HELENA — Just a day before Helena’s city elections, U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy’s office said they received a threatening voicemail earlier this year from one of the candidates: Haley McKnight, running for Helena city commission.
McKnight says she regrets some of the language she used, but that she feels her anger over Sheehy’s actions in office was “justifiable rage.”
Sheehy’s office issued a news release Monday, linking to an article from the conservative publication National Review.
It says McKnight called Sheehy’s Helena district office on July 1, after the Senate advanced Republicans’ “One Big Bill” that included tighter restrictions on Medicaid.
The article quotes McKnight as saying Sheehy’s policies “stripped away health care” for millions of Americans.
“I hope that one day you get pancreatic cancer and it spreads throughout your body so fast that they can’t even treat you for it,” she went on to say. “I hope that you die in the street like a dog. One day you’re gonna live to regret this.”
McKnight told MTN Monday that her call was not intended as a threat.
“I mean him personally no harm,” she said.
Asked if she felt differently about what she said today compared with four months ago, she said she wished she hadn’t used some of the profanity she used in that message, but she stood by her statement that Sheehy’s votes were harming Montanans.
McKnight is the retail manager of Sage and Oats Trading Post in downtown Helena, and she owns Morningstar Design Ltd. Co., a consulting business. She’s one of four candidates running for two seats on the city commission.
McKnight told MTN that she has had concerns about her own safety because of her political profile and stances. She questioned the timing of the National Review article, saying it appeared politically motivated, and she said Sheehy’s publicizing it amounted to “doxxing and bullying.”
Tate Mitchell, a spokesperson for Sheehy, told MTN the voicemail only recently came to their attention and that “law enforcement is aware.”
“We hope Ms. McKnight gets the help she clearly needs,” Mitchell said in a statement.
