State Democrats Prepare for Special Nominating Convention on Saturday

Montana Democrats will be meeting in special session on Saturday to choose a U.S. Senate candidate to replace John Walsh, who backed out of the race over a controversy about plagiarism.

Chair of the Missoula County Democrats David Kendall said on Wednesday, that area Democrats faced a somewhat similar situation in replacing Clerk and Recorder Vicki Zeier, who was promoted to chief executive officer of the county.

"We'll all gather together in Helena this Saturday," Kendall said. "There'll be over 100 people from all over the state representing most of the counties. We'll hear from the candidates who are interested in running, and then we'll decide by voting who our candidate will be."

Kendall said some familiar, and not so familiar names are in the running for the nomination.

"The ones I've heard the most about include Amanda Curtis of Butte, Dave Wanzenreid, formerly of Missoula, and rancher Dirk Adams," he said. "John Bohlinger was a candidate in the primary, but I'm not sure if he'll be in or out, although he has been talking about running."

Kendall said whoever wins the nomination will receive a campaign donation from the state Democratic party, and will undoubtedly seek funding from the National Democratic Party and out-of-state donors.

Whoever the Democratic candidate may be, Republican Steve Daines has a huge head start in fund raising and name recognition, with the general election in November.

Missoula Democrats who will attend the convention include Kendall, Stacey Rye, Tim Lovely, and Theresa Martinoski.