January 12, 2012
Contact: Terri McCoy, 406-444-2807
Record Number of Candidates File on Opening Day
155 candidates file in the first 9 hours
 |
| Rob Stutz was the first candidate to file for public office in 2012. |
HELENA - Montana's 2012 election season kicked off Thursday with a record number of candidates filing for public office on opening day. Secretary of State and Chief Elections Officer Linda McCulloch says 155 candidates filed between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on January 12, which beats the previous record of 106 candidates filing on opening day in 2010.
"It’s going to be a strong election year,” Secretary McCulloch said. “We had folks lined up at the door this morning waiting to file. I’m looking forward to seeing the same enthusiasm from voters on Election Day.”
As of 5 p.m. on Thursday, January 12, 2012, the Secretary of State's Office had received 155 candidate filings, including 73 online filings and 82 paper filings.
|
Opening Day 2012 |
Opening Day 2010 |
Opening Day 2008 |
Total Candidate |
155 |
106 |
55 |
Total Web Filings |
73 |
27 |
14 |
Total Paper Filings |
82 |
79 |
41 |
Total Legislative Filings |
126 |
95 |
43 |
Total Non-Legislative Filings |
29 |
11 |
12 |
The final day to file for any public office is Monday, March 12, 2012. Candidates may file electronically via the Secretary of State's online candidate filing service, in person at the Secretary of State's office, by mail, or by facsimile. Forms postmarked by the deadline, but not received by the deadline, cannot be accepted.
A complete list of candidate filings can be found on the Secretary of State's website at sos.mt.gov/Elections. The list will be updated as new filings are processed by the office.