State lawmaker announces bid for Montana's new US House seat

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Democratic state lawmaker Laurie Bishop announced Thursday a bid for the second U.S. House seat that was awarded to Montana earlier this year.

Bishop said during a campaign announcement in her hometown of Livingston that she plans to focus her campaign on increasing access to child care and affordable housing, strengthening mental health services, and protecting public lands.

Montana was awarded a second U.S. House seat starting in 2023 based on the state's population in the recent U.S. Census results. The district boundaries have not been set. The election is slated for November 2022.

Bishop, 51, has served in the Montana House since 2017. She is the director of a nonprofit that advocates for after-school programs, the Montana Afterschool Alliance.

Republican Ryan Zinke, who previously served as Secretary of the Interior and held Montana's lone House seat, has also announced a bid for the seat.

Montana has seen a decade-long GOP surge capped by Democrats getting routed in the November 2020 elections. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is the only remaining Democrat to hold statewide office. The last Democrat elected to the House was Pat Williams in 1996.