Montana Democrat Busse releases tax returns as he seeks a debate with Gov. Gianforte

abcnews.go.com:

Montana Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse has provided 10 years of income tax records as he tries to goad Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte into debating him ahead of the November election

BILLINGS, Mont. — Montana Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse provided 10 years of income tax records on Tuesday as he sought to goad Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte into debating him ahead of the November election.

The release of the tax records to The Associated Press comes after Gianforte last week dismissed Busse as not a “serious candidate” and suggested he wouldn't debate him since the Democrat had not released his tax returns.

“It’s a complete charade,” Busse told AP after providing his returns. “If this is the singular reason why Gianforte will not debate, I’m not going to let him have that excuse."

With the election just over two months away, Busse’s campaign is scrambling to gain traction in a Republican-dominated state that elected Gianforte by a 13 percentage point margin in 2020.

Gianforte campaign manager Jake Eaton said Tuesday that the governor welcomed Busse «joining him on the transparency train.»

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

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

“The first step to getting a debate is we need a serious candidate who releases his tax returns just like every other candidate has done, and then we can talk about scheduling a debate,” Gianforte said in an Aug. 28 interview with KECI-TV in Missoula.

Busse is a former