Another Democrat has joined the race for Montana’s new Congressional seat.Missoula attorney Monica Tranel announced her bid Wednesday on social media with a video, saying Democrats stand up for people in the “middle.”
“And we deserve respect, fair wages and a decent place to live,” she says in the video.
The two-time Olympic rower ran a failed campaign last year for the state’s Public Service Commission against Republican Jennifer Fielder.
Tranel joins fellow Democrat Laurie Bishop, a Livingston state lawmaker, in the race for the U.S. House.
Former Republican congressman and Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke and former Republican state lawmaker Al Olszewski have also filed to run for the post.
After 30 years, Montanans will elect a second representative after census data show the state has seen a 10% population increase during the last decade.
A state commission is debating how to draw the two districts ahead of the 2022 election.
Republican Matt Rosendale is Montana’s current representative in the U.S. House.
Copyright 2021 Montana Public Radio. To see more, visit Montana Public Radio.