HELENA – Wilmot Collins, a Liberian refugee who became Helena’s first black mayor, announced Monday he would be a Democratic candidate in the 2020 race for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Republican Steve Daines.

Collins, 56, told about 100 supporters at Performance Park in Helena, about being a public servant and not a politician, making health care a right for all and not just a luxury for a few, helping homeless veterans, protecting the middle class, protecting public land and maintaining workers’ rights.

And he spoke of climate change, asking people to “believe in the boldness and urgency” to fight it.

“I am asking you to believe in science,” he said.

A campaign spokesperson for Daines said he “looks forward to having a thoughtful discussion with Montanans on how to best protect our Montana way of life and create good-paying Montana jobs."

Debra Lamm, chair of the Montana Republican Party, called Collins “just another liberal Democrat who will be a rubber-stamp for the far-left's radical agenda” and reverse all that President Donald Trump has accomplished.

“He will be a vote for open borders and eliminating ICE, restoring voting rights for terrorists and felons, seizing our guns, giving Social Security and Medicare benefits to illegal immigrants, and bankrupting our nation with Medicare-for-All and the Green New Deal,” Lamm said in an email. “Collins will be in lockstep with the extreme far-left – and not with Montanans.”

She said Daines has “fought tirelessly to protect our Montana way of life” and has supported the Second Amendment right to bear arms, securing borders and protecting citizens, cutting taxes and creating high-paying jobs across “and keeping the federal government out of our lives.”

In an email to fellow Republicans, Lamm said Collins poses "a very real threat to Daines' re-election."

She said he has a compelling story and overcame odds to oust the incumbent.

"His national profile is on the rise, and he's a media sensation. He's nothing short of a DREAM candidate for Montana Democrats in their efforts to knock-off our conservative leader, Senator Steve Daines," Lamm wrote, asking people for a financial contribution.

Collins won the Nov. 8, 2017, race for mayor over four-term Mayor Jim Smith, who Collins said was a popular incumbent, garnering about 51 percent (5,147) of the vote to Smith’s 48 percent (4,803) or a lead of 344 votes.

His win got him featured on “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central.

Collins, a child protection specialist with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, said in an earlier interview his decision to run for public office reflects his desire to do public service.

Collins dismissed claims of his victory as a rebuke of Trump in a January 2018 interview, saying Trump’s name never came up once on the campaign trail.

Collins is reportedly not only Helena’s, but Montana’s first official black mayor. However it’s noted that a black man named E.T. Johnson served as mayor in 1873 before Helena became an incorporated town in 1881.

Six months after coming to Montana in 1994 he joined the National Guard. He’s coached soccer, is an adjunct professor and served on several community boards.

Collins and his wife Maddie met while attending the University of Liberia and decided to leave the country in the 1990s during civil unrest.

During her high school years Maddie had been an exchange student and had stayed with a Helena family, Bruce and Joyce Nachtsheim, who she calls “mom” and “dad.” The Collins family decided to make Montana home.

Carroll College gave her a full scholarship to pursue nursing. Wilmot stayed behind, taking a couple years to go through the process to emigrate.

He and his wife have two grown children, daughter, Jaymie, who is in the Navy in Florida and a son, Bliss, who attended the University of Montana.

Collins said Monday he would work hard to get elected.

“Look for me on the campaign trail,” he told supporters. “Here’s another promise: I won’t be hard to find.”

Veteran journalist Phil Drake is our eye on the state capitol. For tips, suggestions or comment, he can be reached at 406-231-9021 or pdrake@greatfallstribune.com. To support his work, subscribe today and get a special offer.