Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-09-07)

27

BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK

2. PLACES

Born inMissoula in1966,Bullock
grewupinHelena,deliveringnews-
papers to the governor’s residence
startinginelementaryschool.(Oneof
hisstockjokes:“I’vemadeit fourblocks
inlife.”)Hisschoolboardmothermostly
raisedhimandhisbrotherafterdivorc-
inghisteacherfather.A coupleofyears
afterBullockgraduatedfromColumbia
LawSchoolwithsixfiguresofstudent
debt,though,it washisdad,dyingof
lungcancer,whohelpedleadhimback
toMontana.Whilecaringforhisfather,
Bullockgota jobasa stafflawyeratthe
Montanasecretaryofstate’soffice.A few
yearslaterhe’dbecomethechiefdep-
utyofthestate’sattorneygeneral,and
then,aftera stintinprivatepractice,
theAGhimself.Inthatposthedefended
Montana’scentury-oldbanoncorporate
electionspending,thoughhelostinthe
U.S.SupremeCourtafterit significantly
deregulatedcampaignfinance with its
CitizensUnitedruling.
Bullocknarrowlywonthegovernor-
shipin 2012 onthepromisetosafeguard
unionsbyvetoingright-to-workbills,
giveeveryhomeownera $400prop-
ertytaxrebate,and protecthunting
andfishing.Duringhistwotermshe’s
workedwithRepublicanlegislatorsto
expandMedicaidtocovermorethan
90,000Montanansandkeepruralhospi-
talsopenandtoforceallgroupsengaged
inlate-gamepoliticalspendingtodis-
closetheirdonors.(Another Bullock
favorite:“MakeWashingtonworkmore
likeMontana.”)He’sfailedtopushpub-
lic funding for preschool through the

legislaturebuthasmanagedtoblock
taxcutsfavoringhigher-incomeresi-
dentsandregularlyusedhisveto power
toprotectabortionrights.
Under Montana’s term-limit law,
Bullockhastoleavethegovernor’sres-
idencenextyear.Non-Montananscan
beforgivenformissinghiscampaign
forpresident,whichlastedmorethan
six months; he ranmostly oncam-
paignfinancereformandhisrecordof
attractingTrumpvoters,andhequali-
fiedforonlyoneDemocraticdebate.
Beforeandafter,hestrenuouslydenied
anyinterestinchallengingDaines.But
nationalDemocraticPartyleaderssaw
Bullock’spopularityasanopportunity.
FormerPresidentObamametwiththe
governorinFebruarytoaskhimtorun
againstDaines,asdidNewYork’sChuck
Schumer,theSenateminorityleader.On
March9,Bullockbecametheonlysitting
U.S.governorrunningfortheSenate.
AndthatwasbeforeMontanaknew
justhowbadCovid-19wasgoingtoget.
Bullockdeclareda stateofemergency
onMarch12,closedpublicschoolson
March15,andorderedMontanansto
stayathomeonMarch26.Heissueda
maskorderinJuly,aftercasesstarted
torise.“Montanawasdoingverywell
andhadsomeofthelowestcases,”says
Jeremy Johnson,a political scientist
atCarrollCollegeinHelena.“Nowit’s
creptupsomewhat,buthe’smaintained
a highapprovalfor his handling of the
Covidcrisis.”
DainessaysBullockhasbeenslow
to distribute the morethan $1.2bil-
lion in federal pandemic relief that
MontanareceivedinMarch.Daines,58,
hasdefinedhimselfasa staunchlycon-
servativeRepublican,deepredwhere
Bullockis purple.Heopposesabortion
rightsandgunrestrictions,andvotedfor
the 2017 taxcutlawthatconcentratedits
reliefoncorporationsandthewealth-
iesttaxpayers(only,however,afterhis
colleaguesamendedit toincreasecuts
forsmallbusinesses).Dainesis thekind
ofpoliticianMontananstendtoelectto
theirloneU.S.Houseseat,a positionhe
heldfortwoyearsbeforehiscurrent
post.TheHouseseatwashisfirstpolit-
icaloffice,buthe’dbeenrisinginstate
Republicancirclesforsomeyearsbefore
that,mostnotablyasthecandidatefor
○ DAINES lieutenant governor on a ticket that

MONTANA

U.S.

LATEST POLLING

2016

2012

2008

2004

2000

1996

1992

Daines 50%

Bullock 44%

53%

42%

Trump

Biden

NUMBEROF SENATORS

FROMSAMEPARTYAS

LASTPRESIDENTIAL

CANDIDATEWHO WON

THEIR STATE

100

50

0

1953 2019

SENATE MAKEUP,

116THCONGRESS

Homestatevoted

for otherparty’s

presidential

candidatein 2016

Independent

(caucuseswith

Democrats)

DEMOGRAPHICS

Population 1.1m

White† 86%

AmericanIndian 7%

Latino 4%

Asianor Pacific

Islander 1%

Black <1%

Two or moreraces3%

Populationchange,

2010-19 +8.0%

Medianhousehold

income $53k

Homeownershiprate

67.7%

Unemploymentrate,

June 2020 7.2%

Lifeexpectancy 78.8

Confirmed

coronaviruscases

per 100k people 635

2018

2014

2012

2008

2006

2002

2000

STATESWITHFEWESTPEOPLE

PER SQUARE MILE, 2010

Alaska Wyoming Montana

Presidential

Senate

6.8

U.S.

87.4

ELECTIONRESULTS

Democrat

Republican

Other

Won the state

BECAUSE†WHITEEXCLUDESLATINOISLATINOS.CONSIDEREDPERCENTAGESANETHNICITY,ADDNOTUPTOA RACE.MORETHANDATA:100%U.S.CENSUS

STATISTICS;BUREAU;2014-18COUNTYAMERICANHEALTHCOMMUNITYRANKINGS;MITSURVEY;ELECTIONU.S.BUREAUDATAANDOFLABORSCIENCELAB;

JOHNSGARY JACOBSON, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SAN DIEGO; U.S. SENATEHOPKINSUNIVERSITY;EMERSONCOLLEGEPOLLING,JULY31-AUG.2;