Editing Max Baucus (section)

==Political campaigns==
===2002===

{{Main|2002 United States Senate election in Montana}}

The 2002 Montana elections got national attention when Baucus's opponent, [[Montana State Senate|state senator]] Mike Taylor, accused Baucus of having implied in a campaign ad that Taylor was [[homosexuality|gay]]. The ad was paid for by the [[Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee]], not by the Baucus campaign. The ad, which alleged that Taylor had [[embezzlement|embezzled]] funds from the [[cosmetology school]] he once owned, showed footage from the early 1980s of Taylor massaging another man's face while wearing a tight suit with an open shirt. Taylor dropped out of the race and Baucus won with 63 percent of the vote.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gransbery |first=Jim |url=http://www.billingsgazette.com/newdex.php?display=rednews/2002/10/10/build/local/50-taylor-bails.inc |title=Taylor quits Senate race in Montana |newspaper=Billings Gazette |date=2002-10-10 |access-date=2007-01-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205015139/http://billingsgazette.com/newdex.php?display=rednews%2F2002%2F10%2F10%2Fbuild%2Flocal%2F50-taylor-bails.inc |archive-date=2006-12-05 }}</ref>

===2008===

{{Main|2008 United States Senate election in Montana}}

Baucus sought re-election in 2008 in Montana, a state that has seen political change starting in 2004 when it elected Democratic Governor [[Brian Schweitzer]] and then in 2006 Democratic Senator [[Jon Tester]] by a slim margin. Montana was the only state in the U.S. to turn over a chamber of its legislature to [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] control in 2006. The legislative chamber had a one-seat Democratic majority that then became a one-seat Republican majority.

Baucus raised a record amount of money for his 2008 re-election bid, 91 percent of which came from individuals living outside of Montana.<ref>[http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/12/03/news/local/news03.txt Missoulian: Baucus's campaign fills coffers with out-of-state funds<!--bot generated title-->]</ref> Similarly, according to [[OpenSecrets]], Baucus's 2008 campaign raised $11.6{{spaces}}million, only 13 percent of which came from Montana donors; the rest included millions from [[Health care industry|health care]] and other industries overseen by Finance and Baucus's other committees.<ref name="npr.org">Seabrook, Andrea & Overby, Peter (July 22, 2009). [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106655060 "Baucus Linchpin In Health Care Talks"]. NPR, All Things Considered. Retrieved on July 22, 2009.</ref>
<blockquote>So as Baucus and other lawmakers attempt to craft a bill that can smash through a virtual gridlock of interests, the awkward question lingers: to whom are they more attentive, their voting constituencies back home or the dollar constituencies who are at the Capitol every day?<ref name="npr.org"/></blockquote>

As a result of Baucus's significant fund-raising advantage, in the week he announced his intention to run for re-election he opened eight state offices{{snd}}one more than he had official offices in the state. Baucus also announced that he had hired 35 full-time campaign staff members. Baucus won re-election in a [[landslide victory]], with 73% of the vote, carrying every county in the state.