“Husband” And “Wife” Running For Senate In Opposite Parties

A supposedly married couple are running for Senate in Montana, in different parties:

Montana’s post-truth political power couple set the hook early.

By the time anyone questioned the truthfulness of a married couple running as U.S. Senate candidates for opposing parties, the media had already taken the bait.

William James Dean and his wife, Sarah, have an unlikely story. James the Republican financial adviser and Sarah the Democratic fashion designer this month set out to race through the primaries and meet on the ballot next November. They did their coming-out interview together in their local Havre newspaper. The Associated Press picked it up a few days later. And then television.

The heavy-hitters in Montana’s U.S. Senate race were already tearing each other down. The Deans? Well, they love each other. They are a team no matter what, maybe even conspirators.

“Another Republican has announced he’s running to unseat Sen. Jon Tester next year — and his wife is challenging Tester as a Democrat,” reported one broadcast, which described the couple as first-time candidates.

The Deans aren’t who they said they are, at least not exactly. William James Dean is no newcomer. In the last election cycle Dean, who currently goes by James, filed to run for president in California under a different name, Daniel Lane Dean, the name that appeared on his Air Force Academy diploma, and his Hawaiian state bar exam, and a divorce record that shows him being served dissolution papers while working for the Judge Advocate General Corps at Guantanamo Bay.

Sarah Dean has used no fewer than four names, each affiliated with an online business, or a Christian ministry, a collection of children’s books, or a crowd-funded charity.

The Deans aren’t who they said they are, at least not exactly. William James Dean is no newcomer. In the last election cycle Dean, who currently goes by James, filed to run for president in California under a different name, Daniel Lane Dean, the name that appeared on his Air Force Academy diploma, and his Hawaiian state bar exam, and a divorce record that shows him being served dissolution papers while working for the Judge Advocate General Corps at Guantanamo Bay.

Sarah Dean has used no fewer than four names, each affiliated with an online business, or a Christian ministry, a collection of children’s books, or a crowd-funded charity.

Yea, sounds like a scam to me too.

FILED UNDER: 2018 Election, US Politics, , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. CSK says:

    Oh, definitely a scam, but to what end? Are they looking for a book deal?

  2. Franklin says:

    I thought this post was going to be about how Trump caused a fracture in their marriage or something (like this).

    But yeah, total scam.

  3. OzarkHillbilly says:

    Show me the money.

  4. JohnMcC says:

    @OzarkHillbilly: Prediction: The money will be found in a very shallow grave. In other words (damn the lack of sarcasm in text/comments) – very near the surface.

  5. eric78 says:
  6. george says:

    @eric78:

    Well, you can always waste your vote … that was a classic episode.

    Though I have to admit, spouses running for different parties doesn’t strike me as that strange. I know couples who not only vote, but volunteer for different parties, and it doesn’t appear to create any problems for them at all … they’re typically the first to laugh at it. Its no different than spouses belonging to different religions.

    What holds a couple together is, or at least should be, much stronger than political (or religious) ideologies. And in fact, my guess is that being in different political parties is very common; off the top of my head I can think of over a dozen such pairs in my circle of friends, and some of them have been married for decades.