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Steve Bullock presidential campaign, 2020
Date: November 3, 2020 |
 Donald Trump Joe Biden Howie Hawkins Jo Jorgensen
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| “ | We can’t write off parts of the country just because we didn’t do well there in 2016. As the only Democrat in the country to be re-elected statewide in a state Trump won, I know that firsthand. If we do, we’ll lose. And we’ll deserve to.[1] | ” |
| —Steve Bullock[2] | ||
Steve Bullock is the Democratic governor of Montana. After Montana's 2019 state legislative session ended, Bullock announced that he was running for president of the United States on May 14, 2019. He suspended his presidential campaign on December 2, 2019.[3]
His announcement video focused on his work on campaign finance law and his efforts to collaborate with both Democrats and Republicans during his time as governor.[4][5]
"I’m running for president to beat Donald Trump, win back the places we lost and make sure that Americans know that where Washington’s left them behind in their economy and their political system, I’ll be there," Bullock said during the second Democratic primary debate.[6]
Bullock in the news
This section featured five recent news stories about Bullock and his presidential campaign. For a complete timeline of Bullock's campaign activity, click here.
- December 2, 2019: Bullock ended his presidential campaign. “While there were many obstacles we could not have anticipated when entering into this race, it has become clear that in this moment, I won’t be able to break through to the top tier of this still-crowded field of candidates,” he said in a statement. Bullock said he would not run for the U.S. Senate in Montana.
- November 21-24, 2019: The Senate Leadership Fund launched a five-figure ad campaign against Bullock in Montana, criticizing him for his campaign travel and gun policy. Bullock also visited southwest and central Iowa.
- November 20, 2019: Bullock aired an ad on prosecutorial authority in Iowa markets during the fifth Democratic primary debate.
- November 19, 2019: Bullock spoke about his campaign during a local interview in Boston.
- November 19, 2019: Bullock aired an ad in Iowa on prosecutorial authority “to follow the evidence all the way to the top,” including cases involving sitting presidents.
Biography
Bullock was born in 1966 in Missoula, Montana, and grew up in Helena. He graduated from Claremont McKenna College in 1988 and Columbia University Law School in 1994.[7][8]
Bullock worked for a law firm in New York City before he was hired as chief legal counsel to Montana's secretary of state in 1996. In 1997, he moved to the state attorney general's office, first as executive assistant attorney general and later as acting chief deputy attorney general and legislative director.
Bullock ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for attorney general in 2000. In 2001, he became an adjunct professor at George Washington University School of Law, after which he had a private law practice in Helena. Bullock was elected as Montana's attorney general in 2008 and served in that role until 2013.[8][9][10][11]
Bullock was elected governor of Montana on November 6, 2012, by a margin of 1.6 percentage points over Republican challenger Rick Hill. He was re-elected to the office in 2016, winning by 3.9 points. In 2018, he was appointed chairman of the National Governors Association.[7][12]
Campaign staff
- See also: Steve Bullock presidential campaign staff, 2020, Presidential election key staffers, 2020, and Presidential campaign managers, 2020
The table below shows a sampling of the candidate's 2020 national campaign staff members, including the campaign manager and some senior advisors, political directors, communication directors, and field directors. It also includes each staff member's position in the campaign, previous work experience, and Twitter handle, where available.[13] For a larger list of national campaign staff, visit Democracy in Action.
| Steve Bullock presidential campaign national staff, 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | Position | Prior experience | Twitter handle |
| Jenn Ridder | Campaign manager | Mountain West regional political director, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee | N/A |
| Nick Baldick | Senior advisor | Founder and managing partner, Hilltop Public Solutions | N/A |
| Galia Slayen | Communications director | Communications director, J.B. Pritzker for Governor of Illinois, 2018 | @gslayen |
| Sharon Páez | Senior political adviser | Partner, Hilltop Public Solutions | N/A |
| Maura Hagerty Matthews | Finance director | National finance consultant, Big Sky Values PAC | N/A |
Campaign finance
The following chart shows Democratic presidential campaign fundraising, including both total receipts and contributions from individuals, as well as campaign spending. Figures for each candidate run through the end of June 2020 or through the final reporting period during which the candidate was actively campaigning for president. The total disbursements column includes operating expenditures, transfers to other committees, refunds, loan repayments, and other disbursements.[14]
Satellite spending
Satellite spending, commonly referred to as outside spending, describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[15][16][17]
This section lists satellite spending in this race reported by news outlets in alphabetical order. If you are aware of spending that should be included, please email us.
Democratic presidential primary debates, 2019-2020
- See also: Democratic presidential nomination, 2020
The following table provides an overview of the date, location, host, and number of participants in each scheduled 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate.
Debate participation
Bullock participated in one of the Democratic presidential primary debates. He last qualified for the July 2019 debate.
Campaign themes
The following campaign themes were published on Bullock's presidential campaign website.
| “ |
ONE BIG IDEA The Problem Our nation is founded on the basic idea that every American’s voice matters. Yet too often it’s those who can cut the biggest checks who wield the greatest influence. Fighting against the toxic influence of money in politics has been the fight of Governor Bullock’s career. And he’s just getting started. We’ve all seen the problem. Washington has been so thoroughly corrupted by Big Money that it has been unable to tackle our biggest challenges. Millionaires get huge tax cuts, while average Americans are left behind and income inequality hit record highs. Big Pharma spends millions to influence our government, yet we pay more for healthcare than any other industrialized nation — with nothing to show for it. And as Big Oil reaps huge profits and takes over our public lands, our politicians stand by and do literally nothing to deal with the climate crisis. We all know we’ve got to do something about these problems, but Big Money has broken the political system’s power to take even the first step. We have to do more than just win this election — we have to make Washington work for us. Not for Big Money, not for the special interests, but for each one of us in the communities we call home. The Plan That’s why Governor Bullock will make taking on the toxic influence of money in politics a national priority. On Day One, he will sign an executive order requiring every company to disclose every dollar they spend or contribute to influence our elections if they want to do business with the largest contractor in the nation — the federal government. With the stroke of a pen, the biggest corporations in the country will have to choose between stopping their dark money games or losing business forever. With the same pen, he will empower federal agencies to go after the secretive groups who corrupt our elections, enforcing our laws and reversing years of inaction. He will prioritize passage of a national Disclose Act, forcing secretive donors out into the open, and work to ban Super PACs from American elections. And, he will direct the Solicitor General to begin the process of appealing and ultimately overturning the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision. THE ROADMAP
In Montana, Governor Bullock has protected the integrity of our elections by fighting back against the toxic influence of money in politics. As Attorney General, he took this fight all the way to the Supreme Court in the first challenge to Citizens United. When the Court ruled against Montana on a 5-4 decision, Governor Bullock didn’t give up. He doubled-down. As Governor, he passed one of the strongest campaign disclosure law in the country. That law is now a national model for stopping dark money groups in their tracks. He also passed landmark legislation banning the use of foreign money in elections. If we can kick the Koch Brothers and foreign donors out of Montana, we can do the same thing all across our nation. When we have the political courage to stand up and fight this corrupt system, we can win and make real change happen. We can lower the cost of an education, break the power of Wall Street and the giant corporations, make our tax system fair for all, fulfill the promise of universal healthcare, ensure every family can afford childcare and a good home, protect worker rights and retirement security, and finally tackle the climate crisis head-on. Every American deserves a fair shot at success. Working together, we can do the hard work to make it happen.[1] |
” |
| —Bullock 2020[18] | ||
Bullock participated in an interview series with The New York Times that asked 21 Democratic candidates the same series of 18 questions. To view Bullock's responses, click here.
Archive of Political Emails
The Archive of Political Emails was founded in July 2019 to compile political fundraising and advocacy emails sent by candidates, elected officials, PACs, nonprofits, NGOs, and other political actors.[19] The archive includes screenshots and searchable text from emails sent by 2020 presidential candidates. To review the Bullock campaign's emails, click here.
Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing
The following section provided a timeline of Bullock's campaign activity beginning in May 2019. The entries, which come from Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing, are sorted by month in reverse chronological order.
2019
See also
- Democratic presidential nomination, 2020
- Presidential candidates, 2020
- Presidential election endorsements, 2020
- PredictIt markets in the 2020 presidential election
- Presidential candidate campaign travel, 2020
- Democratic presidential primary debates, 2020
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Twitter, "Steve Bullock," May 7, 2019
- ↑ Medium, "Steve Bullock: Thank You," December 2, 2019
- ↑ Vox, "Steve Bullock, the Democratic governor of Montana, is running for president," Jun 26, 2019
- ↑ YouTube, "Steve Bullock: Fair Shot," May 14, 2019
- ↑ Rev, "Transcript of July Democratic Debate 2nd Round Night 1: Full Transcript," July 30, 2019
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Official Site of Governor Steve Bullock, "Governor Steve Bullock," accessed July 12, 2019
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Missoulian, "Steve Bullock biography," September 7, 2011
- ↑ AP, "Montana lieutenant governor joins governor's race," July 3, 2019
- ↑ Business Insider, "Steve Bullock is running for president in 2020. Here's everything we know about the candidate and how he stacks up against the competition," May 31, 2019
- ↑ Aspen Ideas Festival, "Steve Bullock" accessed July 12, 2019
- ↑ National Governors Association, "Governor Bullock Appointed Chairman, Will Lead National Governors Association," July 21, 2018
- ↑ Democracy in Action, "Organization," accessed November 4, 2019
- ↑ FEC, "U.S. President," accessed July 16, 2019
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," November 6, 2015
- ↑ Steve Bullock, "One Big Idea," accessed May 14, 2019
- ↑ Archive of Political Emails, "About," accessed September 16, 2019
