Clinton will be feted during a brunch at the Hilton Garden Inn, and may make an additional free public appearance elsewhere in town that same day.
Though a time has not yet been confirmed for the Missoula fundraiser, it will be sometime Sunday morning - the day after the Montana Democratic Party's annual Mansfield-Metcalf dinner in Butte. Both Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, the front-runner in the race for the party's nomination, are scheduled to attend.
Invitations to the Missoula brunch were e-mailed to Democrats statewide late Monday morning.
A $250 donation provides “friend” status and a general seating assignment at the fundraiser. A $500 donor is considered a “champion” and has priority seating. And anyone donating at least $1,000 to Clinton's campaign is a “Big Sky” contributor and is invited to a VIP reception with the senator in addition to the brunch.
The event will be hosted by a number of high-profile local and state Democrats, including state Senate Majority Leader Carol Williams of Missoula; Sen. Carol Juneau, D-Browning; Rep. Diane Sands, D-Missoula; and former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dorothy Bradley.
“For me, Hillary is the only real change that is going to happen,” said Williams, the first woman elected Senate majority leader in Montana. “We care about the same policy issues, such as children and health care. A woman president, or even candidate, who has gone to this length is important for our history. It was a very easy decision for me to make.”
The “Big Sky Committee,” a group formed for the purpose of organizing the fundraiser, includes Missoula County Chief Administrative Officer Ann Mary Dussault; City Councilwoman Stacy Rye; UM legal counsel David Aronofsky; Missoula Art Museum executive director Laura Millin; Gov. Brian Schweitzer's communications director, Sarah Elliott; Missoula art gallery owners Candace Crosby and Dudley Dana; and others.
The exact time of the fundraiser has not yet been announced.
Though Clinton's visit to Montana remains fluid, the New York senator does hope to hold a free public event while she's in Missoula - possibly at the University of Montana's Adams Center, her staff confirmed Monday.
“We hope to be holding a public event in Missoula as well,” said Isaac Baker, a spokesman for the campaign. Neither a time nor location has been settled on, though.
Supporters of Obama also have urged him to make a stop in Missoula while he's in the state, possibly at the Adams Center on the afternoon of April 5 - just before the Democratic Party dinner in Butte.
Earlier this month, Lewis and Clark County Commissioner Ed Tinsley said he suggested to Obama campaign workers that they consider a rally in Missoula, Bozeman or Billings - and that Missoula would be the best choice.
“In my personal opinion, it would be a huge crowd,” he said.
So far, the Obama campaign has not announced another stop in the state, and did not return phone calls from the Missoulian on Monday. Campaign staffers, however, have reportedly been in Montana looking at possible venues.
The unprecedented interest in Montana is a byproduct of the tightness of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. As of Monday, the Associated Press reported Obama with 1,620 delegates to the Democratic National Convention and Clinton with 1,499.
It takes 2,025 delegates to win the nomination.
Montana has 17 delegates who will be divided proportionally by the percentage vote Clinton and Obama receive in the June 3 statewide Democratic primary. The state also has seven “superdelegates” who can vote for whomever they wish: U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, Schweitzer and four top officers of the Montana Democratic Party.
Brunch with Clinton
To purchase a ticket to the April 6 brunch with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at Missoula's Hilton Garden Inn, go to www.hillaryclinton.com/missoula or call (703) 875-3434.
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