Montana candidate with KKK ties running for Congress

HELENA — A former organizer for the Ku Klux Klan said Wednesday he is running as a Republican for Montana's U.S. House seat because he believes people will back him as part of a backlash to the nation's first black president.

But John Abarr, a 41-year-old night auditor at a Great Falls hotel who lost a local Republican legislative primary in 2002, could have a hard time getting any backing from Montana Republicans. His platform promises to legalize marijuana, increase mental health programs, keep abortion legal, abolish the death penalty because he argues it is unfair to poor people — a...