McCulloch for Montana's Vote

Background:

I am an elementary school teacher and school librarian. I taught in Montana public schools for almost 20 years. For most of these years I served as a contract negotiator and other positions with my local union as well as a number of positions in local and state education organizations. I was also active in local politics and issue related activities.

I served three terms in the Montana Legislature (1995-2001, House of Representatives). In my first campaign for the Legislature I was the only Democrat in a six state area to unseat a sitting Republican Legislator in the 1994 election.

I am in my second and last term (term limits) as Montana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction (2001-2009). In 2004, I received more votes than any candidate for state office, Republican or Democrat, in a contested race. I received 26,383 more votes than my current Republican opponent who also ran statewide in 2004 in his first election as Secretary of State.

For the past eight years, I have managed a state agency three times the size of the Secretary of State office, managing 70 federal programs and almost half the state general fund budget.

More biographical information can be found at www.mccullochformontana.com

Goals:

Montana needs new direction and new leadership in the Secretary of State's Office! I will:
Ensure our elections process is open, accessible and fair;
Support a business friendly office to make licensing businesses easy and efficient; and
Offer support to local County Clerks and Recorders and Election Administrators;
Keep accurate state records for future generations

Issues:

Increase voter participation among new, young and discouraged voters;
Train more local election judges to improve Election Day efficiency, utilizing high school students to be election judges, and;
Call on the expertise of Montana businesses to help the Secretary of State's Office excel in citizen service.

Grassroots Support:

My campaign relies heavily on volunteers to help organize gatherings, distribute literature, yardsign placement, make phone calls, monitor blogs, write letters to the editor and help with mailings. That means recruiting a group of energetic and committed people to help with my campaign in every county…all 56 of them! We cannot win without them.

DFA Values:

My personal story is intertwined with union activism and I am committed to workers rights and quality education for all Americans. I support a government that protects our land, air and water, a woman’s right to choose and the civil rights of all its citizens. I have 15 years experience with Montana elections, from the ground up. I have knocked on thousands of doors and have addressed crowds of thousands.
My background from school librarian to Legislator to statewide elected Superintendent of Public Instruction gives me an ideal background to be Secretary of State, Montana’s first woman Secretary of State.