Welcome to “Thursday Numbers!” Thanks for stopping by; now buckle your chinstrap!

If you are a first-time visitor, “Thursday Numbers” is the column where I take a look at the numbers that are in the news (in descending order) and provide commentary (sometimes spiked with a little sarcasm) just to make you smile or to make you shake your head.

This week I write about tourism, NBC, unemployment, Big Sky Freedom Fund, levy elections, Lois Lerner, Steve Daines, John Walsh, my mom, Ryan Zinke, Tea Party, Benghazi, the three stooges, and much more!

11,000,000

That’s how many people visited Montana last year. (Source)

Come back and bring a friend…

2,000,000

Gray Television Inc. says it will buy three television stations in Montana (NBC affiliates KTVH-TV in Helena, KBGF-TV in Great Falls, and CW affiliate KMTF-TV in Helena) for about $2 million. (Source)

Hopefully they will upgrade KBGF to a high definition (HD) signal so we can actually watch it and Charter cable can include it in the HD package.

319,000

That’s how many new claims for unemployment were filed last week. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, that is a decrease of 26,000 from the week before.

83,000

That’s how much the Big Sky Freedom Fund spent to help U.S. House candidate Corey Stapleton in the GOP primary.

Lee Newspapers reports “Big Sky Freedom Fund lists its address 1645 Parkhill Dr., Suite 6, in Billings. That’s the same address as 47 North Communications, a Republican political consulting and governmental affairs firm. Attempts to reach partners Dustin Frost in Billings and Jake Eaton in Helena were unsuccessful.”

They grow up so fast…

16,745

That’s how many votes were cast in the Great Falls Public Schools elementary mill levy election, and 16,685 votes were cast in the Great Falls Public Schools high school mill levy election.

There are about 59,000 residents in Great Falls…

500

Due to miscommunication, about 500 ballots were not sent until Thursday to voters in Vaughn (MT) which may have cost Sun River School District approval of its technology levy. They were due back on Tuesday. According to the Great Falls Tribune, “State law requires in a mail-ballot election that ballots must be sent out 20 days prior to the election.”

There seem to be several problems in the Cascade County Clerk and Recorder’s office, which is run by Rina Fontana Moore. The shenanigans she allowed by her fellow Democrats at the Montana Expo Park in 2012 raised eyebrows. It also seems to me that her office often runs late in getting the votes counted and reported on election night.

231

That’s how many U.S. House members “voted to hold former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner in contempt” on Wednesday. The vote passed 231-187. Congressman Steve Daines (R-Mont.) voted with the majority. Six Democrats were part of the 231. (Source)

This seems to be a waste of time, but they waste a lot of time in Washington, D.C.

89

Today (May 8) is my mother’s birthday. She would be 89 today. She passed away in January 2007. I miss her every day.

55

That’s how many uncounted absentee ballots were found by Anaconda officials. In that election, Mike Huotte beat Angela Galle by 24 votes to win his place on the board last year. Huotte was re-elected this year and Galle won her race this year. (Source)

I wonder if Brian Schweitzer made any calls to Anaconda…

49

A new poll from CEA/Hickman Analytics shows that in a possible general election match-up, Republican Steve Daines leads Democrat John Walsh 49% – 37%. The 12 point spread is two points closer than a March poll which had Daines leading by 14 points and having 51% of the vote.

Both sides can take away positives from the poll. It was such exciting news for Team Daines that a staffer tweeted the results to her followers very quickly, but the fact is the race seems to be growing closer. Daines is now below 50%, and Walsh gained two points since the last poll. More polling is needed to see how this race is trending.

41

Gallup polling reports “Four Years in, GOP Support for Tea Party Down to 41%.” Gallup adds, this continues to be a significant drop from the Tea Party’s high-water mark in November 2010, when 61% of Republicans were supporters of the Tea Party.

The long national Tea Party nightmare may be ending soon…

26

The same poll from CEA/Hickman Analytics showed Steve Daines having a higher total unfavorable rating than John Walsh, 26% to 20%. Barack Obama has a higher unfavorable rating in Montana than both Daines and Walsh combined (57%).

Daines comes across as aloof to many people, and that is why his unfavorable ratings are high.

12

House Republicans are forming a 12-member committee to investigate the Benghazi attack on the U.S. consulate. It will have seven Republicans and five Democrats (Source)

The reason in forming the committee is to win more seats in November for Republicans, and to hurt Hillary Clinton’s chances of becoming President.

3

Lee Newspapers reported, “Three former Montana Republican Party chairmen took the unusual step Monday of uniting to publicly oppose former state Sen. Ryan Zinke’s bid to win the GOP nomination for U.S. House in next month’s primary election.”

The key word is “unusual.” In my opinion, it is fine for former leaders and elected officials to endorse candidates in the primary, but it’s not OK to attack candidates who are members of your party. This is what Rick Hill, Ken Miller, and John Brenden have done. Hill, Miller, and Brenden are acting more like the three stooges (and that’s being nice) instead of leaders.

1

My Montana primary ballot was received on Tuesday. On Wednesday, U.S. House candidate Ryan Zinke’s campaign was the first to leave a message on my home phone. I also received a flyer via the mail Wednesday afternoon from the Zinke campaign – the first from a state-wide candidate.

No wonder the lefties and the extreme conservatives are worried about Zinke…

 

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