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HELENA Jesse Laslovich, a Democrat and attorney whos worked the last five years as chief counsel for state Auditor Monica Lindeen, announced Monday hes running to succeed Lindeen next year.

Ive dedicated my life to protecting Montana consumers, holding big insurance companies accountable and fighting out-of-state special interests, he said in a statement. Im running for state auditor to continue this work.

Laslovich, 34, became the first Democrat to announce that hes running in 2016 for state auditor, which regulates the insurance and financial-services industry in Montana.

The only other announced candidate is former state Rep. Champ Edmunds of Missoula, a Republican who got in the race last week.

Lindeen, a Democrat, cannot run for re-election because of term limits. Shes been state auditor since 2009 and her second term ends next year.

Laslovich, from Anaconda, has a law degree from the University of Montana and was first elected to the Legislature while he was a UM undergraduate, at age 20. He served two terms in the House, representing Anaconda, before winning election as a state senator in 2004.

He won re-election to the state Senate in 2008 and resigned from his seat in 2010, when he became chief counsel for Lindeen.

Laslovich ran for attorney general in 2012, but lost the Democratic primary to Pam Bucy, who then lost the general election to Republican Tim Fox. Laslovich has been serving as acting deputy state auditor since January, when the former deputy auditor, Adam Schafer, went to work as a senior adviser to Gov. Steve Bullock.

In an interview Monday, Laslovich said if he becomes auditor, one of his top priorities would be ensuring that health-insurance rates are as low as possible and accurately reflect any savings that might occur because of changes in the market.

It would have to be a collaborative approach between our office, insurers, health-care providers and consumers, to figure out how we can improve the system, he said.

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Democrat Jesse Laslovich running for state auditor

April 6, 2015 12:48 PM

A source tells the Associated Press that AG Kamala Harris will run for the Senate Seat vacated by California Democrat Barbara Boxer. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES (AP) Democrat Kamala Harris has raised $2.5 million since January for her U.S. Senate campaign in California.

Statewide races in California are costly, and analysts say Harris could need $30 million for the 2016 contest.

Her campaign announced Monday that Harris, the only major Democrat in the race so far, has received contributions from 47 states during the reporting period, from January through March.

The state attorney general raised $1.6 million in March alone, or an average of about $50,000 a day.

After expenditures, she has about $2.2 million in the bank.

Nearly 5,000 contributions came in amounts of $100 or less. She received about 6,500 donations overall.

Harris says in a statement she is grateful for the support.

The only established Republican in the race is state Assemblyman Rocky Chavez.

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Kamala Harris Raises $2.5 Million For State Senate Bid

Democrat Kamala Harris has raised $2.5 million since mid-January for her U.S. Senate run in California, giving the state attorney general an early financial edge in the 2016 contest, her campaign announced Monday.

Competitive races are costly, and analysts predict Harris could need $30 million or more by Election Day next year. She is the only major Democrat in the race so far, although potential contenders include several members of Congress.

Harris banked "a lot of money, but it costs a lot of money to run statewide in California," said Claremont McKenna College political scientist Jack Pitney.

"By itself, it's not enough to keep other candidates out of the race. But together with her other advantages, other potential candidates have to weigh their options carefully," Pitney said.

Harris entered the race on Jan. 13, seeking the seat being vacated by Democrat Barbara Boxer.

Since that time, Harris has concentrated on raising money and rolling out endorsements to deter possible rivals. Meanwhile, as state attorney general, she can generate consistent headlines to grab public attention without spending campaign dollars.

The only established Republican in the race is two-term state Assemblyman Rocky Chvez. Democratic Reps. Loretta Sanchez, Adam Schiff and Xavier Becerra are considering Senate bids.

Harris raised $1.6 million in March alone, or an average of about $50,000 a day. After expenditures, she has about $2.2 million in the bank.

From January through March, nearly 5,000 contributions came in amounts of $100 or less, among about 6,500 donations overall.

Harris said in a statement that she is grateful for the support. "We are well on our way toward building a strong grassroots campaign that will reach every community of California," she said.

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Kamala Harris Raises $2.5M For California Senate Bid

Congressman Mike Coffman has been studying Spanish for less than two years, but he launches into it with the seeming comfort and ability of a veteran speaker.

The Colorado Republican, who won re-election in 2014 in what was considered the most competitive House race in the country, drew some skepticism when he began taking Spanish and going to Latino neighborhoods and adopting a more moderate view of issues such as comprehensive immigration reform.

His districts boundaries were redrawn in 2011, after the Census came out a year earlier, and suddenly the predominantly white, Republican area was ethnically diverse including 20 percent Latino and was winnable by a Democrat.

That made last year's mid-term election, as Politico put it, "a proxy war for the national Democratic and Republican parties" in the battle for the growing Latino electorate.

Coffman, 60, does not deny that the need to reach out to Latinos, a community he concedes that he knew very little about, was non-negotiable if he was to remain in Congress.

But what began as a survival tactic, Coffman said, developed into a genuine interest and respect for Latinos and the Spanish language.

Where many politicians drop such outreach and nearly vanish from certain communities once an election is over, Coffman, who won re-election in 2012 and 2014, engages with Latinos and studies the language as if he were still campaigning.

Es muy importante para la comunidad, Coffman said in an interview with Fox News Latino where the questions were in English but he often responded in Spanish.

Its a sign of respect for the community, he said, translating his response to why he dove into learning Spanish, a language he continues to study several times a week with his Colombian-born tutor. Its been exciting for me to reach out to Hispanics, Asians, African immigrants and learn.

My district totally, dramatically changed, Coffman said. I lost a lot of my more Republican areas, and got a heavy immigrant population.

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GOP congressman Mike Coffman keeps up Latino outreach long after re-election

The following stories are the first of a four-day series detailing the views of Republican and Democrat candidates for Fayette County commissioner.

Republican voters will choose two of the four candidates seeking the party nod in the Fayette County commission race when they go to the polls next month.

Incumbent Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink, Dr. Evelyn Hovanec of North Union Township, David Lohr of South Connellsville and Patrick Lion of Uniontown will square off in the May 19 primary.

The winners will face their two Democratic challengers for the three available seats on the board.

The candidates met with the Herald-Standard editorial board recently to discuss their views on a wide range of topics, including economic development, the operation of departments and their views as to how the county should address overcrowding at its lockup.

While members of the same party, the four had varying opinions as to how to end fees associated with prison overcrowding, or to stem recidivism.

Currently, Zimmerlink and Commissioner Vince Zapotosky are supporting the renovation and expansion of the current lockup, though officials have yet to unveil proposed plans or costs associated with the work.

Zimmerlink said since she took office in 2004, she has been aware of the growing inmate population and has addressed her concerns with the prison board.

Zimmerlink said that after the prison board unanimously agreed not to move ahead with the construction of a new building more than a decade ago, she challenged them to address the growing population.

It was me who said lets address overcrowding; we can either do nothing; we can decide we can do new construction or renovation, said Zimmerlink. At that time, (the vote not to continue with phase two) was unanimous; not just three people, seven people said were going to continue on with the court programs that were just beginning to get started.

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Republican commissioner candidates discuss prison plans