Geise joins Senate race as Libertarian candidate

Lewis and Clark County Commission Susan Good Geise joined the Montana 2020 Senate race as a Libertarian candidate on March 18.

When Libertarian candidate Eric Fulton withdrew his candidacy on the last day to file, the Montana Libertarian Party had one week to find a replacement. At a special meeting on March 17, the Libertarian party nominated Geise to step in as the party's replacement candidate.

"This was absolutely not on my radar, but I have given my life to public service. I'm just one person standing up for what is right," Geise said.

In a call for new nominations for a Libertarian U.S. Senate race candidate, party chair Sid Daoud noted allegations that Fulton "may have been working in concert with the Republican party and that, perhaps, had never intended to run, but only sought to dissuade other legitimate Libertarian candidates from doing so. Whether these accusations are founded, we have now arrived at this point and the actions we must take are clear."

Fulton denied these allegations via email to MNT News.

Geise has been a longtime member of the Republican party, serving as the party chair in 1992-93. She had stated that she planned to retire after finishing her final term as County Commissioner this year. "That was the original plan," Geise said, "and then life happened."

Montana is poised to be a battleground state for the 2020 U.S. Senate elections. With 35 Senate seats open, Ballotopedia designated 17 of these as battleground elections. Battleground elections are identified as those which could have a substantial impact on the balance of power in the government.

Geise said that a race like this will likely bring in lots of outside interest. "This is probably the most important Senate race in the country. Because, strangely, it will most likely decide who controls the United States Senate. Every special interest group in the country is going to have huge motivation to jump into this race either in dark money or in huge PACs. Whoever wins this race will kind of be that deciding vote."

Currently, the Republican party holds 53 Senate seats, and the Democratic party holds 45 Senate seats. To date, a Libertarian party candidate has not served in the U.S. Senate. Only two Senate seats are currently held by third or minor parties. Bernard Sanders from Vermont and Angus S. King, Jr. from Maine both identify as independent candidates and caucus with the Democratic party.

Geise added that not everyone has responded to her candidacy enthusiastically. "I've had people yell at me and curse at me. It's more important to me to speak up. I've got 32-plus years of speaking my mind and going against the grain from time to time. I'm 70. Why would I change now? Why, as I'm walking out the door, if I have this one last chance to speak out against tribalism, why wouldn't I do that?"