to visit local businesses across Montana and spend a day working alongside his constituents to gain perspective and help bolster the local economy. As Finance Committee Chairman and a senior member of both the Agriculture and the Environment and Public Works Committees, Max has been a leader on a broad range of issues that touch the lives of Americans across the country. Michelle and I commend Senator Baucus on his career, and wish him and his family well in the future.”

Sen. Jon Tester

“Max’s number one priority has been – and will continue to be – making Montana a better place to live, work and raise a family. For years, Max has stood up for Montana values in Washington, and he has a lot to be proud of. I will miss his counsel and friendship in the Senate, but look forward to working with him for the next two years to move our state and our nation forward. I wish him and Mel nothing but the best as they spend the rest of their lives enjoying Big Sky Country.”

Rep. Steve Daines:

“For four decades, Senator Max Baucus has been a dedicated public servant for the people of Montana. I appreciate his lifetime of service to our state, and wish him and Melodee the very best as they finish this term and move forward with the next chapter of their lives. There are many challenges facing our country, and we need strong leadership in the U.S. Senate that puts partisanship and politics aside and puts the people of Montana and the future of our country first. It is critically important that this seat be filled by someone prepared to change the direction and culture of our nation.”

Gov. Steve Bullock:

“From leading the effort to prevent the privatization of Social Security, to ensuring that every child in this country has access to a doctor, Max Baucus has been a fighter for Montana, and a good friend to me. Montanans will never forget Max’s decades of public service or the incredible legacy he leaves behind.”

 

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Montana Sen. Max Baucus, one of the most powerful senators in the country, announced this morning that he is not running for reelection in 2014, relinquishing a seat he has held since 1978. Here is a full statement from the 71-year-old Democrat.

“Serving the people of Montana has been the greatest honor and privilege of my life. Over the past 35 years I have been lucky to go from working for just under 800,000 of the world’s best bosses to more than a million – and I am grateful to each and every one of them for the opportunity they have given me.

“When I first asked my hero and mentor Mike Mansfield whether I should run for U.S. Senate, he told me it would take a lot of hard work, a lot of shoe leather, and a bit of luck. In the next year and a half, I want to spend all my hard work, shoe leather and luck working for the people of Montana instead of on campaigning.

“So, after much consideration and many conversations with my wife Mel and our family, I have decided not to seek reelection in 2014. I will serve out my term, and then it will be time to go home to Montana.

“But, I’m not turning out to pasture because there is important work left to do, and I intend to spend the year and a half getting it done. Our country and our state face enormous challenges – rising debt, a dysfunctional tax code, threats to our outdoor heritage, and the need for more good-paying jobs.

“I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work. I will double down on legislation to permanently protect the American side of the North Fork watershed and keep the Rocky Mountain Front the way it is for future generations. I am going to put everything I’ve got into leaving Montana with strong Highway and Farm Bills that support jobs in our state. And I’m going full steam ahead to put on the best Economic Development Summit yet.

“At a national level, I will continue to work on simplifying and improving the tax code, tackling the nation’s debt, pushing important job-creating trade agreements through the Senate, and implementing and expanding affordable health care for more Americans.

“Deciding not to run for re-election was an extremely difficult decision. After thinking long and hard, I decided I want to focus the next two years on serving Montana unconstrained by the demands of a campaign. Then, I want to come home and spend time with Mel, my son Zeno, and our family enjoying the Montana public lands we’ve fought hard to keep open and untarnished.

“Above all else, I want Montanans to know how grateful and humbled I am to have had the privilege of serving them, and I look forward to working with them as I continue to serve the state I love for the next year and a half.”

 

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Two days after announcing that he now supports gay marriage, Sen. Jon Tester explained in an interview the reasoning behind his evolving views on the issue.

Tester told the Huffington Post Thursday morning that his decision to publicly support gay marriage was driven by personal interactions with gay couples in Montana. The senator joins a growing list of politicians to change their position on the issue. The Huffington Post article describes Tester's show of support as "one of the more unexpected, owing to his gruff public persona and the political leanings of his home state."

"I just think it’s time. You know, I spent most of my life – and I’m 56 years of age – on a farm 12 miles west of Big Sandy," Tester said during an interview on HuffPost Live. "And over the last six years for sure, and some time before that, I’ve gotten to know a lot of different people, a lot of folks that I normally wouldn’t know, and found them all to be good and I respect [them]. So I guess it’s broadening the horizons that I had before that’s gotten me to this point.

"I think it’s just the people you run into, the people you meet, the goodness in people and the example they set," Tester continued. "And it just kind of takes away a lot of the stereotypes that were in my head and I got to a point where, you know, I asked myself as a policymaker, as a U.S. senator, is it right that I should be denying somebody the right of happiness? And it wasn’t and that’s why we made a decision."

The article goes on to say that Tester's decision was also driven in part by "libertarian-type skepticism of federal government overreach."

"I really think that people’s right to happiness shouldn’t be dictated by some policymaker in Washington, D.C.," he said. "I’ve come to know a lot of people that –- sexual orientation is such where they're in love with people from the same sex, and I just don’t think it’s our role in the government to say no you can’t be married. They love one another just as much as my wife and I love one another or more. And I think it’s important that we give them that ability to be happy."

 

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Montana Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to study whether contamination levels at the shuttered Columbia Falls Aluminum Company plant pose a risk to the community and to future business.

Glencore, which owns CFAC, closed the plant outside Columbia Falls in October 2009.

 

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The National Journal has released its annual vote ratings, ranking members of Congress by how liberal and conservative they are. Montana’s Democratic U.S. senators fall about in the middle of their chamber.

Sen. Max Baucus is the 46th most liberal (or 54th most conservative) member of the 100-member Senate, according to the rankings, while Sen. Jon Tester is the 49th most liberal.

Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., was rated the most liberal senator, while Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, the most conservative.

In the U.S. House, former Montana Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg was ranked the 172nd most conservative member in the 435-member House. Rehberg lost his seat after unsuccessfully challenging Tester last year. Republican Steve Daines took his place.

View all the Senate rankings here.

View all the House rankings here.

 

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As efforts to fight "dark money" gain momentum at the Legislature, Republican Kalispell Sen. Bruce Tutvedt is making his voice heard.

The senator was the subject of numerous mailers during his 2012 primary against newcomer Rollan Roberts II, as I reported in May. At the time when I spoke with Tutvedt, he was not shy about voicing his displeasure over the mailers, which he said contained "absolute lies." And in recent interviews with media across the state, it's clear he has no plans of backing down.

A Feb. 10 story by Lee Newspapers' Mike Dennison noted that the attacks on Tutvedt "came primarily from obscure nonprofit groups that don’t disclose their donors or, in many cases, their spending — so-called 'dark money' groups that have become a growing part of politics in Montana and the nation."

“I have no idea who their supporters were, who they really were, or what their issue was,” Tutvedt told Dennison. “They just threw mud as hard and as fast as they could.”

Tutvedt also spoke with Yellowstone Public Radio News Director Jackie Yamanaka about the dark money issue, as well as the role that he believes "school choice" played in the attacks. I wrote about that in June as well.

You can listen to the Yamanaka interview here. It's worth checking out, especially for Flathead voters who recall the barrage of mailers flooding their mailboxes during the Tutvedt race.

Also, just today Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock and Republican Sen. Jim Peterson of Buffalo held a joint press conference in Helena to announce campaign finance reform legislation that they say will combat dark money.

 

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Montana's two senators, Democrats Jon Tester and Max Baucus, and the state's lone congressman, Republican Steve Daines, swiftly issued responses after last night's State of the Union address by President Barack Obama.

Tester and especially Baucus have done this before, but for Daines it was his first State of the Union response and he provided a bit more of a thorough statement.

Tester's release, which noted that he sat with his friend Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., featured a two-sentence statement:

“Creating jobs and strengthening our economy will require Republicans and Democrats working together to solve the challenges facing our nation. But challenges present opportunities, and I will work with anyone committed to building a stronger middle class, cutting wasteful spending and cutting our debt.”

Baucus, who invited Flathead Valley Community College President Jane Karas and a Bozeman High School student to the address, also focused on jobs:

“Creating jobs has to be our number one priority. So, as I watched the State of the Union the number one thing on my mind was ‘how can we translate words into jobs?’ Bringing our troops home from Afghanistan is the right thing to do, and we have a responsibility to do all we can to make sure they have good-paying jobs to come home to. Tackling veteran unemployment is something we can all agree on and I’ll be pushing hard to make our Vets Jobs Bill a top priority this year. Passing a strong Farm Bill is one surefire way we can support jobs right now, and I will keep fighting to get it done for the one-in-five Montana jobs that depend on agriculture. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. It’s time to roll up our sleeves, work together and get it done.”

Daines specifically pushed back against the president's proposals to solve the debt crisis and for energy, which you can see in his full response, as I've provided only his opening remarks:

“We all share the common goal of renewing and growing our economy. But the President’s vision for this country is one of bigger government and more spending, not the common sense Montana values and pro-growth solutions that our nation needs. Montanans deserve real solutions, not more political rhetoric. To grow our economy, to create jobs, to get our debt under control, we need common sense Montana solutions, not more of Washington’s failed ideas. Anything less is unfair to the next generation.”

 

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