Additional PSC candidate clears signature threshold for general election

People in northwest Montana will have a second choice for the Public Service Commission after a Missoula resident successfully gained enough signatures to run as an independent candidate.

Elena Evans, a Missoula County employee, submitted more than 5,200 signatures to the county election center in June. State law requires 3,050 to make the ballot.

The Montana Secretary of State's office confirmed to the Missoulian on Monday that the office has verified more than 5,000 signatures, but an exact number was not available.

Evans shared the confirmation on social media on June 27. Evans said she will run as an "unaffiliated independent," meaning no political party is directly supporting her campaign.

Evans will face PSC District 4 incumbent Jennifer Fielder, a Republican. Fielder was first elected to the role in 2020, and had previously been running unopposed this year.

The PSC acts as an oversight body for the state's captive utilities, including electric companies like NorthWestern Energy. The five-person PSC board approves rate increases and other actions the companies take.

PSC district 4 covers parts of Missoula, Kalispell, the Bitterroot and the rural counties in northwest Montana.

In March, a Montana judge ruled the state PSC districts created in 2023 were likely gerrymandered because of the consistent splitting of urban centers and must be redrawn.

That map, however, will still be used for the 2024 general election because of time constraints to make a new one.

Evans told the Missoulian in June that she wanted to run after the PSC approved rate increases during a cold snap this winter. She said once she saw the incumbent Fielder was the only candidate, she wanted to make a challenge.

"It was somewhat astonishing to me that no one filed against her," Evans said.

Evans currently works for Missoula County, managing the local government's junk vehicle, air quality and water quality departments. She said her experience with ranchers, farmers and other citizens with monopoly utilities gives her an outside, but informed perspective to the board.

She said during the signature collection period, she personally got 1,200 signatures and talked with more people around Missoula.

"It was important, I learned what people are thinking, what they are worried about and what they already know," Evans said.

The general election will take place on Nov. 5.

Griffen Smith is the local government reporter for the Missoulian.

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