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Otjen challenges Rehberg in primary

Things are starting to heat up in the state-level races for office, with new filings by candidates on the national level and for the state Public Service Commission. A Montana State Univers i t y Billings professor has filed as a candidate in the race for Montana's sole U.S. Representative seat, providing a primary challenge for five-term incumbent Denny Rehberg in the Republican primary. A.J. Otjen, 52, a native of Enid, Okla., filed as a Republican candidate for the seat Tuesday. Rehberg, a Billings rancher and real estate developer who served in the state legislature and as lieutenant governor under Marc Racicot in the 1990s, had not filed as of this morning. Dennis McDonald, a former California attorney who came to Montana to ranch in 1972, is the sole Democratic candidate for the seat. Tyler Gernant, a Missoula attorney, and Melinda Gopher, a writer also from Missoula, both have said they intend to file as Democrats. Otjen was hired as a marketing professor for MSU Billings and received tenure in 2009, her Web site says. Otjen styles herself as a "Teddy Roosevelt" Republican, noting that her greatuncle, Wisconsin Rep. Theobald Otjen, was a personal friend of the Republican president. She writes on her Web site that by 2004 she had become very unhappy with her party. "I have not been happy with the party leadership ever since. The Democratic Party can clean up their own team, we need to clean up ours," Otjen writes. "It is time to stop the ugly rhetoric. We must sit down and hear each other without fear. This is a time of transformation and the Republican party must be part of it." State Rep. Julie French, D-Scobey, also filed as a candidate Tuesday, running as a Democrat for the Public Service Commission seat in District 1. Democrat Greg Jergeson, chair of the PSC, cannot run for re-election due to term limits. State Sen. Jerry Black, R-Shelby, and Democrat Don Ryan of Great Falls both filed as candidates for the seat on Jan. 14, the first day of filing. French has served two terms in the Legislature, in 2007 and 2009. "I ran for the legislature because I felt it was important for the people of northeastern Montana to have a voice at the table when decisions were being made that affected them," she said in a press release. "I bring that same philosophy to my campaign for District 1 Public Service Commissioner and the people of this PSC district. "I have always tried to listen to both sides of an issue and use sound judgment and common sense in making my decisions," French added. "I would apply those same principles to my role as a commissioner." The deadline to file as a candidate is 5 p.m. March 15. The primary will be held June 8, with the general election Nov. 2.

 

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