Rob Quist

Quist at a March 2017 campaign rally

On January 4, 2017, Quist announced he would seek the Democratic nomination for the special election that was anticipated to fill the U.S. House seat held by Ryan Zinke, as Zinke was expected to be nominated to be Secretary of the Interior. Quist was endorsed early on by former Governor Brian Schweitzer, and was selected as the Party's nominee on March 5.[13][14] Quist stated, "I was approached by people who I really respect and they asked me to run. And my first thought was 'Wait a minute, I'm not a politician.' Their response was, 'exactly.'" Quist cited as qualifications his work with the state government, lifelong experience traveling in and around Montana, and his upbringing in a ranching family.[15] Independent Senator Bernie Sanders as well as the organization Our Revolution endorsed Quist in the race and campaigned for him.[16][17]

The special election was announced by Governor Steve Bullock on March 1 and set for May 25, the minimum 85 days required after Zinke's confirmation. The race generated considerable national attention, and over $17 million was spent, much of it by outside groups and on television ads, with Quist and third-party organizations supporting him being outspent by about four to one by his opponent Greg Gianforte and Gianforte's supporters.[18]

Quist was endorsed by a number of politically progressive organizations as well as various unions, environmental organizations and sportsmen's groups.[19] Quist's opponent had been endorsed over Quist by three Montana newspapers, the Billings Gazette, the Missoulian, and the Helena Independent Record, all owned by Lee Enterprises.[20] However, the day before the election, Gianforte assaulted Ben Jacobs, a reporter from The Guardian, an incident captured on audio recording and which was witnessed by reporters from Fox News. Gianforte was charged with a misdemeanor for the incident.[21] As news broke, the editorial boards of these three newspapers rescinded previous endorsements of Gianforte.[22][23][24] However, as many voters had already cast early voting ballots, the incident had relatively little impact on the election. Gianforte later pled guilty.[25]

Quist lost the general election to Gianforte, 50% to 44%, with Libertarian Mark Wicks receiving 6%.[26] This result was the highest percentage of the vote for a Democrat in a Montana house race in the past four election cycles.[27]

Bernie Sanders campaigned with Quist the weekend prior to the 2017 special election

Politico described Quist's policies as "an economic fairness platform" and "a commitment to Montana's particular brand of prairie populism."[28] According to the Washington Post, the Quist campaign opted not to turn the special election into a referendum on Trump's alleged scandals, but to focus on "policy decisions by the president and congressional Republicans."[29]

Quist thinks the country should eventually move to a single-payer healthcare system.[30][31] Quist opposed efforts to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare),[32] stating in 2017 that doing so would "raise healthcare costs for working Montanans", which is consistent with an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation,[32] and be a "tax cut for millionaires".[33]

Quist has criticized inequality in the United States, and argued that tax breaks for the rich exacerbates the inequality.[34] He has called for tax cuts for the working class.[35]

Quist opposes the privatization of federal lands, military intervention and regime change, as well as any form of religious ban or registry.[36][34] Quist has called for transferring money from the federal military budget "towards health care or Social Security".[37] Quist supports a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.[38] He has called for investments in clean coal technology, as well as energy from wind, solar, biomass and geothermal sources.[39]

Quist has pledged to protect public lands.[40][41] Quist supports the legalization of marijuana, saying "the war on drugs has been an abject failure."[42] Quist supports same-sex marriage.[43] Quist supports access to birth control, preventive screenings and abortion rights.[36] Quist has argued that "the assault on women's reproductive rights" must come to an end.[28] He has called for pay equity for women.[44]

Quist accepts the scientific consensus on climate change and supports actions to mitigate climate change, saying climate change "could have a serious impact on our farms, ranches, and our economy."[39]