Montana Almost Elected an Independent Candidate to the Legislature in November 2014

From Richard Winger at Ballot Access News:

This is old news, but better late than never. At the November 4, 2014 election, an independent candidate was almost elected to the Montana House of Representatives. The vote in the 94th district in Missoula County was: Democratic incumbent Kimberly Dudik 1,748 votes; independent Gary Marbut 1,700 votes.

Montana hasn’t elected an independent candidate to the state legislature since 1958. Here is an old news story that describes the 2014 campaign. Marbut’s candidacy would not have been possible if a U.S. District Court hadn’t struck down the March petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates in 2012, in Kelly v McCulloch. Marbut did not enter the race until after primary filing had closed.