Over the past year or so the Montana Legislative Campaign Committees have been searching high and low for candidates to run for legislative seats here in Montana.  I receive e-mails from both major parties.  They are fun to read because each one tries to make you feel the world is going to end if the other party wins the majority.

For those of you who do not follow Montana politics, the state legislature meets every two years for 90 days. There are 50 state senate members and 100 state house members.  One friend who follows the Montana Legislature closely told me a few of them actually have brains.  

All the 100 House seats are up for election every two years.  Twenty-five state Senate seats are up for election every two years (state senators serve four year terms).

The Montana Secretary of State has a great website for candidate filing information HERE.

During these 90 days, Helena, Montana (the state capital) is overrun by legislators and, not to mention, lobbyists.

Some say the Montana legislature should meet every 90 years for two days.  Over the past few sessions, that may have been the better choice.

To say the least, during these 90 days the elected Gods and Goddesses (citizen legislators) meet and fight and fight and meet and those of us on the outside just hope that they don’t screw up Montana too much in 90 days.  The reason why I called them Gods/Goddesses is because there are some who feel they are more important than they really are in their small, insubstantial part-time job as a legislator.

But let me get to the main reason for this commentary and that was to write about an e-mail I recently received from the chairman of one the legislative campaign committees.  He called it a “sacrifice” for these people to step out of their day jobs, leave family, live in Helena and work in the legislature.

Give me a break.  It shows how out of touch some politicians are.

Ironically, he did not say anything about the free food or dinner parties being a sacrifice.

I do commend those who do throw their hat into the ring, but this is not “sacrifice.”  Sacrifice is joining the military or working in a third world country to fight diseases.  Sacrifice is a person working two jobs and taking night classes to make a better life for their family and all the while keeping that family together.

Sacrifice is not being rich enough to run for office, either.

In the past, I have been approached by friends asking me to throw my name on the ballot and run for one of these coveted seats, but none of the legislative campaign committee folks ever asked.  A few things stop me from making that jump.

First, there’s the money aspect.  I can afford it, but because I like new TVs, computers and other toys and really don’t want to waste what some say is $5-10 thousand for a state house seat or $10-15 thousand for a state senate seat.  I would hate to ask for donations, too, as people seem to think they own you after they write you a $25 check.

Secondly, I am not a business owner who can throw the work on someone else while I am gone.

Third, I could never decide what I am in regards to party ID.  I used to ride with the GOP, but they have lost me in recent years.  I think many of the folks who work in the state Republican and Democrat HQ are from out of state, which irks me in that there are several folks in this state who could do a better job.

So, I could not run as a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or Constitution party member which are the four political parties identified in Montana.

I am moderate and independent.

So, I will probably stick with what I am doing – making sure when idiots make dumb statements, they are called out.  One thing for sure is that I will be watching to see if these legislators substantially toughen up the Montana DUI laws that are now a joke.

Stay tuned!