For those who haven’t noticed, the 2018 election cycle has begun anew with candidates across Montana throwing their hats into the ring. The filing window opened on January 11th and closes on March 12th. The primary election itself isn’t until June 5th, so we still have three solid months to be bombarded by political ads.
Some states are far ahead of us on this curve. Texas, for example, had their primary on Tuesday, and the results were encouraging, to say the least, especially as the issues at hand give us some indication of what may happen in June right here in Montana.
The first outcome of the Texas elections was a direct repudiation of the mainstream media, and their claim that Democrats would seize control because of voter dissatisfaction with President Trump. It didn’t happen. Democrat turnout was strong, but the Republicans still turned out substantially more votes, which is a leading indicator of what will happen in November’s general election. For over a decade, the mainstream media has been salivating over the notion that Texas would turn blue, and time and again, the voters of Texas go red.
The second interesting fact is who actually won. On the Democrat side, it tended to be the lesser known, less well-connected, low-budget candidates. Those well-financed candidates who were supported by the Washington, D.C. power brokers lost in spades. Republicans, on the other hand, also saw upset after upset, but for far different reasons, and this is what bodes well for Montana.
One of the hottest issues in last year’s Texas legislative session was a Locker Room Privacy Act, similar to the one proposed right here in Montana. It was a hard-fought battle, but in the end, Joe Straus, the outgoing Republican Speaker of the House turned his back on the voters of Texas and killed the bill. Citizens, especially Republican voters, were outraged, and on Tuesday, they exacted revenge. Some of Straus’s biggest allies were shown the door. In all, 12 anti-Strauss candidates won their primary races, proving once again, that in the eyes of the voters, privacy matters.
Some of those races are still too close to call, and Straus could wind up losing even more seats after the runoff elections in May. For liberal Republicans, Tuesday’s election was an unmitigated disaster. To add insult to injury, every single House Republican except one who supported the Privacy Act won re-election. And to go a step further, a precinct resolution declaring that Texas should protect the privacy and safety of all women and children in government-controlled bathrooms, showers and locker rooms passed by a whopping 90%. Politicians, including those here in Montana, need to sit up and take notice. Voters are tired of the gender free-for-all, and they’re ready to take action.
If you’d like to help get the Montana Locker Room Privacy Act on the ballot, please go to lockerroomprivacy.com to sign the petition; better yet, please organize a signature-gathering Sunday at your church. Manning a small table in your church’s foyer is a quiet, unobtrusive and effective way to get lots of signatures. Please go to lockerroomprivacy.com today.
