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House Race 'Closer Than We Would Like,' Gianforte Tells Supporters

U.S. House candidate Greg Gianforte speaks with Sally Mauk during an April 14 interview at MTPR.
Josh Burnham
U.S. House candidate Greg Gianforte speaks with Sally Mauk during an April 14 interview at MTPR.

This week Republican U.S. House candidate Greg Gianforte has been telling his supporters that the race is, “closer than it should be.” MTPR's Corin Cates-Carney dropped in on a Gianforte get-out-the-vote event at Montana GOP headquarters in Helena today.

In the days leading up to election day Thursday, Gianforte has been asking his supporters to spend time calling friends and family who have not yet voted.

“We’re doing this final push. If you’d be willing to call some of our friends and say, ‘hey we haven’t gotten your ballot yet, are you going to get to the polls tomorrow’. If you could do an hour doing that, that would be a tremendous help for the campaign. This race is closer than we would like it to be,” Gianforte said.

Gianforte spoke before a couple dozen supporters in Helena, Wednesday afternoon.

The Republican briefly touched on his top campaign promises,  to bring jobs into the states, resist tax increases, represent Montana values in Washington DC, and work with President Donald Trump to drain the swamp.

Joy Novota from Helena was at the event. She’s been part of the Montana Republicans' Women's Club for about 15 years. She’s not fully convinced that the race is ‘closer than it should be’, and said it wouldn’t hurt to say the race was that close in order to encourage more voters to get to the polls.

“We just want people to get out of their chairs and do their duty," Novata said. "This is a privilege in this country. People have to realize that we have to participate in this process, because if you stay home and complain, you have no reason to complain."

The race to fill Montana’s lone seat on the U.S. House ends Thursday. Polls are open tomorrow from 7:00 a.m to 8:00 p.m. You can find more information about how, where and when to vote here.

Copyright 2020 Montana Public Radio. To see more, visit Montana Public Radio.

Corin Cates-Carney is the Flathead Valley reporter for MTPR.