Candidate Hess: No party has quarter on compassion

A familiar face at Hill County Republican events and during elections introduced herself to the Havre Pachyderm Club Friday in a new role: as a candidate for the state Legislature.

Stephanie Hess, who has worked as a social worker at Northern Montana Health Care's Long Term Care Center for the last five years, said one of two questions she is commonly asked is, why is she running for the house? Why does she want to put herself through that?

"I really dont feel like that, but I get why people say that," she said. "And it's really simple. I want to run because I love Montana. This community is an awesome community. ...

"But it's simple, that I just want to serve," she added. "I think a legislator's job is to be a servant, and that would be the attitude I would be bringing to it."

She added that people seem to be concerned that a social worker is running as a Republican.

"It just makes me smile, because there are a lot of conservatives in social work. There are a lot of us out there ... ," she said. "They assume that because I'm a social worker, I am for big government, and it isn't true.

"I just have to smile and say that no political party has the quarter on compassion," Hess said.

Hess is the sole candidate to file as of this morning for House District 28, a new district drawn after the last session essentially comprises the city of Havre.

She said that is the first question she is asked - is she running in the district of Rep. Wendy Warburton, R-Chinook, or Rep. Kris Hansen, R-Havre.

"The answer is, both and neither," Hess said.

The new district includes the part of Havre that used to be in Warburton's district, which went from eastern Hill County through the northern part of Blaine County, and the part of Havre that was in Hansen's district, which included western Hill County.

The other new house district is a massive district stretching from the Canadian border in Hill and Liberty counties south through Chouteau County into the northeastern corner of Cascade County, outside of Great Falls.

Warburton has not filed for election as yet, in the new House district running from eastern Hill County to Phillips. Incumbent Rep. Mike Lang, R-Malta, has filed for re-election in that district.

Rep. Roy Hollandsworth, R-Brady, has filed for re-election in the new House district that runs from Cascade County through Hill and Liberty counties.

Clarena Brockie running unopposed for re-election as a Democrat in the House district from Hill County through Phillips County - in each district.

As of this morning, none of those house races are contested. The only contested race is the new Senate District 14.

Hansen has filed as a candidate in that district, which includes Havre and Hill, Liberty and Chouteau counties, as has Sen. Greg Jergeson, D-Havre. Redistricting kept Jergeson from running for re-election in the district including Lang's House district.

"Kris, Rep. Hansen, and that other guy, that's running for the Senate seat. ... It's huge," Hess said. "It's a huge district."

Hess said she has some experience in politics, including working in the elections department at the Montana Secretary of State's office, heading a get-out-the-vote drive for the GOP in Bozeman, and working as an aide to the Montana Senate president and the Senate minority leader in separate sessions.

She said working as a legislative aide taught her a lot, with the top lesson that no one is an expert on everything. A legislator's job is to make the best possible vote using information from experts and from their constituents, Hess said.

"It's a mark of a good legislator to say, 'I don't know,'" she said.

Hess said she is not running on any particular issue, but some are weighing heavily on people's hearts and minds and she is sure they will come up in the next session.

One is privacy rights, she said. People's information is private and should not be accessed and stored and used without permission.

"We have to find a balance between security and personal privacy, and I think we can do that," Hess said. "And there are some things I think we can do as a state to protect people's privacy."

She said another is the health care reform act, commonly called Obamacare.

"I don't think we've even come close to finding out the complete impact of that on our economy, on our health care system, on our own personal finances," Hess said. "That, of course, is weighing on people's hearts and minds."