Montanans are heading to the polls Thursday, voting in a special election to fill the open spot for the state’s single at-large House seat in the US House of Representatives.
There’s been plenty of action in the Big Sky State before Wednesday’s bombshell revelation that one of the candidates allegedly body slammed a reporter, but if you’re wondering about the basics of the race, CNN is here for you.
Here are the best answers we have for a special election that has raised a lot of questions:
Why is there an election?
Ryan Zinke left his congressional seat earlier this year to be President Donald Trump’s secretary of the Interior. He’s the one who rode a horse to work.
When are polls open?
Polls opened in most locations in Montana by 7 a.m. local time (9 a.m. ET). They close Thursday night at 8 p.m. local time (10 p.m. ET).
Montanans can register to vote on the same day as voting, and absentee voters who’ve yet to turn in their ballots can still do so today.
Who’s running?
The two major party candidates are:
Republican Greg Gianforte – A multi-millionaire tech entrepreneur who sold his company RightNow Technologies to Oracle in 2012. He unsuccessfully ran for governor last year. A 24-year Montana resident, he’s based in Bozeman.
Democrat Rob Quist – A 69-year-old singer-songwriter and self-described small businessman from the town of Cut Bank, where he grew up on the highline, a rural corner of the state.
For more on the candidates, check out this deep dive from CNN’s Lauren Fox, who spent a lot of time with both candidates in April.
Did one of the candidates ‘body slam’ a reporter?
Allegedly. That’s how the reporter in question — The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs — described the physical altercation he had with Gianforte after he crashed a Fox News interview to ask the Republican about his thoughts on the Congressional Budget Office’s score of the GOP health care plan. (You can read more about that CBO score here). Jacobs has audio of the encounter.
Gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault and received a citation to appear in Gallatin County Justice Court between now and June 7, according to County Sheriff Brian Gootkin.
After the event, Gianforte’s spokesman released a statement blaming the encounter on Jacobs’ “aggressive behavior.” Here’s how spokesman Shane Scanlon described it.
“Tonight, as Greg was giving a separate interview in a private office, The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs entered the office without permission, aggressively shoved a recorder in Greg’s face, and began asking badgering questions,” the campaign said. “Jacobs was asked to leave. After asking Jacobs to lower the recorder, Jacobs declined. Greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Jacobs grabbed Greg’s wrist, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground. It’s unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ.”
A Fox News crew, whose interview Jacobs crashed, described the altercation in a way that appeared to support Jacobs’ depiction of events and with more detail.
“At that point, Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him,” one of the producers wrote of their encounter. “Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the reporter. As Gianforte moved on top of Jacobs, he began yelling something to the effect of, ‘I’m sick and tired of this!'”
Isn’t Montana solidly red?
Not exactly. The state has been dependably Republican in presidential elections, but the state has a Democratic governor — Steve Bullock — who was re-elected the same night that Trump won. One of the state’s two senators is also a two-term Democrat: Jon Tester who’s up for re-election next year. That said, a Republican has held onto the state’s congressional seat since 1997.
Are there other special elections?
The next two House special elections are both on June 20, when both Georgia and South Carolina voters will head to the polls to replace seats left open after Reps. Tom Price of Georgia and Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina took jobs in Trump’s Cabinet.