It looks like the stage is set for the 2010 primary season in Montana.  March 15 was the last day to file for office.  You can see all the filings HERE.

It looks like the Republicans went for quantity over quality this season.  According to the Secretary of State’s (SOS) press release, Republicans filed for 175 seats and the Democrats 129.  This excludes withdrawals.

Good news:

Two candidates were able to jump through all the hoops and make the ballot as Independent candidates.  Shawn Guymon is running in HD-03 and Bill Jones in HD-08.  By the way, the Constitution Party has six candidates, the Libertarian Party has seven and the Green Party has one candidate, according to the SOS.

The State of Montana needs to loosen the ropes some on elections so more Independent-minded candidates can run for office and help stop the partisanship that looks more like a children’s circus every two years in Helena, than a legislative body.  Don’t hold your breath on getting more Independent candidates because either the courts will have to overturn the law or the Republicans and Democrats will have to change it.  Fat chance.

Now, for some of the ridiculous stuff:

In Senate District 20, the Republican Legislative Campaign team allowed something stupid to happen:  They have five candidates running against each other.  In Senate District 23, there are four Republicans running against each other.  Luckily, there are no other parties with candidates for these two Senate Districts.

Another ridiculous thing I recently read was the new Executive Director (ED) of the Montana GOP is also a candidate for public office – a House District seat.  Don’t get me wrong, I only slightly know of him, and he seems like a nice fellow, but I wonder how his GOP opponent in the Primary feels about him having the inside track on stuff floating around the GOP office.  I know, I know, the party does not endorse candidates in the primary!

If the ED wins, then what will the other candidates running tight races think – will the ED get the help from the office faster or maybe even a little more funding thrown his way?  We all know you don’t want to tick off the GOP office workers.

It appears from the ED’s statement on his campaign website, that this is all fine and good with his boss, the Chairman – which shows me this Chairman is not quite ready for this job.

On the good side, at least the Chairman of the Montana GOP finally hired someone with some experience – and from Montana.

But we all know it is such a “sacrifice” to serve in Helena – at least according to the Chairman of the Montana Republican Legislative Campaign Committee.  In January, he wrote:

These men and women have agreed to sacrifice time away from their families, their careers, their friends, and their businesses to serve our state.  They’re giving up a piece of their lives to help ensure Montana remains a great place to live, work, and raise a family.

I guess the Chairman of the MRLCC never served his country much – like in the military – to see what real sacrifice is.  Good grief.

But there you have it, a first look from Jack the Blogger at the Primary in Montana.  More to come!  Follow me on Twitter!