The sheriff of Gallatin County, Montana, released a statement Wednesday night announcing that Gianforte had been cited for misdemeanor assault as a result of his altercation with Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs, who had been questioning the GOP candidate on his position on legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare.
The incident was enough for the editorial boards of The Billings Gazette, The Helena Independent Record and The Missoulian to withdraw their endorsements of Gianforte on the eve of Thursday’s election to replace Ryan Zinke, who vacated the seat to become President Donald Trump’s secretary of the interior.
While all three of the newspapers retracted their endorsements, none of them went so far as to endorse Gianforte’s opponent, Democrat Rob Quist.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member