It was a quiet Primary Election day in front of the MetraPark event center June 2 around noon, but the people who showed up were enthusiastic about their choice to be there.
Abigail Diefenbacher of Billings said she identifies as Republican or Independent depending on the candidate.
“I come from a big military family going back to the Revolutionary War,” she said. “And I feel that if my family and thousands of others can sacrifice themselves or put themselves in the line of danger for me to have the right to vote, then I need to respect that and actually get my butt down and vote.”
She said affordability is top of mind for her right now.
“Prices have gone way up, pay has not, and I have to decide sometimes am I going to pay my cell bill or what do I need to eat?”
Diefenbacher said she likes candidate Seth Bodnar, a former president of the University of Montana who’s running for U.S. Senate as an Independent. While Independents do not participate in the primary election, Bodnar’s name will appear on the November ballot.
Bodnar is also so far the candidate of choice for convenience store manager Zachary Simenson, who identifies himself as an Independent, leaning Democrat.
“I like the ‘no-nonsense, get back to common sense and quit putting party first,’” said Simenson. “Definitely that message is where it stems with me. I like his leadership history. And I think we need a strong leader in the United States Senate.”
He said he believes some political talking points are out of touch.
“I don’t think the issues that constantly get brought up as far as trans rights and the anti-wokeness actually matters to Montanans as much as people think it does. I think we really need to get back to focusing on funding education and getting better quality healthcare,” said Simenson.
Constitutional conservative Rebecca Matz from Billings said she likes Judge Dan Wilson, who’s running for Montana Supreme Court against Judge Amy Eddy, and she says the slate of candidates is strong.
“I’m reading about them, looking into them, to see who they are, because I think big government is too big, so I’m looking for people who will think about our state and our country the way that the Constitution was written for.”
She and other voters Tuesday spoke strongly about their choice to participate in the primary.
“Because it’s important to vote in every election. Every election counts,” said Matz.
The General election is November 3.
