In one Public Service Commission race this week, incumbent Republican Jennifer Fielder walloped her challenger despite an infusion of cash by an independent committee for her opponent late in the campaign.

Independent Elena Evans, who criticized Fielder for supporting recent steep rate increases the PSC approved, had raised significantly more money than Fielder on her own.

Then, an independent committee, the Montana Ratepayers Association, reported raising nearly $500,000 for the race to support Evans and defeat Fielder.

Evans lost her campaign anyway, but the windfall of six figures is an anomaly in these races.

Neither the Montana Ratepayers Association nor its dark money funder, American Jobs and Energy Security, returned requests for comment from the Daily Montanan.

However, a political analyst said the big money may be an attempted warning to the Public Service Commission to reconsider its energy priorities — and a state senator and newly elected PSC member said he fears it is and could affect future campaigns.

State Sen. Brad Molnar, a Republican who also previously served on the PSC, noted the push of money in the race in a news release last week.

He said he wanted to alert Montanans that a “moneyball” awaits commissioners who don’t support the agenda of the funders, citing another donor, the Climate Cabinet Action.

Based in San Francisco, the organization identifies itself as using a “moneyball” approach — identifying and supporting under-the-radar politicians who back climate initiatives. Records show it gave $20,000 to the Montana Ratepayers Association.

The American Jobs group then gave $475,000.

“We do not know the donors’ motives in funding the Montana Ratepayers Association, but plainly it is not open/fair elections or consumer protection,” said Molnar, himself a previous and future Public Service Commissioner, in a statement.

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The Public Service Commission, made up of five commissioners elected by district, has been criticized for approving high rate increases for energy utilities.

Detractors also argue the PSC, currently all Republican, has been slow to encourage more affordable and sustainable power sources for Montana consumers.

Earlier this year, a coalition of 40 businesses and other organizations submitted a formal request asking the Public Service Commission to consider the adverse impacts of greenhouse gas emissions in utility regulation.

The climate petition is pending.

Most of the late push of more than half a million dollars into the race came from the American Jobs and Energy Security group, which lists its purpose as to support clean energy candidates and initiatives.

The group could not be reached for comment through phone numbers and an email address on file with its registration with the Commissioner of Political Practices.

American Jobs and Energy Security reported sending $475,000 later in September and $40,000 later in October to the Montana Ratepayers Association, plus additional in-kind contributions.

The Montana Ratepayers Association reported spending part of the money on “creative testing,” or polling research, and the bulk of it on digital and print advertising to support Evans.

In an interview last Friday, political analyst Lee Banville said large infusions of dark money are unusual in down-ballot races in Montana. However, he said they have taken place before, such as in Montana Supreme Court races.

“We saw it in the ballot initiative to get marijuana legalized,” said Banville, journalism professor and head of the School of Journalism at the University of Montana, of the 2020 effort. “There was a single group that funded the entire thing that we know almost nothing about.”

In this case, Banville said funders might be those who are frustrated by the lack of transition to renewable energy, which the PSC has not been pushing. The money may be a way to “change the conversation,” but be a warning to other commissioners and hopefuls as well.

“‘Maybe you should be taking renewables more seriously,’” Banville said of the possible message.

Prior to the election, however, Banville said Fielder had the advantage in the race regardless, being a Republican with incumbency and plenty of name recognition as a former state legislator.

But Banville also said he wanted to know the true purpose of the Montana Ratepayers Association: “Are they a real organization doing things to protect ratepayers? Or are they serving as a pass-through for money that is otherwise dark?”

The Montana Ratepayers Association is not registered with the Secretary of State’s Office. It did not respond to an email last week from the Daily Montana or a request for comment in a form submitted through its web portal.

The only information on its website is about recent PSC rate hikes, and the only candidates it mentions are Evans, whom it supported, and Fielder, whom it accused of “corporate cronyism.”

In a phone call the day after the election, however, Fielder said she suspects the funds spent to oppose her are “corporate money from entities that tend to profit from PSC decisions.”

But Fielder said she did not know for sure, and regardless, she didn’t see the expenditure as a threat from those who want the PSC to respond to the harmful effects of climate: “I don’t operate that way.”

“I do what is right under the law and in the public interest,” Fielder said. “I do my best, and fortunately, the people have tended to agree with that kind of thinking and have sent me back to continue working for them.”

Fielder had earned 55% of the vote to Evans’ 45%, according to the election results on the Montana Secretary of State’s elections site Thursday.

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In an email to the Daily Montanan about the Montana Ratepayers Association, Evans said she learned about the group from people in her district who received its mailers and shared them with her.

Although she lost, she said she was “overwhelmed” by the response from Montanans — “Trump voters and Harris voters” — who wanted to see change on the PSC.

In a public statement after the election, Evans said she would not stop advocating for “forward-thinking” energy sources and “a better future for our children.”

Besides Fielder and Molnar, one other Republican won his race for the Public Service Commission this week. State Sen. Jeff Welborn, a moderate from Dillon, had 62% of the vote Thursday to Leonard Williams’ 38%.

Welborn said when it comes to energy sources, reliability is key for the people he has talked to during his campaign — to keep refrigerators cold and hospitals open, for instance — even if consumers have to pay a little bit more.

But he said it’s hard to raise money for Public Service Commission races, more so than for legislative races, and the six-figure contribution is striking.

Four- and five-figure campaigns are more commonplace for the PSC.

“​​I’m here to tell you that it is a big effort to raise even $5,000 one check at a time from donors,” Welborn said.

The groups didn’t insert themselves in his campaign, but Welborn said big money won’t change the way he approaches his decisions regardless: “I’m not going to be bullied or pushed around by any organization.”

Still, he said, the fact that some entity can drop even $100,000 on a PSC candidate — “exponentially” more than candidates can raise on their own — and help them buy 20 times the name recognition is significant. And he said it raises questions.

“What is that expectation for the return on investment?” Welborn said. “And at whose feet does that expectation fall?”

If “democracy was at stake” in the election, I guess we can conclude that democracy is toast, saddle pals. 

While there will be no shortage of whining and finger-pointing coming up in the foreseeable future, the grim fact is that the Democrats’ sorry “centrist” strategy has failed again — and the first convicted felon in the nation’s history and self-described “dictator on day one” will re-ascend to the presidency.

Closer to home, here in Montana the befuddled and dysfunctional Democratic Party has almost finished the job of marching itself to political extirpation.  There’s no Endangered Species Act for political parties, but if there were, Montana’s Democrats would definitely be on the list.

One good thing about being a politically independent columnist is having a more objective view of the two major political parties without wearing the blinders of unquestioning party loyalty.  And that view of the disintegrating Democrats surely suggests if they don’t want to go extinct they’d best be cleaning house, tossing the old and obviously ineffective staff, consultants and strategists and starting over.  After all, there’s really very little left to lose.

While there are many, the first of their failed campaign “strategies” was dealing with our outrageous property taxes. Claiming they would provide a simple “fix” if the Republican governor would call a special legislative session, it was a safe ruse because they knew there was no chance that would happen. 

Even then, their “fix” would only have affected the state portion of property taxes when the vast majority of Montana’s property taxes are local, not state, as anyone looking at their property tax bill can plainly see.   

But that didn’t stop them from making it their primary message, despite their long-standing record as the party of “tax and spend” rather than reducing taxes. Yet, while they hurled accusations and hypothetical solutions, what voters actually got were $675 checks from the Republican administration. You know, hard cash on the barrel head.  No need to guess which was more effective, eh?

Or how about running Ryan Busse for governor, a guy with no experience in governing and whose main message seemed to be a scare campaign about access to public lands and waters. Moreover,  Busse was a Republican before he ran as a chameleon Democrat — and the same is true of the Demo’s losing congressional candidate for the western district.  

And then there was Jon Tester, a Democrat who decided to try to be more Republican by ditching his party’s candidate for president and emulating West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin’s support for more dirty fossil fuels, pipelines, and desecration of public lands to produce those antiquated, climate-killing fuels.  

But guess that didn’t work out so well either.  As the old saying goes, if people want to vote for a Republican, they’ll vote for a real one, not a Democrat talking like one.

The list of the Democrat Party electoral strategy failures goes on and on, including attacking the personal wealth of Republican candidates — which is generally looked upon as a measure of success in this society.

When you stack up the failed messages, themes and misdirected priorities Montana’s Democrats threw at voters, there’s really not much mystery of why they don’t hold even one statewide office.  

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is commonly defined as insanity.  After last election’s wipe-out, and now this one, that’s a harsh reality the Dems have to face.  As another political Independent, Bernie Sanders, recently put it: “Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign?  Probably not.” 

MISSOULA — Junior Bergen was born to play the game of football and, even more, thrive under the bright lights and in the biggest moments.

His career with the Montana Grizzlies has been decorated with unforgettable memories, and it’s something Bergen has built toward his entire life.

“I really, truly love those moments,” Bergen said. “Some people kind of get a little nervous, and I was always the kid, we’re in the driveway and I’m counting down, 3 … 2 … 1 and buzzer beater, or, I’m running down the sideline, like clock’s running out, my dad’s counting down, like stuff like that, two-minute drills.

“I was always the kid to do that stuff, and that kind of just became who I am.”

Bergen has electrified football fans since he arrived at Montana from Billings Senior High in what’s been a record-breaking career.

It all started in Billings for him, and Bergen remembered picking up a football at the age of 3 and immediately attaching to the game.

“I’m that same kid,” he said. “My mom always says you can always see my face when I was 3 years old in a helmet. Just kind of like just being that same person. It’s just kind of who I’ve always been I guess.”

Like any arriving freshman, Bergen’s eyes were wide when he got to Montana.

That ramped up even more when as a true freshman he spent the season at running back, where he was needed because of injuries to others.

James Dobson/MTN Sports

“And I was like, ‘Holy crap,’” Bergen remembered. “I went right in the locker room and told my dad, and my dad was like, ‘Oh shoot, like, you going to play do you think?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know. I don’t see why they’d moved me over if I wasn’t.’ So it was crazy, but it was super exciting. And, you know, I was just happy to just get on the field really.”

“It flew by, man, it feels like just the other day I was checking into my dorm and, you know, getting everything going in there and getting my locker and all that stuff. Tried to learn everything as quick as I could, because I knew then when that opportunity presented, I wanted to be ready for it.”

From there, Bergen has built a career as a dynamic playmaker, who always comes up clutch when the pressure is on, and all eyes are on him, whether against rival Montana State, or last year’s unforgettable run to Frisco and the FCS national championship game where Bergen returned two punts and a kick for scores in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, and also caught a touchdown in overtime against North Dakota State.

James Dobson / MTN Sports

“Pressure means things are expected of you, so I just had to take that for what it is and just try to go out and do my best,” Bergen said. “Obviously, my coach is trusting me. That means a lot in itself. That gives me a lot of confidence to go out and do whatever it is I’m asked to do.”

This year as a senior, it’s continued, and this past weekend against Cal Poly Bergen set a Big Sky Conference record with his sixth career punt return touchdown, a mark he never thought he’d break when he arrived.

“I remember one of my first punt returns at practice, coach (Brent) Pease threw me back there, and I go running back, and I slipped and fell,” he said with a laugh. “And I was like, dude, I never want to do this again. And, yeah, I just kept catching them, kept catching them. And then after a while, it became so normal. You got so much confidence. And that’s really a big thing in that punt return stuff.

“Obviously, I set high goals for myself, and I try to accomplish those every year. But coming in here, that one, that one wasn’t up there, but my dad always says, try to make sure you leave your mark on the program. And you know that’s something that can’t be taken away until somebody comes and breaks it.”

Bergen’s racked up All-America and all-Big Sky honors in his career and has scored 24 total touchdowns in a variety of ways.

It’s a video game-like stat chart for him, with 575 career rushing yards and four scores, one passing touchdown, the six punt returns plus the one kickoff house call, all wrapped up with his 128 receptions for 1,615 yards and 12 touchdowns he’s had in his time with the Grizzlies.

James Dobson/MTN Sports

Despite missing the first two games of this season, Bergen has amassed 31 catches for 380 yards and two scores in his senior campaign to also go along with his punt return score from last Saturday.

He’s a football junkie at heart and has loved every minute of what the game has presented him. Plus, it’s meant the world to represent his home state and those around him with the Griz, and it’s about enjoying each and every moment as his story continues to write itself out in historic and memorable fashion.

“When I go back home, a lot of people let me know, ‘We’re proud of you around here, you’re doing your thing, good job,’” Bergen said. “It means a lot, people’s eyes are on you, and I’m blessed, really, just blessed. I can’t really say much else.

“I want to soak it all in, every day, just kind of just enjoy it, embrace it, and take it for what it is. We’ll never get these days back. And I just want to be appreciative and show gratitude for that, because it’s been truly a blessing around here.”