Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, who chairs the National Governors Association, said Friday he won re-election this week as a Democrat running in a deeply red state because he showed up to campaign.
"I won by 40 points, so 25 to 30 percent of my voters also voted for Donald Trump, said Bullock, explaining to MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that Trump took Montana in 2016 by 20 points.
"I don't have the luxury of going where there are big blue pockets," said Bullock. "I have to go out, engage people, listen to them. Give them a reason to vote for me. That's the way I win elections and govern."
Montana's legislature is two-thirds Republican, he added, but still by "working hard," he was able to get Medicaid expansion approved, along with record investments in public education and legislation for transparency in election spending.
Bullock said he also believes that while the majority of his constituents are Trump supporters, they care more about issues that matter most to them, as they are "too busy for politics."
Instead, they want a "safe community, a decent job, clean schools, and doing what they can to better their lives for their children and grandchildren.
Bullock added that he thinks Washington, D.C. would work much better if it worked like Montana in bridging divides and by doing as much as possible to make people believe the government can work.
"I do think we need to find somebody that can unite these big divides in our country, getting the economy working for most folks and how broken the political system is," Bullock said of potential Democratic opponents to run against President Donald Trump in 2020.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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