You might think Anton Pearson is the third Republican in the race for U.S. Senate in Montana -- but, so far, he's the only Republican who's plunked down the $1,693 filing fee to become an official candidate for the seat held by Democrat Max Baucus.

Pearson, a ranch owner and truck-driver from St. Regis making his first run for statewide political office, paid the filing fee three weeks ago.

He's running on a platform that includes eliminating or severely reducing inheritance and capital-gains taxes, repealing the North American Free Trade Agreement and encouraging development of natural resources.

His entry into the race surprised state Republican Party officials, who said they'd neither heard of nor heard from Pearson.

But Pearson, 64, said Monday he has every intention of running a campaign -- although traveling to Republican Party events and meeting voters may be restricted mostly to the weekends.

From Monday through Friday, he's driving an 85-foot truck, delivering wrecked vehicles and other steel products to sites in Utah and Canada.

"I have to keep to the weekend, because I can't jeopardize my job just to run for office," Pearson said.

Pearson will soon have official company in the Republican Party primary race for the nomination to challenge Baucus.

Kirk Bushman, a consulting engineer from Billings who announced his candidacy in January, said he plans to pay his filing fee today, and state Rep. Michael Lange, also of Billings, said he's been actively campaigning and will pay his filing fee before the March 20 deadline.

Republican voters will decide June 3 which of the three men will challenge Baucus, who is running for a sixth consecutive six-year term in the Senate.

Pearson is a local Republican Party precinct committeeman and ran unsuccessfully for Mineral County commissioner in 2002.

Pearson grew up on a ranch north of Conrad and lives on ranch property near St. Regis. He said he sometimes logs timber on the ranch. He said he'll run campaign advertisements and hopes to attend some local Republican Lincoln-Reagan Day dinners, which candidates visit to make themselves known to party primary voters.

Pearson said he's emphasizing his opposition to federal capital-gains and inheritance taxes. If someone takes a risk on an investment, or wants to pass accumulated property or wealth onto a child, the government shouldn't be taxing those gains, he said.

The United States also should be opening up more federal land to logging, mining and other natural-resource development and have less restrictions on land use, he said. Pearson said he owns riverside property that he can't develop because it's in a streamside management zone.

"I'm just going to speak up for what I believe in," he said. "We've lost a lot of jobs by shutting down logging. I'm for the environment, but not for destroying people's living."

Pearson said he also supports an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage, opposes abortion and would like to "return one nation under the one true God to the public square."