Corey Stapleton
Corey Stapleton is an American politician and the Secretary of State of Montana. A Republican, he is also a former Montana State Senator who served from 2001 to 2009. He was a candidate for the United States House of Representatives from Montana in the 2020 election, losing the Republican primary to Matt Rosendale.
Early life, education, and military service
Nominated by the Secretary of the Navy, he attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, Rhode Island. Serving as battalion adjutant and earning the Most Inspirational Wrestler Award, he entered the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.Stapleton earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering. He served as a Surface Warfare Officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy and the Aegis cruiser USS Hué City. He voluntarily resigned his naval commission in 1997 to work in Billings, Montana, as a financial advisor.
Montana Senate
Elections
In 2000 he won a three-way Republican primary and then general election to become the first Generation X-er elected to the Montana State Senate. In 2004, he won re-election to a second term, defeating Democrat Chris Daem 57%–43%.Tenure
Stapleton was elected Minority Whip in 2006 until term-limited out of office in 2008. He served as Senate Minority Leader in the 2007 legislative session, which ended without a budget compromise between the Democratic-controlled senate and Republican-controlled House.Stapleton sponsored several pieces of legislation including Otter Creek Coal development the attempted creation of a Montana medical school the Montana National Guard Relief Act and the demand for reorganization and replacement of the Montana Department of Revenue's computer system POINTS.
Stapleton served as chairman of the Montana Republican Legislative Campaign Committee, and advocated for the party's "Handshake with Montana" plan which he compared to the 1994 Republican Party "Contract with America". Montana Republicans gained the majority of the State House and shared control of the Montana State Senate with the Democratic Party in the 2006 election.
Committee assignments
- Finance and Claims
- Legislative Audit
Campaigns for higher office
2012 gubernatorial election
Stapleton ran for Governor of Montana with former State Senator Bob Keenan as running mate in 2012. He lost to former U.S. Congressman Rick Hill, who won the seven-candidate Republican primary with a plurality of 34% of the vote. Stapleton ranked second with 18% of the vote, sixteen points behind Hill. He won only two counties in the state: Yellowstone and Treasure.2014 U.S. Senate election
In early 2013, he decided to run for the U.S. Senate and challenge longtime Democratic incumbent Max Baucus. Stapleton criticized Baucus's record and started a petition to repeal Obamacare. In April 2013, Baucus decided to retire.2014 U.S. House of Representatives election
After it became clear that freshman Representative Steve Daines would seek the Senate seat, Stapleton withdrew from the Senate race to instead run for Daines' seat in the House. Stapleton lost the Republican primary to Ryan Zinke.2020 U.S House of Representatives election
On June 15th, 2019 Stapleton announced his 2020 candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives. He had initially been a candidate in the crowded 2020 Montana gubernatorial election.Secretary of State
In July 2017, Stapleton said that there had been 360 cases of voter fraud in Montana in the 2017 special congressional election. When asked to substantiate his claims, Stapleton said that he had been "incorrectly" quoted by the Associated Press and Lee Newspapers.
In October 2018, Stapleton came under scrutiny after it was revealed that a Voter Guide written, published, and mailed by the Montana Secretary of State office had failed to distinguish what changes proposed ballot initiatives would make to existing laws through underlining additions and striking deletions, instead printing the new laws without these distinguishing marks. Stapleton's office awarded the $265,000 contract to print and mail the corrections to all Montana voters to Ultra Graphics, a firm run by former state Republican Party Executive Director Jake Eaton. Stapleton claimed that Eaton's company was awarded the contract because it had submitted the lowest bid. After news reports indicated that a company in Arizona had submitted a bid for less money, Stapleton stated that the Eaton-led firm's bid was the cheapest, because it was the only one able to complete the printing and mailing on time due to being in Montana.
In February 2019, Stapleton was fined $4,000 by Montana's Commissioner of Political Practices for four separate violations of State law in using resources from his State of State office to announce his gubernatorial campaign.