(CNN) A week ago today, Greg Gianforte body-slammed a reporter named Ben Jacobs who was asking the GOP nominee whether or not he supported the American Health Care Act. The following day, Gianforte beat Democrat Rob Quist to claims the state's lone congressional district. The Gianforte body-slam has receded somewhat as a national story but I wondered how big a deal it still was in Montana. I reached out to Darrell Ehrlick, the editor of the Billings Gazette and a Montana native, for some perspective. Our conversation, conducted via email and lightly edited for flow, is below.

Cillizza: It's been a week since Greg Gianforte body-slammed Ben Jacobs. What's the reaction been in the state -- and has that reaction changed in any way since Gianforte won the election last Thursday?

Ehrlick: Overwhelming in some cases. Within the first 72 hours after the election, we saw letters to the editor nearly triple -- and we had been getting a pretty healthy flow of letters leading up to the election. We experienced a phenomenon on Friday (the day after) that I have never seen previously: At The Gazette, we had people calling in from across the country just urging us to take a certain action, or telling us what they were going to do about the election. The action ranged from calling on Gianforte to immediately resign, recall petitions ,and protests [all the way] to a few wanting to know how they could donate to his re-election campaign. I guess it kind of makes sense. Who are you really going to call? There's no central clearing house for general outrage. People were genuinely distressed or engaged, and they needed an outlet. Many took to social media, but some needed to register their feelings with another human. The responses ranged from one person in Washington who blamed The Gazette for endorsing him in the first place; another man from Kansas who said if he did ever make it up to Montana he was going to give us a swift kick because, in his words, we were all supposed to be Marlboro men, not sissies. Well, that wasn't exactly the word, but you get the idea.

Cillizza: There was speculation online in the immediate aftermath of the incident that it might actually help Gianforte because of how little people like the media? Any evidence that was true?

Ehrlick: Possibly. I think any lift it will give to him will be momentary. The incident itself, coupled with the audio seem pretty hard to live down. Keep in mind, Howard Dean just bellowed and it was the end of him, so I have to believe the altercation will be a political albatross.

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