Montanans for Bullock Raises $7.7 Million in Second Quarter
More than 95% of donations were under $200 demonstrating Bullock’s grassroots support. Governor Bullock previously outraised Senator Steve Daines nearly 3-to-1 in the First Quarter of 2020 despite being in the race for less than a month.
Helena, Mont. –– In the first full fundraising quarter since Montana Governor Steve Bullock announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate, Montanans for Bullock raised $7.7 million, bringing the campaign’s cash-on-hand to over $7.4 million.
“Our campaign continues to gain momentum because Montanans trust Governor Bullock to fight for their values, not for any party leader or corporate interest,” said Montanans for Bullock campaign manager Megan Simpson. “As voters grow tired of the dysfunction and chaos coming out of D.C., they’re turning to Governor Bullock who offers steady leadership and has a record of doing what’s right for all Montanans.”
This quarter, Montanans for Bullock received 8,651 contributions from Montanans. More than 95% of donations were under $200 showcasing Governor Bullock’s grassroots support. Governor Bullock does not take a dime from corporate PACs.
Governor Bullock previously outraised Senator Steve Daines in the first quarter of 2020 by nearly three-to-one despite being in the race for less than a month. Bullock again outraised Daines in the pre-primary filing period by nearly two-to-one. Yesterday, Politico moved the Montana Senate race from “Lean Republican” to “Toss Up.” The Cook Political Report moved the race to “Toss Up” in June.
Governor Bullock Fights for Affordable Healthcare for All Montanans, While Steve Daines Votes to Rip It Away in Washington
Daines has voted repeatedly to take Montanans’ healthcare away and, even in the middle of pandemic, is still fighting to end protections for Montanans with pre-existing conditions
Helena, Mont. –– Threatened by Montana Governor Steve Bullock’s growing momentum in the race for Senate, Senator Steve Daines launched a dishonest, desperate attack against Governor Bullock, but Montanans won’t be fooled.
Governor Bullock took on Washington Democrats to oppose Medicare for All, and under his leadership, more Montanans have access to affordable healthcare than ever before. By bringing Democrats and Republicans together, Bullock successfully passed and reauthorized Medicaid expansion, which has provided health care to 1 in 10 Montanans and been a lifeline to rural hospitals. Since the expansion, not a single rural hospital has closed in Montana. In fact, Medicaid expansion created thousands of jobs statewide and has strengthened rural communities. As Montana’s next Senator, Bullock will continue his fight for accessible, affordable health care for all Montanans.
In his ad, Steve Daines claims to support protections for people with pre-existing conditions, but just last week, he backed a lawsuit that would strip those protections from over 152,000 Montanans. Dishonest Daines paints himself as a champion of healthcare, but he has a consistent record of voting to take healthcare away from Montanans, while raking in millions of dollars from corporate special interests:
Voted 13 times to repeal, defund, or block the Affordable Care Act.
Voted 4 times to gut protections for 152,000 Montanans with pre-existing conditions.
Voted 6 times to end or gut Medicaid expansion, which would end coverage for 90,000 Montanans and could cause rural hospitals in Montana to close.
Was repeatedly criticized for his unwillingness to meet with constituents face to face during the debate over repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Has taken over $2 million dollars from corporate special interests, including over $300,000 from the insurance industry.
“Days after Senator Daines announced support for a lawsuit that would strip protections for people with pre-existing conditions, he launches a dishonest ad to deceive Montanans on his abhorrent history of voting to take away their healthcare. While Daines has voted repeatedly to gut protections for pre-existing conditions and decimate a key funding source for our rural hospitals, Governor Bullock has brought both parties together to expand healthcare and prevent our rural hospitals from closing,” said Megan Simpson, Bullock’s Campaign Manager. “Montanans know that Governor Bullock has put politics aside to do what’s right for them and their families, unlike Dishonest Daines who misleads the very people he represents to pad the pockets of his insurance industry backers.”
Montana skyrocketed to competitive status earlier this year when Democrats finally convinced term-limited Gov. Steve Bullock to jump into the race and challenge first-term GOP Sen. Steve Daines. That decision at the beginning of March came just before the COVID pandemic spread throughout the U.S., limiting the amount of campaigning either candidate could do.
But the past few months have also highlighted the unique nature of this race, as the only contest with a sitting governor seeking a Senate seat. And like other governors who have ably handled the pandemic — especially in comparison to the Trump administration’s bungling — Bullock has seen his approval ratings rise exponentially too, up to 75 percent in one poll. Montana has had one of the lowest per capita infection rates (49th out of 50), with only 20 deaths as of June 17, and Bullock has gotten plaudits for closing the state early as it began to reopen last month.
So it’s not surprising that Bullock seems to have benefited from his gubernatorial leadership during this crisis and being in the news daily. Recent private Democratic polling in the contest gives Bullock a small lead and finds that Bullock’s approval ratings are more than 20 points higher than Daines, though the incumbent senator remains slightly above water. GOP polling also shows that it’s a close race, but one where every internal poll for them has still shown Daines leading. Yet, even some Republicans privately admit this is likely to be a margin of error race to the finish line. Each party just believes it’s their candidate who will eke out the victory.
Governors races and Senate races are fundamentally different of course, but this year could be one where having such executive experience and successfully managing such a daunting crisis could help Bullock overcome the heavy Republican tilt of the state at the presidential level. Trump won the state by just over 20 points four years ago. Still, if we look at where the president is polling against Joe Biden nationally (an average Biden lead of 8.5), that would indicate Trump is on pace to win the state by double digits, but somewhere perhaps in the mid or low teens instead.
Overcoming that margin is still tough in a presidential year — when Jon Tester won a second term in 2012 with President Obama atop the ballot, he outpaced him by almost 7 points. Obama lost Montana that year by nearly 14 points. But in 2008, Democratic Senate candidates in competitive races did outpace the top of the ticket by about 12.5 points. Also, Democrats argue that Biden isn’t as toxic in the state as Hillary Clinton was four years ago, and note that Obama even came within 2 points of winning the state in 2008. But Republicans say their polling from last month still had Biden far underwater in the state. Plus, if Trump’s numbers continue to sour nationally, there’s a chance that Republicans can make the argument that there needs to be a GOP Senate still to serve as a check on a Biden administration.
But there’s some evidence that maybe Bullock’s performance with handling COVID-19 and generally good favorability in the state makes this a unique situation where traditional rules may not apply. Unlike other states with candidates newer to the statewide ballot, Bullock is already well-defined in voters’ minds, and it may be harder to change voters’ opinions of him. Bullock’s fundraising has been impressive since he got in, too — he outraised Daines by about $2.1 million in the first fundraising quarter, despite being in the race for less than a month before the deadline. In the six week pre-primary filing period too ahead of the June 2 primary, Bullock again outpaced the incumbent by a nearly two-to-one margin and pulled within $1.6 million of Daines’s cash of hand advantage.
Both parties have also begun to commit outside resources to the race too. According to data from Advertising Analytics, the Democratic super PAC Senate Majority PAC has reserved about $8.1 million for ads (broadcast/cable/satellite/digital), while their 501(c)(4) offshoot Majority Forward has reserved about $3.3 million. The DSCC has reserved about $5.2 million, set to begin in August. The NRSC has reserved $2.7 million, set to begin in September. The GOP super PAC Senate Leadership Fund has reserved $8.5 million, while their non-profit arm One Nation has reserved about $3.7 million, set to begin next week.
Republicans push back on the notion that Bullock can prevail at a federal level in such a red state, and believe they have plenty of oppo to use against him from his brief, quixotic run for president last year that will ultimately bring down his numbers. They plan especially to hit him on guns after he backed an assault weapons ban, which even Tester does not support. But Democrats counter that Montanans’ impression of Bullock is already formed, and that their polling indicates the gun issue won’t move the numbers. And they scoff at Bullock’s first ad that came out this week, where he says he “won’t answer to party bosses,” after he was wooed into the race by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and former President Obama. Nationalizing this race and making it more about control of the Senate instead of about whether or not voters like Bullock is key to GOP success.
Daines’s ads have leaned heavily into blaming China for the pandemic, echoing talking points from the White House. However, his own background — and continued revelations about Trump and China — may negate the efficacy of those attacks. Before entering politics, Daines worked for Procter & Gamble, eventually moving overseas to work for them in Hong Kong & China. But Republicans counter that Daines’s business background is the bigger successful message and years in the private sector amid the current economic turmoil make him the stronger candidate. They also note that although the state’s COVID cases may have remained low, the state has had more significant job losses per capita than other neighboring states, and that could blow back on Bullock.
And Daines will point to the bipartisan passage just yesterday of the Great American Outdoors Act, which GOP leaders hope gives both him and fellow endangered Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner a boost. The bill fully funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund that’s critical to Montana and helps upkeep for national parks and public lands. Republicans say it’s evidence of the clout Daines has been able to build in the Senate and with the White House, but while Bullock praised the bill’s passage too, he intimated it was convenient for an election year.
After serving for the state’s at-large congressman for a term, Daines won this Senate seat in 2014 which was a very good year for the GOP. They flipped control of the Senate, after his initial Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. John Walsh, (who Bullock has appointed to fill the Senate seat after Max Baucus resigned to be Ambassador to China) imploded following plagiarism allegations. His replacement, state Rep. Amanda Curtis, couldn’t compete, and Daines won by 18 points.
Bullock, too, has had the benefit of winning his governor’s races against weaker opponents than Daines will be, and Republicans counter that the Democrat has never truly been tested. He narrowly won in 2012 against then-Rep. Rick Hill, winning 48.9%-47.3%. Four years later, he won a narrow majority for the first time, beating Greg Gianforte 50.3%-46.4%. Democrats especially believe they have a winning message with him on health care, as he expanded Medicaid in the state after a compromise with moderate Republicans in the legislature.
As is often the case in Montana politics, third party candidates could have an outsized impact on the race. There’s already a Green Party candidate on the ballot (a former state auditor who says Bullock created a hostile work environment) which might draw votes from Bullock. However, Democrats are seeking to get that line off the ballot (they were successful at this in 2018 with Tester’s race). Two Libertarian candidates withdrew from the race, but the party, which has an unusually strong presence in the state, could still name a replacement before ballots are printed.
Montana is the toughest state on paper for Democrats when we look solely at the presidential numbers. Still, it’s been clear for a while that this race is shaping up to be a unique battle between two well-liked Montanans (who both just happen to be named Steve), making it the most glaringly competitive race we’ve had in the Lean Republican column for the past few months. Several indicators now merit a more competitive rating, and therefore we are moving this race to Toss Up.
Saying that a pandemic leaves nothing hidden, local health officials joined Gov. Steve Bullock in Missoula on Thursday to laud the role Medicaid expansion in Montana has played during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The program also has helped bridge the social gaps that often lead to poor health outcomes by enabling public health clinics to address issues around food security and housing, along with other factors that can weigh heavily on good health.
“Health care not only is fundamental to treatment, but our economic livelihoods in Montana,” said Bullock. “The emergence of COVID-19 has further underscored the importance of removing barriers to affordable care. Medicaid coverage really does lead to those improvements in health status.”
When the 2019 Legislature reauthorized Medicaid expansion, no one predicted the COVID-19 pandemic that would sweep the nation one year later. When the pandemic did arrive, resulting in a public health crisis, the program’s importance took on new meaning.
“People living in Medicaid expansion states like Montana may be in a better position to weather this pandemic than those 14 states that didn’t opt to take up expansion,” Bullock said. “Medicaid expansion will cover the cost of COVID-19 related treatments, as well as continuing to pay for routine medical care. Low-income adults in states that didn’t have Medicaid wouldn’t be eligible for that Medicaid coverage should they contract COVID-19.”
Bullock said the pandemic has placed “extraordinary strain” on healthcare systems across the country. Prior to the crisis, roughly 20% of rural hospitals were at risk of closing. Medicaid has helped keep Montana’s rural hospitals open while states that resisted Medicaid expansion have seen rural hospitals and clinics close.
“If you look at most of those states, they are states that didn’t expand Medicaid,” Bullock said. “This pandemic underscores that in times of good how important health care is. But in times of crisis, both public health crisis and economic crisis, it becomes that much more essential.”
Laurie Francis, executive director at Partnership Health Center in Missoula, said Medicaid expansion has reduced the clinic’s uninsured from 50% to 12% in recent years. It also has given the clinic room to address the wider social disparities that lead to poor health outcomes, such as housing and food insecurity, legal representation and other inequities.
The clinic serves 16,000 unique individuals each year and accepts “all comers” regardless of financial standing. Francis said the pandemic has laid bare the social inequities that have lingered for generations.
“Medicaid expansion has allowed us to think about the structural issues that create or thwart health and well being,” Francis said. “People call them the social determinants of health care, but we would call them the political determinants of health care. We work hard at Partnership to treat all people equally to improve their health while moving upstream.”
Before the pandemic hit, Partnership saw upwards of 1,500 patients a day, and most of those visits took place in person. After the second week of March, however, the number of patient visits dropped dramatically while telehealth visits began to surge.
The state expanded telehealth in March, ensuring patients could access health care without worrying about cost, or placing their personal health at risk by venturing out in public.
“This to me highlights how quickly we pivoted to providing telehealth visits and phone visits and how that enabled us to provide services and care to people and not necessarily worry about a financial model that wasn’t sustainable,” said Dr. James Quirk. “The stuff that happened at the state level impacts our daily operations. These decisions are life saving for some.”
Quirk, who has practiced for 20 years, described health care as a right, not a privilege. He credited Medicaid expansion for extending that right to more people. While working in small towns and urgent care centers, he said patients would often describe the cost of care as a barrier.
Medicaid expansion has helped remove those financial concerns from the equation, he said, especially for the 425,000 Montanans with preexisting conditions.
“Prior to Medicaid expansion, having a rancher or construction worker break down and cry because they have to make a decision about their health and financial well being, or their family’s well being, is not a place I want to be,” said Quirk. “Thanks to Medicaid expansion, we don’t see that as often. It’s not a perfect system, but it helps a lot.”
Missoula business owner Amy Coseo, who was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 38, said Medicaid enabled her to access treatment without waiting or stressing over costs. She’s been in treatment for five years and said the early diagnosis may help save her life.
The pandemic has revealed the “disparities and inequities that have always been there,” she added.
“We look at the stress of a pandemic and the stress of a major diagnosis, and now we add the stress of potentially losing your job and the stress of potentially losing your access to health care,” she said. “When they mention economic hardship, that’s directly tied to access to health care, and it’s directly tied to the health of individual Montanans, which comprise Montana’s communities and comprise Montana as a state, and that’s directly tied to the economic health of our state.”
When I cast my ballot this November, I will be voting for strong leaders who are willing to take on tough fights and who know how to win them. There’s no better example than Gov. Steve Bullock.
As dark money began to pour into our elections after the disastrous Citizens United decision, Bullock took his fight against it all the way to the Supreme Court, then brought Republicans and Democrats together to reduce dark money in our state elections.
When big corporate interests came after Montana workers, Bullock stood shoulder-to-shoulder with working folks to ensure they get the pay and protection they deserve. And every time misguided policies out of Washington, D.C. threatened our beautiful public lands, Bullock battled tooth-and-nail to keep them accessible to all of us.
Far too often, our elected officials are quick to cave to party leaders and special interests instead of standing up for the folks they are supposed to represent. I know that when we send Steve Bullock to the U.S. Senate, he will never back down from a fight — no matter how tough it is.
“I am thanking the president for his leadership.” That was the response of Montana Sen. Steve Daines to the action of President Donald Trump ordering federal troops to use force to push back peaceful demonstrators so he could stroll, uninvited, to the grounds of St. John’s Church.
Trump gave no unifying speech, answered no questions. He simply held up a Bible. It was a cheap photo op appeal to evangelical voters. As one Catholic official said, it bordered on blasphemy.
Is this how Daines defines leadership? Let’s talk about real leadership
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has shown real leadership throughout his administration. Through bipartisan action, he’s provided the citizens of Montana expanded Medicaid, passed legislation to prevent dark money from election presence and protected our public lands.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought Gov. Bullock’s intelligent, compassionate and pro-active leadership into focus. He took early and decisive action, kept Montanans informed and gave Montana one of the lowest per capita virus records in the country.
In the meantime, Sen. Daines hides behind video town hall meetings. He is only a follower, another oarsman on Trump’s “Ship of Fools.”
Montana deserves true leadership, a senator with the last name of Bullock.
