Montana’s Democratic candidate for governor announced a plan Wednesday that he says will increase access to health care and lower prescription drug prices. The plan reiterates Lt. Gov Mike Cooney’s support for Montana’s Medicaid expansion program, which was reauthorized with bipartisan support during the 2019 legislative session. The plan also outlines several legislative actions Cooney would push aimed at decreasing the cost of prescriptions.

The first Senate debate scored talking points but not a clear winner. A new ad in the U.S. House race touches all the Montana bases: fishing, shooting and beer. And the candidates for governor talk sales taxes. Listen now on Campaign Beat with Sally Mauk, Rob Saldin and Holly Michels.

Montana lawmakers are working out plans for what their 2021 session will look like and there’s still plenty up in the air, like whether they’ll be required to wear face masks. Legislative staff have explored whether local or state health rules, like Gov. Steve Bullock’s statewide mask mandate, apply to legislators in the Capitol building. Staff told lawmakers during an interim planning committee meeting Monday that there’s no clear answer.

U.S. Senate candidates Republican Steve Daines and Democrat Steve Bullock squared off in a debate for the first time over the weekend. The debate focused on responses to the novel coronavirus. The two long-standing Montana figures each said Congress and the federal government should work across the political aisle during this time. But Daines and Bullock also sent a salvo of political attacks at each other in an attempt to sway voters to their side in one of this year's most closely watched

There will be no Greens on the November ballot, and that ballot will likely be mailed in. Montana is falling short on the census. A new poll shows Republicans ahead. And a new campaign ad plays on Montana's historic hatred of a sales tax. Listen now on Campaign Beat with Sally Mauk, Rob Saldin and Holly Michels.

Montana's U.S. House race looks to be tight and maybe getting tighter. New ads in the Senate race allege corruption and kowtowing to the "liberal mob." And the candidates in that race agree to three debates this fall. Listen now on Campaign Beat with Sally Mauk, Rob Saldin and Holly Michels.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Cooney Thursday unveiled an economic plan for the state . Cooney’s plan emphasizes in-state hiring for state contractors; growing rural economies; and empowering women in the workforce.

Montana election officials are calling on Gov. Steve Bullock to allow counties the option of running the November election by mail. Bullock said Wednesday that he’ll decide by August 10.

New ads in Montana's U.S. Senate race target the candidates' election year flip-flops. And candidates in the Senate and gubernatorial races try to make the case that they're the best steward of Montana's public lands. Listen now on Campaign Beat , with Sally Mauk, Rob Saldin and Holly Michels.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester joined a half dozen other Democrats Tuesday in calling for Congress to schedule a hearing on the Trump administration’s pick to lead the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The letter signed by Tester and others comes a day after Montana Gov. Steve Bullock sued BLM, alleging William Perry Pendley has been leading the agency illegally.