Open Senate seat draws local interest
POLSON — Ten years after first realizing his political aspirations, former state Sen. John Brueggeman (R), of Polson, left his Senate District 6 seat, effective Nov. 29.
“All of us in the Senate appreciate his service to Montana for the past nine years,” senate president Jim Peterson said in a statement after the announcement. “The kind of career opportunity that Senator Brueggeman had doesn’t come along every day, especially in this economy. I understand his decision. We will miss his dedicated work, but all of us in the Senate wish him well in his future.”
Now, both Lake and Flathead counties will work together to fill the now-vacant seat. Because Brueggeman is a Republican, by statute, a Republican must be named to fill the position. Lake County Republican Central Committee chairman Brent Matson said his group held a meeting last Thursday to discuss the opening with the committee and interested applicants for the seat. Matson said his committee and the Flathead County branch will decide among all the applications and forward three top picks to the commissioners of both counties, who will make the final decision. The committee has 45 days to submit the names, after which the six combined county commissioners will have 15 days to notify the secretary of state of their decision. With the state legislature set to convene on Jan. 3, 2011, it seems that process may be expedited in order to have a sitting Republican senator at that time.
“What we’re looking for are people who have been involved in the process before and we want to find the most qualified applicant to do the job,” Matson said. “I’ve never experienced this replacement process before, but I’ve gotten a hold of people at the state level and legal counsel to get advice on how to proceed.”
The district encompasses 1,278 square miles, including most of Lake County and the southwestern portion of Flathead County. With the majority of the population located in Lake County, election administrator Kathie Newgard said the secretary of state’s office determined that each Lake County Commissioner’s vote will count for 29.775 percent, while each Flathead County Commissioner’s vote will count for 3.557 percent.
“Whenever a vacancy occurs in the legislature, the vacancy must be filled by appointment by the board of county commissioners or, in the event of a multicounty district, the boards of county commissioners of the counties comprising the district sitting as one appointing board,” Montana Code Annotated 5-2-402 reads.
Matson confirmed he had received two completed applications by Monday afternoon, with a deadline of 5 p.m. tomorrow evening. House District 11 representative Janna Taylor, recently re-elected to the position, confirmed last week that she is interested in the senate position and plans on applying for the opening.
Matson said if Taylor is appointed after all is said and done, the Republican Central Committee from Flathead and Lake Counties will go through the same process for her seat, as HD 11 extends into both counties as well.