A new poll shows Montana's rural voters are concerned with rising transportation and energy costs, higher health-care expenses, and a lack of good-paying jobs - as they look toward next year's election.

Montana is among a handful of battleground states that could turn the vote in high-profile races next year.

In addition to the pocketbook issues common among other rural states, Montanans are also concerned about their environment and want a say in how it is cared for.

The new poll by the Center for Rural Strategies and Lake Research Partners asked people in rural America how they feel about their role in the economy and the perception of modern politics.

Lake Research President Celinda Lake said political polarization among rural voters is increasing, and has influenced perceptions of the economy.

"They don't think the economy is working well for them, and Republicans are really pessimistic about the economy," said Lake. "Democrats are more optimistic, but even they are split. There is a lot of polarization that started very early, and it's because people aren't hearing the kind of dialogue that would be useful in rural areas."

Lake added that job creation, prescription drug prices and food costs are also extremely important - but she said finding local solutions to these problems is critical to rural Montana voters.

Rural Americans as a whole listed freedom and family as the two values they hold most dear.

The poll shows many people in rural Montana identify themselves by the work they do.

Many of those technical or manual-labor jobs have been replaced by technology or moved overseas - and have shaped how rural Americans feel about the economy.

But Center for Rural Strategies President Dee Davis said the survey found close to 40% of rural, blue-collar voters could be swayed by targeted policy proposals and messaging.

"Talk to people not in the short-term, 'I'm going to tell you this to get your vote tomorrow,' way," said Davis, "but in a longer kind of way to create a discourse about the future of rural America and have people participate in that."

Looking toward next year's election, the poll shows former President Donald Trump with an 18% lead over President Joe Biden among rural Americans.

A three-part online training series on how to run for office and govern effectively begins Monday, designed for people running at any level of government office in Western states, including Wyoming.

The training is part of the Grassroots Democracy Program under the Western Organization of Resource Councils, a group organizing in rural parts of the West and includes Wyoming's Powder River Basin Resource Council.

Gwen Lachelt, political director for the group, said the series will help answer a broad range of questions.

"Everything from, 'Am I ready to run for office? How do I organize my campaign?' To, 'how do I govern, and how can I be an effective elected official?'" Lachelt explained.

As of Friday, Lachelt noted about 50 people had signed up for the training. Registration is still open until the event starts Monday at 5:30 p.m. MT.

Lachelt added she is seeing a lot of interest in running for office from people of all age groups and all backgrounds. She emphasized the group hopes to connect with Westerners who care about natural resources.

"Our goal is to build a bench of elected officials across our regions who will champion democracy and also work to protect the West's land, air, and water," Lachelt stressed.

Guest speakers at the event include Rep. Katie Sullivan, D-Missoula, who is the House Minority Leader, and Kevin Williams, a board member of Colorado's Delta-Montrose Electric Association.


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President Donald Trump has renewed calls for a special prosecutor to probe false claims of fraud in the 2020 election but an election expert believes it is likely just a new effort to raise funds.

Earlier this month, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on social media he had found new evidence implicating the Chinese Communist Party in 2020 election interference.

David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said Patel's approach is not typical.

"If the FBI has evidence of a crime, what they don't do is announce it on social media," Becker pointed out. "They don't send it up to the Senate to do further investigation. If the FBI has evidence of a crime, they investigate, they indict and prosecute. We are not seeing that here."

Despite dozens of lawsuits filed in the aftermath of the 2020 election, no federal judges cited a need to delay certification of the results, and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal brought by several Republican-led states to overturn the outcome.

Trump's insistence of voter fraud contributed to 1,500 of his supporters storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Many were convicted of crimes but were ultimately pardoned on Trump's first day in office. Friday night, the Justice Department fired at least three prosecutors involved in the Capitol riot cases.

Becker noted firings in the agency are worrisome.

"If you normalize this reshaping of the entire federal civil service in key agencies, based solely upon loyalty, that is soon going to become the new normal," Becker cautioned. "We're going to see it done by both parties, and that will be to the detriment of us as Americans."

One of the biggest proponents of the myth that the 2020 election was stolen was MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, recently found guilty of defamation by a Denver jury. Lindell claimed Dominion Voting Systems manipulated voting machines to favor Joe Biden and called a former employee a traitor. Becker noted Lindell is one of many who've made huge claims without concrete evidence.

"It is easy to grandstand on the steps of a courthouse or on social media," Becker acknowledged. "But every single time they've been asked to put up or shut up in a court of law, where their evidence would be subjected to scrutiny, they have shut up."


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All babies born in California are still automatically American citizens and the state attorney general is vowing to keep it that way, despite a mixed ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.

The justices limited the ability of lower-court judges to issue nationwide injunctions, including those against President Donald Trump's ban on birthright citizenship, while court challenges are pending. The decision still allows the ban to take effect in 30 days in the 28 states that were not part of the lawsuit.

Rob Bonta, California's Attorney General, did sue and said he still expects to win the case.

"I'm hopeful that the court will see that a patchwork of state injunctions where birthright citizenship stands for some states but not others, would inevitably create administrative chaos and spur questions we don't have the answers to," Bonta explained.

Whether Trump's ban on birthright citizenship is constitutional is also being considered by lower courts. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution states anyone born on American soil is automatically a citizen. The President argued babies should only be citizens if one of their parents is already a citizen.

Bonta noted the original 1898 case reaffirming birthright citizenship concerned Wong Kim Ark, a Chinese American man born in San Francisco to immigrant parents.

"Babies born in California should rightfully be citizens," Bonta contended. "We're a nation of immigrants. It's our legacy and it's our identity, especially here in California, home to more immigrants than any other state, including my mother who emigrated from the Philippines."

Nationwide injunctions from lower courts have so far kept dozens of Trump's executive orders from taking effect. A similar injunction also kept President Biden from expanding protections for foreign-born people brought to the U.S. as children.


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