Republican Aaron Flint’s campaign is highlighting his Democratic opponent’s past work as a lobbyist with a new microsite, obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter.
The site criticizes “Lobbyist Sam Forstag” for the Democrat’s close ties to Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) members like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), who have endorsed Forstag’s campaign. Both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez are prominently featured on the site; should Flint win in November, the DSA’s ability to help Democratic candidates in reddish districts would suffer a major blow.
Flint’s new website notes that Democrat “Sam Forstag raked in $249,823 pushing radical policies for special-interest groups” before he started running for Congress. Forstag spent almost a decade as a lobbyist, working on behalf of far-left groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood.
Forstag’s record as a lobbyist could pose a problem for him in a district that voted for President Donald Trump by over ten points; Flint notes that Forstag’s record includes “oppos[ing] legislation strengthening penalties for assaulting peace officers and judicial officers”; “support[ing] legislation allowing local governments to create new local taxes,” and “lobb[ying] against legislation banning sanctuary city policies in Montana.”
“Montanans deserve to know the truth about phony Forstag,” Garrett Brown, Flint’s communications director, told the Reporter. “Sam wants them to only see him as a firefighter, but the truth is he spent years as a highly paid lobbyist for the most radical left groups you can think of; pushing a sales tax, higher property taxes, men in women’s sports, sanctuary cities, and lower penalties for drug traffickers. Don’t believe the phony firefighter. Look at the record he’s trying to hide.”
