Montana Green Party senate candidate was on GOP payroll -- and runs an nativist anti-college group
Democratic Sen. Jon Tester/Screenshot

Depending on who you ask, the Green Party is either the one unsullied edifice of progressivism or a useful tool in Conservative conspiracies to sow division on the left and undermine Democrats.


Historians will be arguing about Jill Stein's 2016 presidential run a century from now. But when it comes to Montana's Timothy Adams, who is running on the newly certified Green Party ticket, there is no question. Adams is not only a conservative who heads an anti-tax group, the Associated Press reports, he's also a recent former employee of the state Republican party. Adams has previously made headlines by filing elections complaints against Democrats.

Adams is running to siphon votes off centrist Democrat Sen. Jon Tester. So far, top Republicans in that state have stayed out of the race.

The state's Green Party officials signed off on this. Green Party boss Danielle Breck told the AP that she "spoke to all of the candidates who filed under the party’s name" and "reviewed with the candidates the Green Party’s four pillars and 10 key points."

“We don’t actually have any ability to deny candidates to file under our name,” Breck said.

Adams is also a leader at Montanans Against Higher Taxes, which is ostensibly an anti-tax group, but which is mostly focused on railing against the state's higher education system which these free-market enthusiasts complain drive up costs for locals because it draws "students from out-of-state with trust funds and blank checks from student loans" who want a new dorm with "a ski-tuning room." The group is especially angry about Californians coming to the state for an education. The group also alleges that the students party too hard. In other posts, the group also claims that CNN colluded with Hillary Clinton.

Timothy Adams filed as a challenger Monday against Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, who faces a tough re-election campaign, in a race where a Green Party candidate could siphon votes from the Democrat.