Lila Byock, a Los Angeles-based television writer and producer who grew up in Missoula, Livingston and Billings, said in an interview that the campaign strikes her as an effort to exploit national political divisions.

“It feels like it’s trying to appeal to white conservatives who might be, quote, unquote, fed up with the crime and diversity in whatever urban areas or suburbs they’re living in now and trying to message that Montana is still a white space for you to come back to,” she said.