Montana: Candidate Employs Condoms in Campaign for Sheriff

Paul Pilgrim wanted a campaign gimmick to help people remember his name when they go to the polls to vote for Beaverhead County sheriff, so he decided to hand voters a key chain attached to a small white plastic box with the message: "Vote Pilgrim Sheriff -- to protect and serve." What's memorable is what's inside the box: a condom. A Durex enhanced pleasure model, to be precise. Pilgrim, who runs a dry-cleaning store in the southwestern Montana city of Dillion, said he settled on the novelty item as a campaign tool in order to stand out among the three Republican candidates for sheriff. "Everybody hands out combs, fingernail files and pencils," he said. "I asked if there's anything people would be more likely to remember."

Pilgrim bought 250 of the key chain-condom combinations and began distributing them to voters, who he said have accepted the unusual appeal for votes with good humor. In fact, they have become more popular than some of his other campaign items, such as pens. Pilgrim, whose lack of law enforcement experience makes him the long shot, describes himself as a longtime critic of drunken driving and of the dangers posed by STDs and unprotected sex. The condoms may make people more aware and willing to stop and think, Pilgrim said: "Let's not stick our heads in the sand and ignore the dangers around us."

Phyllis Denton, chairperson of the local Republican Party, does not expect Pilgrim's political ploy will fare well with some voters. But Pilgrim is undeterred and convinced his strategy of reaching voters will work. "I know that when anyone looks at a key chain, they will think of me," he said.

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