MISSOULA — If you’ve been around storefronts or other public places in Missoula in the last few months, you may have seen Kimberly Persico, set up with a table and signs.
“This is my life,” she jokes.
Persico, an environmental consultant from Hot Springs, is trying to convince voters to sign a petition to get her onto the ballot this November, as an independent candidate for U.S. House in Montana’s western congressional district.
“I believe both parties have sold out to their corporate donors,” she said. “Neither one has an independent voice anymore that speaks for the people. All they do is pass laws to benefit the ultra-wealthy.”
(Watch MTN's extended interview with Kimberly Persico.)
Persico is not alone. For the first time in recent memory, there’s an independent candidate trying to qualify for the ballot in each of Montana’s congressional races this year. Former University of Montana president Seth Bodnar is running for U.S. Senate, and Great Falls cardiologist Mike Eisenhauer is running for House in the eastern congressional district.
Montana voters have never elected a candidate without a political party label to Congress. It’s been more than 100 years since the state chose a third-party candidate – and they’ve never picked one without backing from either Republicans of Democrats. Despite that history, the three candidates are hoping they can break through to frustrated voters this year.
“We're seeing people who are chasing us down and offering us their signatures, and it's really been very exciting to see,” said Eisenhauer. “So, yeah, I think there is a viable pathway ahead, I think there is a dramatic interest in a third-party or an independent candidacy, because people are tired.”
They’re not running together, but their campaigns are emphasizing some of the same themes, including dissatisfaction with the two-party system and partisan battles, opposition to money in politics and a general feeling that Congress is no longer up to dealing with the country’s problems.
“Are people ready to vote for an independent? I think a lot of people are ready to say this system as currently structured isn't working,” said Bodnar.
(Watch MTN's extended interview with Seth Bodnar.)
Last month, Bodnar announced a “Montana First Reform Agenda,” which includes proposals like term limits for Congress and U.S. Supreme Court justices, overturning the Citizens United decision and banning partisan redistricting. He also expressed support for election reforms, including nonpartisan primaries and ranked-choice voting.
“We fought a war 250 years ago to make sure that we had a government of the people, by the people and for the people, and we're at risk of losing that,” he said. “I think we need independent leadership to renew the promise of this country.”
Persico has been carrying around homemade signs to her signature-gathering events that call for term limits and an end to Citizens United. She says she often begins conversations with voters not by talking about her own campaign, but by encouraging them to sign a petition for Initiative 194, the proposed ballot measure seeking to stop corporations from spending in Montana elections.
“It's one of my main platform planks, and I think it's really important, and so I'm working hard for that as well,” she said.
Eisenhauer says the independent candidates all have their own identities, but he believes they share an interest in finding a less confrontational approach to politics. He says it’s tough for a single person outside the party system to make change, but that a larger group of people open to compromise could start to see results.
“We have advantages of being able to find a middle ground, to find something that's workable,” he said.
(Watch MTN's extended interview with Mike Eisenhauer.)
One question that the independents – particularly Bodnar – have faced is whether they risk splitting the vote and allowing Republicans to hang on to these seats. In Kansas, pastor Adam Hamilton, who had been considering running for U.S. Senate as an independent, instead filed as a Democrat, saying it was the better path to take.
Bodnar says he believes there’s still a path for someone to appeal to the growing share of voters who don’t feel satisfied with Republicans or Democrats.
“Those independents haven't had an opportunity to vote for somebody who says, ‘Look, I'm not going to the U.S. Senate to fight for a party, I’m going to the U.S. Senate to fight for you,” he said.
Unlike the other two independent candidates, Bodnar’s campaign has already been raising and spending a significant amount of money. He reported raising just under $1.4 million in the first month after announcing his run.
Eisenhauer loaned $200,000 to his campaign during the signature-gathering period, but said he wouldn’t solicit donations from the public until he qualified for the general election. Persico also said she wouldn’t accept contributions unless she made it on the ballot, and her signature-gathering operation has been mostly herself and a few volunteers.
To get on the general election ballot, an independent needs to get registered voter signatures totaling 4% of the votes the last winning candidate for that office received. That means Bodnar will need 13,327 signatures, Persico will need 6,742 and Eisenhauer will need 7,274. The signatures must be turned in to county election officials for review by May 26.
MTN asked all of the candidates if they believed they were on the path to get what they need to qualify. Bodnar said his campaign has made a lot of progress, and they would be activating volunteers across the state leading up to the deadline. Eisenhauer said he’s already turned in thousands of signatures and he was “extremely confident” about meeting the requirements. Persico said “chances of success are very slim at this point,” though she believes just making this campaign effort has been an important step.
“I really feel like I've already made a difference,” she said.
