ON THE ISSUES.
rural infrastructure
Safe roads and bridges
Increased rural healthcare and broadband access
Clean, sovereign energy
We need to prioritize investments in improving rural roads and bridges. This includes repairing existing infrastructure, building new where necessary, and working to ensure safe and reliable use. Additionally, expanding public transportation options, such as high-speed rail, will enhance mobility for rural Americans, ensuring they have access to vital services, jobs, and education.
The need for more access to quality healthcare in rural areas is growing every day. We have a livability divide between rural and urban areas that needs to end. Rural hospitals, clinics, and healthcare centers need worker incentives, financial support, and reduced administrative burdens. Telehealth initiatives must play a role, to reduce travel burdens and improve rural health.
Expanded and reliable rural broadband access is critical for not only healthcare, but economic growth, education, and community engagement. We need to promote competition and set policies to ensure rural Montanans have access to the digital era, regardless of their location or income level.
To build up Montana’s economy, we must expand and support America’s transition to a clean and sustainable energy future. We do this by encouraging the development and adoption of renewable energy in rural areas. We need to expand energy sovereignty, small-scale production, and energy storage solutions. Whether from solar, wind, or small-scale hydro, Montana long been at the energy forefront. We need to build on our track record to increase reliability and reduce energy costs for all Montanans.
From Troy to Ekalaka, there are smart and fair ways to address our challenges with precisely targeted investments, equitable access policies for essential services, and sustainable solutions.
public lands
Expanded recreational access
Tribal collaboration
Sustainable land management
We need to protect the natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and sensitive habitats within public lands. This involves establishing and maintaining protected areas, national parks, and wildlife refuges to safeguard the environment for future generations.
Most of us recognize the urgent need to address climate change. Energy infrastructure projects can accomplish a lot. We must also invest in carbon sequestration, reforestation, and sustainable land management.
The right of public access to public lands is a hallmark of Montana. Outdoor tourism is a multi-billion dollar economic driver and major job source for our great state. We should be investing in infrastructure, visitor services, and educational programs, to nurture and grow this economic engine. We should also be expanding opportunities for outdoor recreation while ensuring equitable access for all, regardless of income or background.
Recognizing and respecting the sovereign rights of Indigenous peoples is vital to healthy government. This involves collaborating with Indigenous communities on land management, tribal lands restoration, and implementing traditional ecological knowledge. Supporting Indigenous-led conservation efforts and recognizing the historical and cultural significance of public lands is crucial.
I commit to promoting sustainable land use practices, including responsible grazing, forestry, agriculture, hunting and recreation. We must prioritize soil health, water conservation, and biodiversity. We must involve local communities, environmental experts and organizations, Indigenous groups, and industry stakeholders in transparent, accountable, science-based decision-making. Investing in innovative approaches to sustainable land management can lead to healthier ecosystems and vibrant rural economies.
ABORTION IS HEALTHCARE.
It’s 2024.
We shouldn’t still be fighting this fight we won in 1972. JFC
ON THE ISSUES.
second amendment
I am a gun owner, do not try to take my gun
Safe storage
Responsible ownership and manufacturing
No, I don’t want to take your guns. Yes, I have my own.
Montanans value our Second Amendment rights, and that’s not something I’m looking to change. We need a balanced approach to this debate, with solutions that reflect our Montana values and encourage other states to learn from us.
I support incentivizing hunter and firearm safety to instill Americans with common sense behavior grounded in a healthy respect for guns. I will work to encourage safe storage practices so guns stay out of the hands of dangerous criminals, and away from our innocent children. I will work for accountability measures that enable gun owners, dealers, and manufacturers to take responsibility for their part in keeping guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them and to reward the responsible majority who already do.
In short, I support infusing the rest of our nation with a dose of Montana’s gun sense.
live & Let live
To repeat: “live, and let live”
Build up everyone, not just your own
We are all Montanans, let’s act like it
“Know thy neighbor. Let them be.”
Montanans are as famous for waving at everyone we see on back roads as we are for minding our own business.
This past legislative cycle we saw the bigots and jerks manhandle the laws to attack a small community spread across Montana with horrible lies and ridiculous meanness. It was the worst of what happens when those who hate have the power to hurt those who cannot fight back. That’s not what Montana is about, and there are so many more fair-minded Montanans who, at the end of the day, would rather build up the state for all than pick on the few and different. I’m not friendly with everyone, but I know that they have the right to be here too. Respect given is respect earned.
I’ll protect every Montanan with my own life, unless they are attacking me. And that’s pretty much the Montana way, isn’t it?
workers & unions
Which should be a duplicative statement. Workers need solidarity so that their labor doesn’t become stolen and hoarded wealth by billionaires. Unions are the best way to do this, and every benefit we enjoy today, from safe working spaces, to weekends, to eight-hour days were hard fought battles that the Unions lead. And won.
Lately we’ve seen push back, against a livable wage, against safety at work, and against stopping child labor. We need strong unions again, and supporting them is my commitment to every Montanan. Unions started here, and we can build and regrow them here, too.
the future with coal & gas
There’s no question that Montana’s fossil fuel industries and the communities that keep them alive have value and I believe in supporting those communities at all costs — even as the global demand for fossil fuels changes. Diversifying industry in Central and Eastern Montana should be a priority for any leader who agrees, but for too long, Republican leaders have denied us that opportunity.
It’s strange, because those same leaders aren’t denying themselves a diversified portfolio. Many of the GOP’s loudest voices against investment in diverse energy industries have followed the lead of corporations like ExxonMobil in taking advantage of the growth in all of them; why are the hardworking communities of Montana denied that same opportunity to invest in a future that will survive anything the free market and changing demand can throw at us?
It’s time to tell it like it is: Republican leadership doesn’t care about the communities they rely on for our votes. They don’t live here, they don’t know us, and they wouldn’t hesitate to let our communities burn to the ground if it meant they could harness the heat and pick our pockets when it’s over.
We need leaders who have no financial incentive to keep our communities dependent on limited industrial opportunities. I’m one of them.