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Bullock, 53, won re-election in conservative Montana in 2016,
making him the only one of the more than 20 major Democratic
presidential candidates to win statewide election in a state
that President Donald Trump carried in 2016.
As Democrats gauge the electability of the party's White House
contenders, Bullock hopes his 2016 victory will show that he can
broaden the party's appeal to moderate and rural voters beyond
its coastal strongholds.
"As a Democratic governor of a state that Trump won by 20
points, I don't have the luxury of just talking to people who
agree with me," Bullock said in a video announcement of his
candidacy. "I go all across our state's 147,000 square miles and
look for common ground to get things done."
Still a relative unknown nationally, Bullock has barely
registered in opinion polls and will face a stiff challenge
competing with the support and fundraising ability of
higher-profile party rivals such as former Vice President Joe
Biden and Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Kamala Harris of
California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Bullock presents himself as a potential unifier in a party torn
between those who prefer a pragmatist who can appeal to
moderates and independents, and those who want a fresh face who
can energize the party's increasingly diverse and left-leaning
voters.
He pointed to his successes as governor in Montana, where
Republicans control the state legislature, and his ability to
forge compromises on bills to expand Medicare, increase campaign
finance disclosures, bolster pay equity for women and protect
public lands.
Bullock has made campaign finance reform a cornerstone of his
agenda as governor, filing a lawsuit against the Internal
Revenue Service in 2018 over its decision to loosen disclosure
requirements for "dark money" groups that under federal law do
not have to disclose donors. A court hearing is scheduled in
June.
Bullock also signed an executive order requiring many state
government contractors to report political donations, including
those to such groups, and worked with members of both parties to
pass a bill requiring disclosure of donors to independent groups
spending money on state-level elections.
"I was able to bring Democrats and Republicans together to fight
dark money and pass one of the strongest campaign finance laws
in the country," Bullock said in the announcement video.
Bullock hired veteran Democratic operative Jenn Ridder, who ran
Colorado Governor Jared Polis' successful campaign in 2018, as
his campaign manager. He also announced the hiring of top
communications and Iowa state staffers as he launched his bid.
The son of a single mother, Bullock worked his way through
college and took out loans to finish law school. He served as
Montana's attorney general before being elected to his first
term as governor in 2012.
When he won re-election in 2016, he captured 13 counties in
Montana, more than twice the number Democratic presidential
nominee Hillary Clinton carried.
He has traveled frequently to early voting states such as Iowa
and New Hampshire in the last year to lay the groundwork for a
campaign, but he had promised to wait until Montana's
legislative session ended to make his plans for the White House
known. The Montana legislature adjourned in late April.
(Reporting by John Whitesides; Editing by Colleen Jenkins,
Jonathan Oatis and Leslie Adler)
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