Hundreds of Missoulians marched through the streets Saturday to protest the separation of immigrant families on the southern border under President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy – and to demand that ICE leave Montana.

“I think the Missoula community has been watching pretty aghast at what’s been happening at the borders,” said Rebecca Weston, co-director of Montanans for Immigrant Justice. “I think this is both an opportunity to share our rage, but also then to continue the demand that we actually want real change.”

As a psychotherapist, Weston said she knows the trauma children experience when they are forcibly separated from their families.

“I know deeply what this means to kids,” she said. “My mom was a refugee at age 3 and was in an orphanage. I know deeply what it means and the consequences that are generational.”

Wednesday, people were still trying to figure out exactly how Williams, 57, pulled off the win. There had been no public polling in the race to suggest Williams’ victory was truly an upset, but campaign observers throughout the primary season considered her a long shot. There were three candidates announced for the race before Williams launched her campaign late last October. A little more than two months later, her campaign war chest was just $73,000. John Heenan and Grant Kier, the presumed frontrunners, each had $250,000 at that point. Williams didn’t have that kind of coin until May.

But what Williams lacked in money she made up in time. With her slide-in camper fitted to the bed of her pickup, Williams zigzagged 1,100 miles of Montana back roads in a week. Wherever she was invited to speak, she went. Wherever she wasn’t invited, Markoff called to book a room.

“I kid you not," Markoff said, "When we were scheduling a meet and greet in Ekalaka, the first person I asked to help me set up the event laughed at me. He said, ‘Are you serious? You’re actually going to send your candidate to Ekalaka?’ I had to assure him I wasn’t faking it or losing my mind. There are parts of the state that don’t see candidates frequently, and showing up makes a big difference.”

There are 6.8 Montanans for the each of the state’s 147,040 square miles. In some places, the concentration is much more. In Carter County, where Ekalaka is the county seat, the density is far less. Tucked away in southeast Montana, the county’s emptiness is used for flight training by B1-Bombers from nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. Williams' trip there earned her a commanding 57 percent of the Carter County vote. That’s 16 votes of Williams' statewide total of 37,146. There were a lot of county victories like that in Williams’ win column.