I appreciate all the candidates who placed their names on the ballot for the June 3 primary. It’s a big step just to jump into a race, and one that I admire whether you are a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Constitutionalist or something else. I appreciate your willingness to serve. Thank you.

Here are my picks from some contested races on the right side of the ticket.

Governor:

It won’t be much of a race between the Brown/Daines and the Steele/Luce ticket. My choice is Brown/Daines. But, for them to win in November, they will need to grow stronger, gather momentum, and energize the voters to be successful. Jack’s pick: Roy Brown

U.S. Senate:

The GOP race to take on Max Baucus is, to me, the most interesting race on the GOP ticket. The two frontrunners seem to be Michael Lange and Kirk Bushman. Lange may have destroyed his political career with his YouTube moment, so Bushman should win this race, but with Anton A Pearson, Patty L Lovaas, and the perennial candidate Bob Kelleher thrown into the mix, we could see a surprise winner in this race. Jack’s pick: Kirk Bushman

Attorney General:

I’ve never met Tim Fox, but it seems like he may be the Republicans’ best chance in years to win the AG seat. His campaign has been aggressive and he will need to continue this push through the summer into November. It seems that Montanans have given the AG seat to a democrat by default the last few terms. Tim Fox can change this trend. His professional background and his work in the community makes Fox the best choice. Jack’s pick: Tim Fox

On the left:

Many folks were faced with a tough choice this primary election picking either the Republican or Democratic ballot. With so much publicity being paid to Presidential race on the democratic ticket, the number of folks selecting the democratic ballot will be overwhelming.

Here are my picks from a few of the races on the left:

President: Hillary Clinton

Office of Public Instruction: Denise Juneau

Attorney General: Mike Wheat