Gun Owners Issue Legislative Endorsements For Primary Election

Gun Owners And Hunters Issue Legislative Endorsements For Primary Election

MISSOULA, MT –-(AmmoLand.com)-  The Montana Shooting Sports Association today announced its endorsement of 31 legislative candidates for the June, 2010, Primary Election.

Endorsements have been made only in races with contested primaries, and only in those races where a candidate clearly superior for gun owners and hunters can be identified.

MSSA has recommended candidates in contested races in seven Democratic and 24 Republican primaries, but only in those races where information on significant issues is available. This usually includes voting records for incumbents, and returned candidate surveys for candidates for open seats or candidates challenging incumbents.

MSSA is the primary political advocate for gun owners and hunters in Montana, having gotten 54 pro-gun and pro-hunting measures through the Montana Legislature in the past 25 years.

The candidates endorsed for the June, 2010 Primary Election are:

SD01, Chas Vincent (R)
SD04, Jon Sonju (R)
SD20, Raymond Roerick
SD31, Pat Wagman (R)
SD35, Art Wittich (R)
SD43, Wayne Ternes (D)
SD44, Bob Lake (R)
HD02, Matt Charlton
HD03, Jerry O’Neil (R)
HD04, Derek Skees (R)
HD08, Carl Glimm (R)
HD11, Janna Taylor (R)
HD12, John Swenson (R)
HD20, Steve Fitzpatrick (R)
HD20, Lee Anne Gills (D)
HD21, Dale Crosby (D)
HD25, Rod Lukasik (D)
HD25, Rick Tryon (R)
HD31, Frank Smith (D)
HD33, Phillip DeFelice (D)
HD38, Alan Doane (R)
HD39, Lee Randall (R)
HD47, James Knox (R)
HD57, Dan Kennedy (R)
HD61, Joel Boniek (R)
HD68, Terry Bannan (R)
HD71, Bob Wagner (R)
HD78, Bowen Greenwood (R)
HD84, Mike Miller (R)
HD86, Kathy Swanson (D)
HD87, Jeff Burrows (R)

All endorsed candidates were sent a copy of the endorsement letter attached below.

===============================
(On MSSA letterhead)

May 4, 2010

Name
Address
City, State Zip

Dear Name,

I am pleased to inform you that you are endorsed by the Montana Shooting Sports Association (MSSA) in your bid to be nominated as the legislative candidate for «USER01» in the June, 2010 «USER02» Primary Election.

MSSA is the primary organization asserting the right to keep and bear arms and the rights and prerogatives of hunters in Montana. You will be aware that we routinely obtain passage of pro-gun and pro-hunting legislation by the Legislature.

You have been endorsed by MSSA because you are clearly the best candidate in your Primary Election contest to represent gun owners and hunters. We highly recommend you to the voters of your election district in the Primary Election. We think the right to keep and bear arms and hunting are important. Those voters in Montana who agree with us about this important right should know that you will certainly be the best of the Primary Election candidates in your party to represent our shared convictions.

We believe it is important to elect people to public office in Montana who believe in the rights reserved to the people by our constitutions, state and federal, and especially our right to keep and bear arms, and who believe in our cherished heritage and culture of hunting game animals.

We will review this race separately for potential endorsements for the November General Election.

We wish you the best for your Primary Election challenge.

Sincerely yours,

About Montana Shooting Sports Association:
MSSA is the primary political advocate for Montana gun owners. Visit: www.mtssa.org