Democratic debate draws crowd

Bozeman citizens excitedly gathered in the Crawford Theatre inside the Emerson Center for Arts & Culture on Friday, Feb. 21 to listen to the Democratic candidates campaigning in Montana’s senatorial and gubernatorial races hosted by the Gallatin County Democrats. The debate, moderated by former Montana Supreme Court Justice Mike Wheat, gave the candidates a chance to present their platform and convince the audience that they had the skills to beat Republican incumbent Senator Steve Daines and representative Greg Gianforte in November.

Doors opened at 6:00 p.m. with the event starting at 6:30 p.m. After a brief recognition of the local and state candidates and current representatives, the Senatorial candidates were introduced onto the stage, numbering five in total. The Senatorial Democratic candidates included U.S. Navy Veteran John Mues, public health leader Cora Neumann, fly-fishing guide Josh Seckinger, Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins and mathematician Mike Knoles.

Questions for the night ranged on a hotbed of political topics such as Medicare, Social Security, education and foreign policy. The crowd was lively and would often cheer, clap or laugh as the candidates continued to field questions. 

The topic of raising the minimum wage drew the crowd’s attention. When Knoles claimed that raising the minimum wage was “missing the point,” a member of the crowd outcried, “What’s missing the point about minimum wage?” Knoles went on to express how his plan for a universal basic income could go about solving a lot of the nation’s problems.

Another interesting aspect of the debate was the addition of Seckinger, who announced he was running on Tuesday, Feb. 18. Josh has no prior political experience and used his everyday working-man status to answer the questions. “You know, as a fishing guide I believe I may be the only person on this stage to shop for insurance on the marketplace.”

Beating Daines was a challenge each candidate assured the public they would be able to conquer. “Beating Senator Daines is an existential obligation,” said Mues. Daines has been a vocal supporter of the Trump administration and has served as a Montana Senator since 2014. 

The senatorial debate lasted an hour and a half, with each candidate allotted two minutes for closing remarks. After a half-hour intermission, it was on to the gubernatorial debates. Lieutenant Governor Mike Cooney and CEO of williamsworks, Whitney Williams, were the only candidates on stage. Cooney used his political record and service alongside current Montana State Governor Steve Bullock to help sell his platform. Bullock has reached his term limit as Governor and earlier in the year launched an unsuccessful bid for President. Williams sold herself as the candidate of fresh change and said that new ideas would pave the way for Montana’s future.

The Gallatin County Democrats have a live stream of the night’s debates available on their website athttps://gallatindemocrats.com/bluewave2020/.