Democrat Cora Neumann of Bozeman has become the second Democrat to file for Montana’s 2020 U.S. Senate race, competing for her party’s nomination to challenge Republican Sen. Steve Daines.
Neumann, 44, a public-health and public-lands expert from Bozeman, paid her $1,740 filing fee this past weekend to secure her spot on the primary election ballot.
In a statement provided to MTN News, Neumann said Daines is “putting our children’s future at risk” on various policy fronts.
“I just couldn’t sit back and let it happen,” she said. “This campaign is about Montana families and fighting for affordable health care, accessible health care, keeping our lands public and ensuring economic opportunity for everyone.”
Daines, a first-term Republican, hasn’t paid his filing fee yet, but is running for re-election.
Neumann grew up in Bozeman, but only recently moved back to the state. She most recently worked on public-lands protection efforts for a nonprofit group and as interim director for a foundation battling pediatric brain cancer.
Neumann has a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University in New York and a doctorate in international development from Oxford University in Oxford, England.
So far, Neumann has raised more money than any other Democratic candidate in the race, reporting $460,000 in donations the last three months of 2019.
Daines has raised $6.6 million and had $5 million in his campaign account on Dec. 31.
The other Democrats in the race are Loma rancher John Mues, Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins and Bozeman physicist Michael Knoles.
Mues is the only other Senate candidate, so far, who’s paid his filing fee. The deadline for filing fees is March 9.
