Busse, Democrat of Montana, is releasing the tax returns as he seeks a debate with Gov. Gianforte

Victor Boolen

Busse, Democrat of Montana, is releasing the tax returns as he seeks a debate with Gov. Gianforte

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BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse provided 10 years of income tax records Tuesday as he tried to get Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte to interview him before the November election.

The tax records were released to The Associated Press after Gianforte dismissed Busse last week as a “serious candidate” and suggested he would not challenge him because the Democrat had not released his tax returns.

“It’s a total scam,” Busse told the AP after submitting his feedback. “If that’s the only reason Gianforte won’t talk, I’m not going to give him that excuse.”

With the election just over two months away, Busse’s campaign is looking to gain traction in the Republican-controlled state, which elected Gianforte by 13 percentage points in 2020.

Gianforte’s campaign manager, Jake Eaton, said Tuesday that the governor welcomed Busse to “join him on the transparency train.”

“As the governor made clear, now that Mr. Busse has released his tax returns after repeated prodding, he welcomes the discussion,” Eaton wrote in a statement.

Last week, Eaton had said in a memo to reporters that his boss was willing to discuss a credible candidate, but suggested it was not Busse, who won the June primary with 71 percent of the vote.

“The first step to having a debate is we need a serious candidate to release their tax returns just like all the other candidates have done, and then we can talk about timing the debate,” Gianforte said in an Aug. 28 interview with KECI-TV. in Missoula.

Busse is a former gun company executive who said he left the industry alienated by its aggressive marketing of military-style assault rifles. His tax returns from 2014 to 2023 show he and wife Sara Swan-Busse earned about $260,000 a year over the past decade.

Their main source of income prior to 2020 was firearms company Kimber Manufacturing, where Busse served as vice president. Most of their income in recent years came from Aspen Communications, the public relations firm run by Swan-Busse.

Busse said he previously declined to release his tax returns for privacy reasons, but that he had nothing to hide and that he was reconsidering claims by Gianforte’s campaign that he was not transparent.

Gianforte made a huge fortune by selling his Bozeman, Montana-based software company RightNow Technologies to Oracle Corp. in 2011. His income over the past decade came mainly from investment gains and averaged more than $6 million a year, according to his returns. He is paid about $120,000 a year to serve as governor.

Gianforte spent more than $6 million of his own money on an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2016 and $7.5 million of his own money on his successful 2020 campaign.

Busse beat Gianforte during the most recent financial reporting period, but still trailed the incumbent with about $234,000 in cash on hand, compared to Gianforte’s $746,000, according to campaign filings.

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