Montana Shooting Sports
Association
Primary Election, 2018
Grades and Endorsements
Explanation: The grades and endorsements made below are
limited to races in which there is a Primary Election contest, and
where MSSA has either or both a voting record for the candidate
and/or a returned MSSA Candidate Questionnaire. Just for
information purposes, Primary contest races are also listed in which
there is no information about candidates - no incumbent voting
record and no returned Candidate Questionnaire (indicated by a
question mark - "?").
For any candidate for whom a grade is based on a Candidate
Questionnaire rather than a voting record, the letter grade is
followed by a "Q". Just for the record, MSSA considers a
voting record to be a much more reliable indicator of a candidate's
future performance on Right to Keep and Bear Arms issues than a
Candidate Questionnaire. A "+" after a candidate's letter
grade indicates that the candidate has carried a bill for MSSA.
Also, just for the reader's information, MSSA probably has over 100
hours of volunteer time invested in making these grades and
endorsements available - collecting voting records on selected
firearm-related issues before the Legislature and archiving that
data, formatting and distributing Candidate Questionnaires to
candidates, receiving returned Questionnaires and tabulating and
archiving that data, and comparing all of the information received
to establish grades and endorsements. MSSA compares notes with
the NRA about available candidate information, but MSSA makes its
own grading and endorsement decisions independent of the NRA.
Because these races are important to the candidates and to the
people of Montana, and because MSSA's grades and endorsements are
highly valued, MSSA makes extensive efforts to ensure that
candidates are properly credited with accurate information.
Usually, MSSA requires a two-letter separation of candidate grades
before making an endorsement, such as an A and a C, or a B and a
D. MSSA rarely endorses a candidate who has less than a B
grade.
Races for Congress: In the Republican Primary for the
U.S. Senate seat, MSSA considers all four candidates to be A-rated
and makes no endorsement. In the Democrat Primary for
Montana's lone seat in the U.S. House, MSSA received no Candidate
Questionnaires, so MSSA offers no grades or endorsement.
Other races: MSSA typically does not evaluate
candidates for and takes no position on races that have little or no
impact on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, such as for the Public
Service Commission (even though long-time MSSA Director Randy
Pinocci is in that particular Primary race). MSSA also does
not dig into county-level or city-level races, simply because MSSA
lacks the volunteer and administrative capacity to assume that
workload.
Legislative races: Here is MSSA's analysis of Primary
Election contests for the Montana Legislature, the Montana Senate
("SD" Senate District) and the Montana House of Representatives
("HD" House District).