Tagged: Cyndi Baker

Posted: August 29, 2012 at 12:06 pm

Cue the Circus Music

The State Republican Party sent its team of stalwarts to Tampa for the national convention this week. Among the delegates are veritable treasure trove of politicians who have dabbled in — or fully embraced — the wacky views, hypocrisy, and nutty ideas of the 2011 legislature. If you liked the national scrutiny last session received, you’ll love this crew.

Let’s take a look at who Montana Republicans sent to represent them on the national scene:

First, there is Birther Legislator Joanne Blyton of Red Lodge. Rep. Blyton voted to support Rep. Bob Wagner’s bill in the 2011 session. Yes, that’s the same bill that later made the Montana Legislature famous on CNN.

Then, there is state Rep. Ken Peterson of Billings. Peterson, an attorney, made a name for himself by pointing out a loophole that still allows GOP-ers to prosecute people for being gay–even though the courts have struck down a state law saying that being gay will get you prison time. The penalty on the books is ten years and a $5o,ooo dollar fine.

Peterson says that gays can still be prosecuted for “recruiting.” Here’s how Peterson describes how “the gay recruitment” process goes down, in his own words:

Here young man, your hormones are raging. Let’s go in this bedroom and we’ll engage in some homosexual acts. You’ll find you’ll like it.

Next there is Tamara “Tammy” Hall of Bozeman. Hall is the ultra-angry, ultra right-wing radio commentator in Bozeman who pens an occasional column for the Bozeman Chronicle and is supposedly a “motivational speaker” for a living. Hall’s favorite topics include hating on feminists and Governor Schweitzer and loving on Chick-fil-A.

Stephen Zabawa of Billings is the anti-medical marijuana crusader who appeared in the Billings Gazette after his attempts to get in on a share of a medial marijuana business came to light.

Former state legislator Gary Perry of Manhattan will also attend. This foot soldier in the War on Women sponsored a bill to allow insurance companies to discriminate against women in insurance pricing when he served in the legislature. He’ll fit right in with this bunch.

Rep. Cleve Loney and TEA Party leader Cyndi Baker of Great Falls are there too. The couple is pictured here.

Baker was a Great Falls City Commission candidate who campaigned against school district spending, then turned around and sought a district paycheck.

Posted: November 9, 2011 at 8:47 pm

UPDATED Analysis: TEA Party Republicans Lose Big in Montana Local Elections

Montanans saw sweeping victories for progressives from across the state today. And while it is yet to be seen whether this will translate into a wave of momentum for the Dems next year, one thing is known. The TEA Party legislature proved itself guilty of a major overreach during the last session. In turn, TEA Party Republicans were soundly rejected by voters.

Nowhere did the phenomena manifest itself more dramatically than in the Flathead, where the TEA Party candidates backed by Chuck Denowh, John Sinrud and the Realtors, Ricky Lynn Blake and a slate of developers and self-funded shadow PACs spent big bucks on attacking their opponents–and were all defeated.

Congratulations to John Muhlfeld, John Anderson, Richard Hildner and Frank Sweeney and the large numbers of voters who turned out to defeat a well-funded crew of special interest nutjobs. The victories weren’t limited to Whitefish either. The only openly self proclaimed Tea Party candidate in the Flathead County elections, Erik Jerde, garnered a soul-crushing 34 votes out of 1275 cast in Kalispell. Those whom supported Tea Party poster boy Derek Skees in 2010 also all lost…Askew, Vail and Wise. Tea Party candidates lost in the Flathead Valley Community College Trustees election as well as the municipal elections.

In Great Falls, a woman who refused all donations beat the leader of the Cascade County TEA Party, Cyndi Baker. As the Great Falls Tribune reports, the TEA Partier had the most campaign signs of any candidate and the second largest campaign war chest. Baker blamed her defeat on teachers, despite losing by a margin of 84-16.

In Helena, the conservative candidate was defeated by Matt Elsaesser, who was re-elected by a wide margin, and newcomer Katherine Haque-Hausrath. Progressives also had major victories in Missoula including Caitlin Copple, Cynthia Wolken, Alex Taft, and others, as D. Gregory Smith at From Eternity to Here writes.

Billings also had a big win against the TEA Party, where the Billings “Montana Shrugged” TEA Party leader Jennifer Olsen was easily routed by Ken Crouch. Progressives Brent Cromley and Becky Bird also won handily. Denis Pitman, the conservative minister of Fuji Spa fame, is still in (proving the power of incumbency). However, Pitman’s opponent probably succeeded in halting his higher political ambitions now that voters know he checks his family man-of-God morality at the door once profits are on the table, and for that, we can be thankful.

UPDATE: In Bozeman, progressive Cyndy Andrus defeated Bill Fiedler by a whopping 4,289 votes to 2,209 votes. Fiedler was a member of the developers’ crew–he’s a member of the board of directors of the Southwest Montana Building Industry Association.

So, even though TEA Party Republicans won a legislative majority in 2010, they made a mistake in interpreting their one-time wins as a go-ahead to let voters know their true beliefs and goals. So it appears that focusing on nutjob bills over jobs was indeed a bad idea. They paid for it in the off-year elections. The progressives also won because they fielded some terrific candidates–people who actually cared about their community and its people more than getting a platform on which to scream TEA Party platitudes and shut down government. They worked very, very hard on the doors, raised money to get their message out, and voters responded well.

Congratulations to the winners! Here’s to a repeat of this in 2012.

Posted: November 1, 2011 at 7:05 pm

Political Quick Hits

We Take It Back

The Great Falls Tribune reported this week that the Great Falls Chamber of Commerce has flip-flopped, rescinding its endorsement of embattled Great Falls TEA Party leader Cyndi Baker, who is running against Mary Jolley. When asked about whether the reason for the un-endorsement had anything to do with the fact that Baker had threatened local schools with “bad publicity” if they didn’t offer her a government job as a liaison to the TEA Party, a Chamber representative said that was “part of it.”

Rehberg’s Lawsuit Continues to Make Waves

Dems continue to pound Rehberg for his lawsuit against Billings firefighters this week, but that’s not the only controversy the lawsuit has raised. Some Democrats are upset that Attorney General candidate Jesse Laslovich has found an unusual source for his campaign treasurer and financial support in Cliff and John Edwards. The pair are, respectively, the Rehberg’s lawyer and his son. Both work at the Edwards firm, which represent the Rehbergs. Rep. Carolyn Pease-Lopez (D-House District 42) posted on her Facebook page this week:

I just learned some disturbing news. The law firm that is representing Rehberg in his lawsuit agains the Billings Fire department are supporters and donors of the Jesse Laslovich campaign for A.G. One of the lawyers is even his campaign treasurer. What is Laslovich thinking! This is ridiculous.

Flathead Fallout

The latest political scandal in the Flathead keeps getting bigger. James Conner of the Flathead Memo and former State Representative Mike Jopek have some harsh words for the Flathead County Commission today. Here’s a sneak preview. The entire post is not to be missed:

Once only landowners did have the vote — and those landowners had to be white men. There are those who think that’s how things should be today.

Posted: October 28, 2011 at 7:39 pm

The Montana TEA Party Hypocrite of the Week Award Goes To…

Great Falls City Commission candidate Cyndi Baker, who campaigned against school district spending, then turned around and sought a district paycheck.

But it’s worse then that, as the Great Falls Tribune reports, Baker tried to threaten the local government for taxpayer funded payola in the form of a position as “ombudsman” to the local TEA Party anti-government activists. Here’s how the threat worked. Baker had been complaining for some time that it was “illegal” for district employees to criticize her opposition to district funding. Baker said if she were hired, she’d keep the “illegal” activity quiet. She did not explain how the proposed ombudsman position would work with people who are divorced from reality.

As the Tribune reports, while the district’s criticism may not have been flattering to Baker, there was nothing illegal about it. What the Tribune didn’t report is that Baker is the leader and spokesperson for the Great Falls TEA Party. Apparently Ms. Statue of Liberty (Baker’s preferred costume when at TEA Party rallies) is engaged to TEA Party Republican legislator Cleve Loney (who prefers to dress as George Washington, among other things, as you can see from this KRTV video).

So there you have it folks. Another city commission candidate seeking your vote as a platform to spew right wing nonsense in public meetings, in the newspapers and on our airwaves.