The mid-term elections of 2022 have been called a “political tinderbox” by pundits and citizens alike. Campaign dollars flew toward “mud flinging” ads across the board, as sensationalism has become the new normal for our political environment. Locally, one abnormality became evident just before the primaries this past spring: there were seemingly no Democratic contenders on Yellowstone County’s ballots, leading both Republican and Democrat voters in Yellowstone County to ask, “Where did the Democrats go?”
Rumors had already rumbled across the valley that there weren’t going to be any Democrats on the ballot for Yellowstone County this year, but rumor is one thing and seeing a nearly straight one-party ballot was another. Concerned and curious YCN readers have been asking many questions, and answers have arrived.
The ballot isn’t entirely void of Democrats, but that depends on where you live. There was only one candidate for House Districts 39, 40, 43, 45, 53, 54, 55, and 56 and Senate Districts 20 and 39; all of them are Republican, equaling 43% percent of Yellowstone County’s seats up for grabs this year in Montana State Legislature.
This is a case of pure strategy, said MT Democrats Communications Director, Hadley Stack, and she added they faced a Republican super majority this year. “There are no State County-wide Democrats running, but we have several very competitive State House and State Senate Seats,” she stated. House Districts 42, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, and 52 all have candidates from both major parties on the ballot, as do Senate Districts 22 and 24.
“We had to be strategic with where we focused our recruitment efforts for legislative candidates,” said Stack, expanding their focus on targeted, competitive districts, which she defined as “districts that got at least 40% Democrat vote share in 2020.”
In the 2014 campaign, Stack described how MT Democrats tried to win 125 House and Senate seats. “People got mad at us for wasting resources on races we didn’t have shot at winning,” she said. Stack expressed confidence that some precincts “could flip from red to blue,” after all the votes are counted this year.
With this simple answer to a much more complex concern, it appears there is no cause for alarm. However, YCN will continue to investigate these concerns as part of its obligation to “serve as watchdogs over public affairs and government,” as stated in the Code of Ethics for the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).
YCN welcomes any news tips and information at info@yellowstonecountynews.com.
