The author of the “The Revenant,' who is also a former U.S. ambassador to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, is considering a Democratic run for Senate or governor in Montana
Michael Punke, the author of the best-selling survivalist novel “The Revenant” and a former U.S. ambassador to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, is considering a Democratic run for Senate or governor in Montana, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Neither race has an announced Democratic candidate yet, though people are circling both campaigns, and Punke hopes to use his long career of experience in public policy and his public profile as a hit author to make himself an interesting and attractive candidate, according to one of the people familiar with his plans.He spent seven years as ambassador to the WTO in the Obama administration before moving back home to Missoula, Mont.
Punke, who has talked to leading Montana Democrats about his political ambitions but is not talking to donors at this stage, has described himself to potential backers in Montana as "rabidly centrist" and said that if he runs, he would likely focus on issues like health care and workforce development, said one source.
Punke’s biography could also stand out in a campaign. He has never run for office before, though he has government experience from the Obama and Clinton administrations, but Punke’s real claim to fame was writing a book that became a 2015 movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. After he sold “The Revenant,” Punke moved to Montana in 2003 and wrote other books on the labor movement in Montana and on the near-extinction of buffalo in the West.
President Donald Trump won Montana with nearly 56 percent of the vote in 2016, carrying the state by more than 20 percentage points. If Punke decides to enter the Senate race, he would face Sen. Steve Daines , who won with 58 percent of the vote in 2014. The current Democratic governor of Montana, Steve Bullock, is term-limited and is expected to announce a run for president soon. Independent Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins and Democratic Lt. Gov.
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