When U.S. Sen. Max Baucus announced his retirement, Democrats were quick to say that they would hold the seat without much effort. While that claim was premature, not even Democrats could have imagined the strange twists and turns that this race would take. First, Democrats wanted former Gov. Brian Schweitzer as their nominee, but Schweitzer opted not to run. Schweitzer’s decision left the party scrambling for a viable candidate, and they thought they had found one in Lt. Gov. John Walsh, a relative newcomer to politics. The race took another strange turn in December of last year when President Obama nominated Baucus to be Ambassador to China. Baucus resigned his seat when he was confirmed on February 6. Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock appointed Walsh to fill the remainder of Baucus’ term, thus allowing Walsh to run for the seat as the incumbent. While the race was still uphill for Democrats, there were signs that Walsh was making some progress. But, revelations surfaced in July that he had plagiarized portions of a research paper he had written as part of a
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