The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, Carolyn Fiddler, and Matt Booker, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Leading Off
●MT-Gov: GOP Rep. Greg Gianforte, who infamously assaulted The Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs on the eve of his 2017 special election win, filed paperwork on Thursday with the state for a 2020 bid for governor of Montana. Gianforte's spokesman confirmed that the congressman, who represents the entire state in the House, would make a formal announcement during the state's Republican Party convention that opens June 13.
Campaign ActionGianforte is, of course, best known for that unprovoked attack on Jacob two years ago, but as we'll discuss, that ugly story doesn't even end there, nor is that Gianforte's only liability.
A wealthy businessman who made his fortune in the tech sector, Gianforte was Team Red's 2016 nominee against Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock. While Montana is usually a reliably red state in presidential elections, Gianforte faced a challenging race against a popular incumbent.
Before he even entered the contest, Gianforte stumbled when he gave a speech at Montana Bible College declaring, "There's nothing in the Bible that talks about retirement. And yet it's been an accepted concept in our culture today." He continued by asserting, "How old was Noah when he built the ark? 600. He wasn't like, cashing Social Security checks, he wasn't hanging out, he was working." Gianforte concluded, "So, I think we have an obligation to work. The role we have in work may change over time, but the concept of retirement is not biblical."
A rich guy speaking out against the very idea of retirement certainly didn't look good, but it wasn't Gianforte's exhortation to voters to build arks until they die that caused him the most trouble. Democrats ran a barrage of ads portraying Gianforte, who is originally from New Jersey, as a greedy outsider eager to deny the public access to waterways for fishing and swimming that were located near his "riverfront mansion"—so much so that he in fact went to court. Gianforte ultimately lost to Bullock 50-46 even though Trump carried Montana by a dominant 56-35 margin.