12 November 2019 — 1454 mst
Rep. Debo Powers has primary competition
23-year-old Democrat files for House District 3
Borstad and her son, Troy.
Updated. Sylvia Borstad, 23, last week became the first Democrat to file a C-1 form for the Democratic nomination for House District 3 (Columbia Falls, map), which is now represented by Debo Powers, who was appointed to replace Zac Perry after he resigned in September.
Borstad, now living in Columbia Falls, grew up in Kalispell and attended the University of Montana, where she studied political science and was politically active, serving as a student senator and campaigning for funding for higher educations. She has a three-year-old son, Troy.
As reported by the Montana Kaimin, her life has been far from easy. The grit and determination that enabled her to survive and overcome desperate circumstances may appeal to the voters of HD-3, a red district with a large working class population.
Borstad was not one of the three names that the Flathead County Democratic Central Committee submitted to the Flathead County Commission as a replacement for Perry.
Debo being sworn-in as Rep. Powers
Powers not serving as a placeholder
Powers told Flathead Memo she plans to run for the office, but as of today there is no C-1 for her available online at Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices. She was sworn-in on 5 November, but still is not listed as HD-3 representative on the legislature’s website (listing her is a five-minute task, thus the website’s staff are deliberately blacking her out for some unacceptable reason). Her official email address is Debo.Powers@mtleg.gov; her campaign email address, PowersForThePeopleHD3@gmail.com.
New information, 15 November. Powers reports that her page on the legislature’s website will be online Monday. Her official legislative email address now is Debo.Powers@mtleg.gov. And on 4 November, she filed her C-1 form, listing Larry Wilson as her treasurer. At COPP, a search by name yields her C-1. So does a search by office title. A search by county does not.
A contested primary will help HD-3’s Democratic nominee
Neither Borstad nor Powers has much name recognition in HD-3. There’s a significant chance the Republicans can flip HD-3 now that Perry’s gone. A spirited primary campaign would raise Borstad’s and Powers’ profiles while providing valuable experience for the general election and helping with fundraising.