Montana held its primary on June 3. Six candidates were running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator. The surprise winner is Bob Kelleher, who apparently had not even raised or spent as much as $5,000, since he has not filed any campaign finance report with the Federal Election Commission. Kelleher defeated a former Republican Majority Leader of the state house, Michael Lange, and a wealthy businessman, Kirk Bushman. The vote (not yet official) is: Kelleher 26,789; Lange 16,986; Bushman 15,427; Patty Lovaas 7,607; Anton Pearson 4,220; Shay Garnett 2,775.
Kelleher is an attorney who sued the Montana University System in 2004, when it sponsored a gubernatorial debate and excluded the Libertarian and Green nominees. The case lost in Montana Supreme Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear it. Kelleher was the Green Party nominee in that election, but he modestly named the lawsuit Jones v Montana University System, placing the Libertarian nominee first in the caption. Kelleher polled 1.88% of the vote for Governor as the Green nominee in 2004. He had been the Green nominee for U.S. Senate in 2002, polling 2.34%.
Montana does not have registration by party, so it is impossible to know when Kelleher left the Green Party and became a Republican. The Green Party went off the ballot in Montana in November 2004 and it has not managed to requalify. However, it seems Kelleher has not changed his political views; he is still a fierce opponent of U.S. policy regarding Iraq. Here is a news story about his primary victory.
This is funny as hell. It would be sweet if he won the general.
Oppose war this round = win
Just the way it is.
85 sounds old, but it’s really not.
Interview with Kelleher from 2002: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=117949&title=shirl
What if she wins the U.S. Senate race and decides to switch back to the Green Party after she’s sworn in? Hey, the Greens would have someone in Congress for at least 6 years!
Bob Kelleher had been a Democrat for most of his life. This is his second run as a Republican. It’s hard to say whether Bob would have run this year under the Green Party banner if they had ballot access. Bob is a big spender just like the Republicans, so I think he fits in quite nicely. Bob will also have a vote on the Republican platform. Bob might be a super delegate as well, who knows. Max will have 9-million dollars to spend on his campaign, so Bob won’t have a chance, but then again neither would the other 6 or so candidates claiming to be Republicans.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but it was my understanding that the Greens in MT were never particularly supportive of Kelleher. I thought he was the only candidate who filed for the office as a “green”, and thereby became the nominee, whether greens wanted him or not.