Ryan Zinke, Horse He Rode In On Threaten 2022 Run For New Montana Congressional Seat

Maybe it doesn't exist yet, but he wants it.

Ryan Zinke, the former congressman from Montana and scandal-plagued Interior secretary under Donald Trump, has filed paperwork to run for Congress again,   The Hill reports. Zinke resigned his post at Interior in December 2018 with several investigations open into his conduct, including allegations that he had done a conflict-of-interest-y land deal with the chairman of the oil services giant, Halliburton. For old times' sake, take a look at CREW's list of the 18 federal investigations into Zinke's conduct, which just goes to show how much the Deep State feared his commitment to Freedom.

Zinke hasn't formally declared his candidacy, but his filing with the Federal Election Commission shows he's planning to run for Montana's Second Congressional District, which doesn't technically exist yet. The Census Bureau's reapportionment report says the state will get a second seat, but the state hasn't yet drawn up lines for the new district. The Census Bureau won't even release the detailed population information needed until August, in fact.

Montana hasn't had two congressional districts since the reapportionment that followed the 1990 Census; the state went to a single district for the 1992 general election. While Montana is generally a red state, the conventional wisdom is that one of the two districts that will be drawn by a bipartisan commission will end up covering the western part of the state, where the Democrats are. But with Republicans running the state legislature, who knows whether Democrats will even be allowed to vote? The legislature recently decided that university photo ID cards would no longer be allowed as identification at the polls, although permits to carry a concealed firearm will count.

The Hill says that Zinke "would likely negotiate with Rep. Matt Rosendale (R), first elected just six months ago, about which of the two Republicans would run in which district." We can only assume that once that's decided, some sort of open bidding process from businesses wanting favors would then be involved.

[ The Hill / Billings Gazette / CREW ]

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