Today, the Human Rights Campaign announced the endorsement of Mike Cooney for Governor of Montana as well as several candidates for the Montana State Legislature.

“No Montanan should be treated differently because of who they are or whom they love,” said HRC Deputy Campaigns Director Hope Jackson. “Montana is at its best when elected leaders in Helena fight for the dignity and rights of all Montanas, including those who identify as LGBTQ. We must work to ensure that we keep a pro-equality champion in Montana’s governor's mansion and give him the legislative partners to move Montana forward. Over the coming months, HRC will work to mobilize the over 56,000 Equality Voters throughout the state of Montana to fight for Mike Cooney, Steve Bullock and all our endorsed candidates.”

HRC Endorsed Candidates include:

• Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney (MT-Gov)
• Rae Peppers (SD-21)
• Jen Gross (SD-25)
• Margie MacDonald (SD-26)
• Dave Fern (HD-05)
• Jasmine Taylor (HD-22)
• Barbara Bessette (HD-24)
• Helena Lovick (HD-26)
• Jade Bahr (HD-50)
• Hannah Olson (HD-52)
• Laurie Bishop (HD-60)
• Mary Ann Dunwell (HD-84)
• Loni Conley (HD-96)

In the 2018 midterms, HRC mobilized our grassroots army of 3.2 million members, supporters, and volunteers to work on behalf of pro-equality candidates and engage pro-equality voters primarily in six key states: Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. This unprecedented grassroots mobilization worked to recruit and train volunteers, register and mobilize voters and grow the organization's political organizing efforts in order to pull the emergency brake on the hateful anti-LGBTQ agenda of the Trump-Pence administration and elect a Congress that would hold them accountable.

In 2020, our engagement and mobilization efforts have only deepened. In addition to our expansive volunteer network, HRC will have at least 51 full-time staff in seven priority states (Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin) and an additional 26 staff focused on a second tier of states, including Montana. While in person organizing has been limited by the COVID-19 pandemic, HRC has embraced digital organizing, launching a new tool called TEAM allowing our broad network of volunteers and steering committees to engage their networks personally and hundreds of virtual phone banks and text banks to engage pro-equality voters even without the ability to interact in person.