HELENA — Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, still in the Democratic presidential race despite low polling numbers, officially filed Tuesday to appear on the ballot in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary next February.
Bullock paid the $1,000 filing fee in Concord, New Hampshire, to appear on the state’s Feb. 11 primary ballot.
Bullock, who continues to poll in the low single digits among the remaining Democratic presidential hopefuls, also has campaign meetings in Georgia and Florida this week and travels to Iowa for a campaign event this weekend.
Iowa holds the nation’s first presidential nominating caucuses on Feb. 3.
Bullock told WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire, that he, or any candidate, probably must finish among the top four or five candidates in the state’s primary to exceed expectations and continue their campaign.
“I don’t think that’s any deep secret, even with a field of 17, that if you’re not in the four or top five in the early states, it probably is a pretty good signal that this isn’t going to work out,” he said.
Tuesday’s registration for Bullock also featured an unusual coincidence – he signed his forms at the desk of the New Hampshire state representative whose 1913 bill created the state’s presidential primary, and whose name is the same as his: Stephen Bullock.
The New Hampshire Bullock’s family donated the desk to the state four years ago.
