A follow-up to last night’s diary for Missoula and Butte. Bernie and Rob wrapped up the day with a third rally in Billings as well as an appearance at the Yellowstone Dems’ Truman Dinner.
The second visit by Sen. Bernie Sanders to Billings in roughly a year began on Saturday night at the 30th Annual Truman Dinner, a fundraiser for the Yellowstone County Democrats.
Sanders arrived in the midst of an animated speech by Gov. Steve Bullock. As the governor greeted the Independent senator from Vermont, a cheer went up in the downtown DoubleTree hotel event room and attendees stood to applaud him, with some chanting “Bernie! Bernie!”
The last time Sanders came to Billings he was stumping for himself during his bid for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential election. This time, Sanders was campaigning for Rob Quist, the Democratic nominee for Montana’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
billingsgazette.com/…
I’m assuming they appeared briefly at the dinner before proceeding to the rally.
A Northern Cheyenne contingent was present at the Quist rally one day after the Crow Nation endorsed his opponent, Greg Gianforte. The Northern Cheyenne Nation made official its endorsement of Quist, which the candidate called "a real honor."
The 1 hour, 15 minute rally had an official attendance of 1,007. Jim Baken, who teaches art at Rocky Mountain College, said he wore a white cowboy hat to the rally both to honor Quist and “because I look good in it.”
billingsgazette.com/…
This was the smallest crowd of the four rallies. Billings has a population around 100,000.
This is a bunch of photos from Billings.
Their campaign swing ended on a high note in Bozeman late this morning.
robquist.org
Sunday, May 21, 2017 · 9:47:54 PM +00:00 · MTmofo
Roughly 4,500 people packed into MSU’s Strand Union Building, according to a spokeswoman for the Quist campaign. An extra auditorium was set up to accommodate the overflow, as well as an outdoor staging area with speakers. The Chronicle was unable to immediately verify the estimated crowd size with MSU Sunday afternoon.
snip
Several members of recently formed local political group Gallatin Angelic Troublemakers said that of all the candidates, Quist’s views on most issues aligned the closest with their own.
“He’s not afraid to stand for progressive causes,” said Christina Hayes, 41. “And he’s walked the walk. He understands the pain of getting a big medical bill in the mail.”
www.bozemandailychronicle.com/...