Are Democrats Doing Enough to Flip Montana's House Seat?

Democrats have so far failed to convert liberal anxiety over their presidential-election loss and their desire to regain political power into an outright win in any of the special elections to replace Republican lawmakers tapped to serve in the Trump administration. The party has a chance to change that in an upcoming House election in Montana. But while Democrats want to capitalize on the president’s low national approval ratings to win back seats, it’s not clear the party has found a winning formula yet to compete in rural parts of the country where Trump is more popular.

Montana is the kind of state where Democrats may need to make inroads if the party wants to expand its reach across the country, and convince voters who believe Democrats are that they are not a party of coastal elites. Trump won the state by double digits in November, and both candidates in the special election to replace Republican Ryan Zinke, voters that the House of Representatives should not be a “millionaires’ club.” Republican Greg Gianforte has , like Trump, to “drain the swamp.”