A lawsuit from the Montana Democratic Party against the Montana Secretary of State, Christi Jacobsen, was heard in front of a judge in a Lewis and Clark County courtroom on the morning of Friday, August 30,. The lawsuit is an attempt to have the Green Party candidate in the United States Senate race, Michael Barb, removed from the ballot. The Democrat Party fears that a Green Party candidate may siphon votes from Senator Tester in an incredibly close race against Tim Sheehy. With Tester realizing his path to victory requires him to split tickets with President Trump, and thus must appeal to moderate and conservative voters, it is a legitimate fear that he could lose the votes of more liberal Montanans to a third-party candidate such as Barb. The Green Party platform emphasizes raising the federal minimum wage, drastically cutting defense spending and ending foreign wars, and ending the use of fossil fuels.
On Tuesday, September 3, Judge Mike McMahon denied the Democratic Party’s motion, thus allowing Robert Barb to stay on the ballots for the upcoming Senate election.
The Montana Democratic Party alleged that the Montana Green Party had not complied with their own bylaws and thus violated state law. The Green Party had to nominate Barb without a primary process, as their primary winner, Michael Downey, dropped out. They also argued it was unfair, as they would now have to spend more money convincing voters not to vote for Barb, as they had originally strategized against Downey. They had requested a restraining order against the Secretary of State to prevent her from filing Barb as a candidate for the general election.
The state argued that the restraining order requested by the Democratic Party came too late and with too little notice, and that their reasoning was hypocritical. The lawyer representing Barb argued that the Green Party acted within the confines of their by-laws, and that the Democrat Party’s argument was rooted in irrelevant semantics.
The background of the state’s testimony highlighted the irony of Democrat’s finding issue with changing candidates without a primary, as they just swapped President Biden and Vice President Harris in the presidential election. The Democrat Party has garnered a reputation for weaponizing the Department of Justice in this manner on a national scale, with lawsuits against third party presidential candidates, including the Green Party’s Jill Stein and Independent Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to wipe their names from ballots in various states, which resulted in Kennedy dropping out and endorsing President Trump.
Republicans face a similar challenge with Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate Sid Daoud. Back in early August, Daoud was invited to meet with President Trump and Tim Sheehy to discuss an endorsement and exchange ideas. However, Daoud decided to stay on the ballot as well.
