GOP Rep. Greg Gianforte, who infamously assaulted reporter Ben Jacobs on the eve of his 2017 special election win, filed paperwork on Thursday with the state for a 2020 bid for governor of Montana. Gianforte’s spokesman confirmed that the congressman, who represents the entire state in the House, would make a formal announcement during the state’s Republican Party convention that opens June 13.
Gianforte is, of course, best known for that unprovoked attack on Jacob two years ago, but as we’ll discuss, that ugly story doesn’t even end there, nor is that Gianforte’s only liability.
A wealthy businessman who made his fortune in the tech sector, Gianforte was Team Red’s 2016 nominee against Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock. While Montana is usually a reliably red state in presidential elections, Gianforte faced a challenging race against a popular incumbent.
Before he even entered the contest, Gianforte stumbled when he gave a speech at Montana Bible College declaring, “There's nothing in the Bible that talks about retirement. And yet it's been an accepted concept in our culture today.” He continued by asserting, “How old was Noah when he built the ark? 600. He wasn't like, cashing Social Security checks, he wasn't hanging out, he was working.” Gianforte concluded, “So, I think we have an obligation to work. The role we have in work may change over time, but the concept of retirement is not biblical.”
A rich guy speaking out against the very idea of retirement certainly didn’t look good, but it wasn’t Gianforte’s exhortation to voters to build arks until they die that caused him the most trouble. Democrats ran a barrage of ads portraying Gianforte, who is originally from New Jersey, as a greedy outsider eager to deny the public access to waterways for fishing and swimming that were located near his “riverfront mansion”—so much so that he in fact went to court. Gainforte ultimately lost to Bullock 50-46 even though Trump carried Montana by a dominant 56-35 margin.
Undeterred by his loss, Gianforte ran in a special election for Montana’s lone House seat when Rep. Ryan Zinke got beamed up to Trump’s cabinet. Democrat Rob Quist picked up where Bullock’s allies left off and ran ads accusing the Republican of “trying to take our land for himself.” National Republicans also took notice of this race and spent more than $1 million to ward off an upset.
However, it was the night before Election Day when Gianforte made international news by body-slamming Jacobs after the reporter asked him a question about Obamacare. Jacobs recounted that the Republican “seemed to just snap,” saying he “grabbed my recorder, and next thing I knew, I'd gone from being vertical to horizontal on the floor.” Jacobs continued, “He was on top of me and whaling on me.”
Gianforte filed a statement with the police afterward in which he claimed that Jacobs had provoked the attack—an utter lie, and a particularly shameful one since several witnesses were present and the incident was also captured on audiotape. Gianforte ended up winning 50-44, but since most voters had already cast their ballots ahead of Election Day, it’s not clear how much damage this story did or didn’t do to the Republican’s political fortunes.
A few months after the election, Gianforte pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. The congressman paid a $385 fine and was sentenced to 40 hours of community service as well as another 20 hours of training for anger management. However, Gianforte was never charged with lying to the police. He and Jacobs also reached a settlement in which Gianforte accepted responsibility for his actions and agreed to donate $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists, heading off a lawsuit by Jacobs.
However, just before the 2018 elections, Gianforte told the Missoulian that the false statement he had given to the police the night of the attack "was my recollection of what occurred,” and claimed “I also am bound by my settlement agreement with Ben Jacobs to not talk about the incident."
In response to those remarks, Jacobs' attorney sent a letter to Gianforte's lawyer warning that these newest lies could lead to a rescission of their agreement and expose Gianforte to further legal liability. Jacobs’ lawyers demanded that Gianforte "immediately cease and desist from further false and/or defamatory statements" about Jacobs and his interactions with him and noted that not only were the congressman and his spokespersons "telling lies about the assault,” they were also telling lies “about their own prior lies.” Gianforte had also completely made up his claim about any sort of confidentiality agreement, as there was none. Since then, he appears to have said nothing further in public about the matter.
Gianforte faced an expensive re-election contest last year against Democrat Kathleen Williams, who ran ads going after the incumbent for his attack on Jacobs. However, one high-profile Republican was very much not bothered by Gianforte’s transgressions. Donald Trump ventured to Montana in October and told a rally, “Greg is smart and, by the way, never wrestle him.” In case that was too subtle, Trump pantomimed throwing someone to the ground and added, “Any guy that can do a body slam—he's my guy.” Gianforte went on to beat Williams by a modest 51-46 margin.
Gianforte will not have a clear path through the GOP gubernatorial primary to succeed his old nemesis Bullock, who is termed out. The field includes Attorney General Tim Fox, Secretary of State Corey Stapleton, state Sen. Al Olszewski, and former state Sen. Gary Perry. Fox has already hinted that he’ll use Gianforte’s attack on Jacobs on the campaign trail: In March, Fox said he has "never compromised [his] personal morals" and that he has "never violated an ethics code."
Montana Democrats have held the governor’s office since the 2004 election, but they have a challenging campaign ahead of them to extend that winning streak in this increasingly Republican state. No notable Democrats have entered the race yet, but Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney said back in March he was considering a run. MTN News also reported on Friday that state House Minority Leader Casey Schreiner is “said to be considering” a bid, but there’s no other information about Schreiner’s deliberations. In addition, Politico reported last month that former ambassador to the World Trade Organization Michael Punke, who is the author of The Revenant, was mulling either a bid for governor or Senate.
One further possibility, attorney John Heenan, may also be interested, but, reported MTN back in March, only "if Gianforte gets in.” That in a nutshell likely sums up the feelings most Democrats have about Gianforte: Thanks to his many flaws, he’d offer them the best chance of extending their unlikely 16-year streak in the governor’s mansion.
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