Hey there – It’s Wednesday, and here are the topics for today’s column:

• U.S. Senate Montana 2024
• Montana Rebates
• Campaign Signs
• Football Roundup

U.S. SENATE MONTANA 2024:

Some fundraising numbers were just released for Montana’s U.S. Senate race…

Lee Newspapers is reporting that Republican challenger Tim Sheehy’s campaign announced $2.8 million raised in his first quarter and incumbent Democrat Sen. Jon Tester’s campaign on Tuesday announced it raised more than $5 million in the same stretch.

MTN News went a little deeper in their reporting…

Sheehy’s campaign announced he raised more than $2.8 million over three months – $2.2 million from donors and $650,000 from his personal contributions and loans. Sheehy has more than $1.1 million in cash on hand. Tester’s campaign reported having more than $13 million available to spend at the start of October.

Nonetheless, that’s a lot of pizzas for the campaign workers – and it looks like Team Tester gets more toppings.

I always wonder just how much personal money a wealthy candidate will spend in a race. When the current Governor Greg Gianforte runs, he has shown he’s not afraid to spend a lot of his own money to win. I doubt Sheehy has the wealth of Gianforte.

Check out the Lee Newspapers report HERE and the MTN News report HERE.

MONTANA REBATES:

According to a report in the Daily Montanan, if a Montanan did not apply for the $675 rebate by October 2, they are out of luck. Applications closed Oct. 2, and the Department of Revenue (DOR) said it approved 207,528 rebates for a total of $136.9 million.

The Daily Montanan also reported that DOR earlier estimated the potential number of eligible homeowners at 292,200 based on U.S. Census data, or some 85,000 more than the rebates provided so far. Tuesday, the DOR said it had adjusted total eligible homeowners to closer to 250,000, or some 43,000 more than approved so far, and the estimate is “one that we may be able to refine further.” At the maximum $675 rebate, the total not disbursed at least so far would be $29 million.

So, if I am reading that last graph correctly, 43,000 people missed out and left $29 million sitting in the state’s account.

It’s a damn shame…

It seemed the rebate deal had a rough start. I applied and was told that I would get a paper check, but the next day the money was deposited electronically.

Check out the full report from the Daily Montanan HERE.

CAMPAIGN SIGNS:

A faithful reader told me they saw a campaign sign in Great Falls that says, “Vote NO on Everything.”

I like that and I will be voting “No” on everything.

FOOTBALL ROUNDUP:

It was a brutal week for me in the College Pigskin Pick contest, as I went 2-8. On the NFL side, I was a little better going, 8-6.

This week, the Montana State Bobcats host Cal Poly at 6:00 p.m. The Montana Grizzlies are in Idaho and that game starts at 8:30 p.m.

My Mizzou Tigers lost their first game of the season to LSU last week. The road gets tougher as they play at #24 Kentucky this Saturday.

In the NFL, my Kansas City Chiefs (4-1) host the Denver Broncos (1-4) on Thursday night to kick off the week. The game is on Amazon Prime Video. The Chiefs should win this game, but it’s a division game and anything can happen. The Broncos and Chiefs play twice in October.

The cream is starting to rise to the top in the NFL. I think the top teams in the NFC are the Eagles, Niners, and Lions. In the AFC, it’s the Chiefs, Dolphins, and the Bills.

On Sunday, there’s another international NFL game with the Ravens playing the Titans in London. The kick-off is at 7:30 a.m. Mountain time.

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