Free Republic

BOZEMAN, Mont. — The ending was shocking, but the result was no surprise. Despite a bizarre election eve altercation with a reporter that led to a citation for misdemeanor assault, Republican Greg Gianforte kept a red-state House seat in Republican hands in Thursday’s Montana special election. Yet his closer-than-expected victory against Democrat Rob Quist for the at-large congressional seat proved revealing, exposing GOP weaknesses that could threaten the party’s House majority in 2018 but reminding Democrats of the uphill climb ahead against President Donald Trump. Here are POLITICO’s five takeaways after the messy two-month brawl and wild final 24 hours:...

<p>BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Republican multimillionaire Greg Gianforte won Montana's only U.S. House seat on Thursday despite being charged a day earlier with assault after witnesses said he grabbed a reporter by the neck and threw him to the ground.</p>

Washington (CNN) A race for an open House seat in Montana took a jaw-dropping twist when a reporter alleged that Republican candidate Greg Gianforte "body slammed" him and broke his glasses on the eve of Election Day. Late Wednesday night, the Gallatin County Sheriff's department charged Gianforte with misdemeanor assault. The latest news came just ahead of an already much-anticipated special congressional election in the Big Sky state that pitted a folk-singing Democrat with a spotty financial past against a well-known Republican millionaire and businessman. Republican Gianforte and Democrat Rob Quist face off Thursday to replace former Rep. Ryan Zinke,...

Calling the campaign a harbinger of things to come, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders stumped Saturday for Democrat Rob Quist, who seeks to wrest Montana’s only congressional seat from Republican control. “I don’t want to make you nervous, but the eyes of this country are on Montana this week,” Sanders told an estimated 3,500 people gathered inside the University of Montana’s Adams Center in Missoula. “If you can do it in Montana, we can do it all across this country,” Sanders said. “We can create a political revolution that restores power to the working class, not just the billionaire class. That’s...

"This is something that the entire world needs to address," Quist said. "If any those of you that feel like this is not a problem, I challenge you to go into your car in your garage, start your car, and see what happens there." During his campaign, Quist's life has come into the public light, including his regular musical performances at an Idaho nudist resort with his daughter.

Montana Democrat Rob Quist, a locally famous musician, is a frequent performer at the Sun Meadow Resort, Idaho's premier nudist resort for guests seeking a "family nudist experience." ... Some of Quist's concerts at Sun Meadow came during a period when he claimed he was "unable to work" due to "significant health problems" caused by a botched gall bladder surgery in 1996. He previously blamed financial troubles for his inability to perform at all in 2011.

Under the headline “Stunning Pronouncement,” a new fundraising pitch sent Tuesday by Rep. Tim Walz’s campaign targets statements by one of his Republican opponents, Allen Quist. At a meeting of Wabasha Republicans in December Quist called liberals “radicals” and said the fight against Democrats was bigger than the fight against terrorism. “A stunning comment by one of my opponents has caught some attention,” wrote Walz, referring to national news outlets’ coverage of Quist’s remarks. “The comment is a clear picture into the mindset of those who are doing all they can to stop the change we are fighting for every...

Former State Representative Allen Quist announced Wednesday night that he will run against U.S. Representative Tim Walz for the First District Congressional Seat. In a press release, Quist said: "If people like what Congress is doing, they should vote for the incumbent. But if they believe, as I do, that Congress is headed in the wrong direction, then I will be the alternative." Quist had previously established a web site and Facebook page, so the formal announcement of his candidacy was not unexpected. A Republican, Quist served three terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1983 to 1988, runs...

<p>In the latest crackdown on illicit practices during the technology-stock boom, regulators fined the parent of San Francisco investment bank Hambrecht & Quist $6 million for accepting what amounted to kickbacks from customers eager to get hot stock in initial public offerings.</p>