The Progressive Turnout Project says Montana Gov. Steve Bullock can tilt the Senate in Democrats’ favor and is building a field operation to help him defeat Republican Sen. Steve Daines in November.
Mr. Bullock is not a progressive’s dream candidate, but the progressive group is boosting Mr. Bullock anyway. The Progressive Turnout Project said it has opened six offices and hired 26 field staff in Montana with an initial investment of $750,000 in response to Mr. Bullock’s decision to enter the race.
“We’ll be focusing specifically on infrequent Democratic voters that are typically under prioritized by other outside groups, to better boost turnout and Steve Bullock’s chances in the fall,” Alex Morgan, Progressive Turnout Project executive director, said in a statement. “In our models, a win in Montana puts Democrats over the top in the race to secure the Senate, and we’ll be on the ground to make that happen.”
PTP said it is eyeing 34,000 young Montana voters, particularly women, and believes there are 12,000 voters who skipped the 2016 and 2018 elections that could lift Mr. Bullock’s chances in November.
PTP said its models suggest it will turn out more than 12,000 voters for Mr. Bullock, but Mr. Bullock will likely need to do better than that in November. Mr. Daines won election in 2014 by approximately 18%, more than 65,000 votes, over his Democratic opponent, and President Trump won Montana in 2016 by more than 20%.
