| Charles Johnson today mulls the rumors for the 2012 election, which should be a hum-dinger, what with a open gubernatorial seat and Jon Tester up for re-election.
According to Johnson, here are the rumored gubernatorial hopefuls:
On the Democratic side, they include Attorney General Steve Bullock of Helena; state Sen. Larry Jent of Bozeman; state Transportation Director Jim Lynch of Kalispell; and state Sen. Dave Wanzenried of Missoula.
Republicans include: state Sen. Taylor Brown, R-Huntley; former U.S. Rep. Rick Hill of Helena; Dean Folkvord of Three Forks, CEO of Wheat Montana Farms and Bakery; former state GOP Chairman Erik Iverson of Missoula; national security and terrorism expert Neil Livingstone of Helena and Washington, D.C.; state Senate Majority Leader Jim Peterson of Buffalo; state Senate President Bob Story of Park City; and state Sen. Ryan Zinke of Whitefish.
On the Democratic side, Wanzenried and Bullock, IMHO, would seem to be the front-runners in that primary (and what an interesting primary that would be). Jent doesn't have the same political charisma of either Bullock or Wanzenried. And Lynch...? That one caught me by surprise. He's never run for office before, and the DoT seems a poor springboard for a political campaign...but who knows?
On the Republican side, it's interesting that many of the rumored gubernatorial candidates are political newcomers. Zinke and T. Brown have only one legislative session behind them. Folkvord's never run for public office, but as a former rodeo champion and owner of Wheat Montana, he's got an interesting profile.
Retread Rick Hill is an interesting option. Iverson's political ambition has been long-rumored, but does he have too much baggage from his years at the head of the state GOP and on Rehberg's staff? Of the rumored state senate candidates, Jim Peterson is distinctly uninspiring, but Bob Story could be an interesting dark horse candidate.
Of the bunch, I'd say Taylor Brown is probably the Republicans' strongest candidate. He's got a high profile in the state, a ton of money, a radio network, and could probably easily tap into Conrad Burns' former political network.
But...the biggest name is missing from this bunch: Dennis Rehberg. And Johnson links his name to the 2012 Senate race. Which, frankly, I find surprising. It'd be a lot tougher race than governor, but maybe Rehberg thinks the political winds favor him. Still, 2012 will be in another era, politically speaking, and in the middle of another presidential race.
Steve Daines' name was mentioned for the Senate race, too, but, of course he couldn't beat Bob Kelleher in the 2008 primary.
Update: My bad! Daines, of course, was Brown's running mate in their epic 2008 loss to Schweitzer. I confused him with Kirk Bushman, the other businessman-turned-politico the GOP offered up that year. My bad. |
