Senate Race

Billings Sending Mixed Messages on Burns - Tester Race

By Pete Talbot, 11-06-06

Jon Tester will need some magic in the Magic City to win Montana’s U.S. Senate race. As Montana’s political pundits say: as goes Billings, so goes the state.

Billings is sending a mixed message. Both the Billings Gazette and Outpost endorsed Democrat candidate Tester over Republican Senator Conrad Burns. Yet a very unscientific poll conducted on the Gazette’s web page had, at last count, 51,350 (64%) for Burns, 23,469 (29%) for Tester and Libertarian Stan Jones with 5027 (6%). And while this might not reflect real voter preference, it could reflect who has the better quick-response political machine.

Having the president come and stump for the incumbent five-days-out from the election, in Montana’s largest city, doesn’t hurt the Burns campaign either.

Another unscientific indicator is the yard sign war. Driving around Billings, Burns definitely has the edge but not by that much. (Driving around Missoula’s urban core last week, it was hard to imagine that Tester even had an opponent, there was such a dearth of Burns signs.)

What are the voters in Billings saying?

One Burns supporter said of his candidate, “Conrad won’t mess with my guns.”

There’s no evidence that Tester would mess with this guy’s guns either, but if that’s the perception in Yellowstone County, Tester could lose some votes.

“Burns has some problems,” said another Burns supporter, “but I know where he stands.” This person didn’t know enough about Tester to consider voting for him, he added.

A Tester supporter, who happens to work for the fire department, said everyone she works with is voting for Tester. Burns’ berating of firefighters at the Billings airport this summer probably didn’t help the Senator’s support with the public safety crowd.

My Republican brother-in-law said he’s voting for Tester. “Conrad’s an embarrassment,” he added.

So opinions are all over the map and it’s anybody’s guess who will take Yellowstone County.

I’ll be in Billings on election day and at Burns’ election night soiree at the Billings Motel and Convention Center. I’ll keep you posted.

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