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Montana superintendent candidates raising money – Daily Montanan [1]

['Keila Szpaller', 'More From Author', '- October']

Date: 2023-10-17  

The GOP establishment’s money is on Susie Hedalen for Superintendent of Public Instruction in the 2024 election — but the bigger money in the most recent quarter is on Democrat Shannon O’Brien.

Four candidates are fundraising to lead the Office of Public Instruction with Republican Superintendent Elsie Arntzen serving her final term.

Hedalen, superintendent of the Townsend School District, didn’t start the quarter with money, but she raised $38,073 and has $12,345 left in the bank.

O’Brien, a state senator and former policy adviser to former Gov. Steve Bullock, raised $42,413 for the primary and has $28,935 remaining. She started the quarter with $21,284.

Hedalen received contributions from conservative heavy-hitters, including Gov. Greg Gianforte and Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras.

She is an appointee to the Montana Board of Public Education by Gianforte.

Other contributors include Kendall Cotton, Jake Eaton, Emily Jones and Gianforte’s education policy adviser Dylan Klapmeier.

O’Brien has the Democratic establishment squarely behind her, with contributions from fellow legislators and former Gov. Brian Schweitzer, along with dollars from university faculty members, teachers and lawyers.

Republican Sharyl Allen, former deputy superintendent of OPI, raised $85 and has $582 in the bank. Allen’s job history includes a series of early terminations from high-profile education roles.

Kevin Leatherbarrow, a Libertarian, raised no money and has none in the bank.

Candidate filing doesn’t open until January 2024, but candidates who want to raise money file campaign finance reports.

The most recent reports filed with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices are from early July through late September.

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[1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/10/17/montana-superintendent-candidates-raising-money/

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