Christine Kaufmann has been appointed to take Ken Toole's seat in the Montana Senate. I understand that the L&C County Central Committee is already planning a meeting to appoint Chrstine's replacement in the House.
The AP took a look at the three contenders to take over Ken Toole's Senate seat in Helena following Toole's victory in the Public Service Commission race. All three -- Rep. Christine Kaufmann, former Rep. Ray Peck, and Gene Fenderson -- are qualified for the spot and are hard workers.
I have to give the edge to Kaufmann for a few reasons, though. Kaufmann and Toole are long-time allies and if you want to fill the seat with the person most likely to resemble the individual departing, Christine is a great pick. I believe Toole has also openly endorsed her for the seat.
Second, Kaufmann will soon start her fourth term as a Rep. By all accounts, Kaufmann is a talented legislator and popular in the her district (which covers half the Senate district). If she doesn't get appointed, she'll face twin options of primarying whoever does or retiring from the legislature. It's a shame to lose talented folks in this era of term limits.
Third, Kaufmann's appointment will open a House seat to be filled in the same manner. That appointment will give me something to cover, will continue the recent trend in having a lot of back-and-forth and strange happenings in the House, and will also keep Kaufmann in the process while opening up an opportunity for someone else -- including Peck or Fenderson -- to serve.
Kaufmann seems to be the smart bet to me. Share your thoughts in comments, please.
Update -- Ray Peck may be out of consideration as he is still impacted by term limits. That changes things. could not be appointed to the House seat due to term limits. He can still be considered for the Senate seat. My bad.
Ken Toole's victory in PSC5 is narrow enough that it is going to a recount. Ken is looking for some volunteers to sit in and observe the recount and he needs some help. If you can help observe later this week (it means giving up most of a day) in Flathead, Lake, Lewis and Clark, or any of the three smaller counties in the PSC5 district, I know Ken would really appreciate it.
If you can help, email me at singer@leftinthewest.org and I'll send along the contact info. Sorry it's a weird process, I'm just not quite comfortable publishing folks' phone numbers on this site, for a few reasons.
Ken Toole is up by 154 votes (.2% of the vote) with all votes counted in PSC-5. Whether Toole wins or a recount flips it to Mike Taylor will decide control of the PSC. So 154 votes essentially decide the fate the Public Service Commission.
Jon Tester won by roughly 2,800 votes, or .7% of the total cast, and decided the control of the U.S. Senate in the process.
In Laurel, we have a literal tie that is determining the control of the House. In other words, control of the entire Montana House of Representatives could have been swayed by a mere one vote.
