Montana Democrat Suspends Campaign for Congressional Seat

Montana Democrat Caucus Chair, state Rep. Laurie Bishop (D-Livingston), announced Wednesday she is suspending her campaign for the state’s new congressional seat due to redistricting to run for reelection in her seat in the state House.

Bishop’s announcement comes roughly one week after the states’ redistricting commission submitted their final congressional map outlining the state’s two U.S. House districts to the secretary of state’s office last Friday.

The new district Bishop was planning to run for was reportedly not as friendly to a Democrat campaign as she had hoped when announcing her congressional bid, in addition to leaving her hometown of Livingston outside of the district.

Bishop was the first Democrat that announced she was running for the seat back in July. However, at the time of her, announcement, Bishop said she “would run in the district that includes liberal college town Missoula even if Livingston was not placed in the same district.”

“Public service has always been at the heart of my decision to run for Congress, and at this moment, the most important way for me to be of service is by continuing to lead our caucus at the state level,” Bishop said in a statement.

“I am so thankful to have this opportunity and grateful for everyone who joined us. We ran a campaign focused on people, and I’m so proud of the work we were able to accomplish in just a few months,” she added. In the last quarter, Bishop had raised roughly $116,000 and saw contributions from over 1,300 people.

In the ol’ inbox: State Rep. Laurie Bishop (D), who was running in the new western Montana district, is ending her campaign. She had raised $116k last quarter. pic.twitter.com/uudOhCHBtP

— Kirk A. Bado (@kirk_bado) November 17, 2021

Courtney Parella, a spokeswoman from the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), said, “Laurie Bishop saw the writing on the wall: Democrats are doomed this cycle, and she made the smart choice to drop out.”

The Democrat field still includes former state lawmaker Tom Winter, public health professional Cora Neumann and lawyer Monica Tranel. The Republican field includes pastor Mary Todd, former state lawmaker Al Olszewski, and former President Donald Trump’s U.S. Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke.

Trump endorsed Zinke in July, saying, “As Montana’s Congressman for the new 2nd District, Ryan will fight against the Radical Left Democrats who continually block the America First policies we put in place.” Zinke also leads the fundraising field by a wide margin.

Breitbart News has tracked the Democrats’ midterm chances and struggles to find new candidates willing to run for office and face published scrutiny. The Democrat party has continued to be unsuccessful in finding some recruits to face tough House seats. Meanwhile, many incumbents have announced their retirement or their candidacy for a different office.

Democrats are also facing tough redistricting battles in some states, unlike Montana, where the state created a new congressional seat after only having one in years prior.

In September, Politico outlined how the House Democrats spent their last two elections (2018 and 2020) bragging about unseating members in red districts that have become more competitive in recent years. “Now, Republicans are about to make many of those targets disappear from the battlefield entirely,” Politico stated. 

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.

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