Curtis stumps in Havre

North-central Montana Democrats heard from a recent addition to a U.S. Senate race as high school mathematics teacher, Montana Rep. Amanda Curtis, D-Butte, told them why she should go to Washington rather than U.S. Rep. Steve Daines.

"I come from a family that is a lot different than Congressman Daines's purports to be ... from what it looks like in the commercials, mine is a lot different than that and is a lot like Montana families across the state," she said. "We often drove a car that we spent more time working on than we did driving, and struggled to make ends meet.

"I think that's something that Montanans can really relate to, and that's why I was willing to step up to the plate, is I'm ready to have not more of the same but actually one of us in Washington, D.C.," she said to applause from the 20-plus people at the 8:30 a.m. event in the Atrium Mall.

The Montana Democrats Aug. 16 selected Curtis to run against Daines in the race to fill the seat vacated by six-term Democrat Max Baucus. Baucus resigned to become U.S. ambassador to China. Baucus announced in March 2013 he would not run for a seventh term.

U.S. Sen. John Walsh, D-Mont ,. who was appointed to fill Baucus' spot, dropped out of the race amidst allegations he had plagiarized a research paper at the U.S. Army War College while studying for his master's degree.

Curtis said she is traveling all over the state trying to meet all of its more than 1 million residents before the election.

"I'm running because Montanans deserve more," she said. "Montanans deserve someone who supports working class families and small businesses, not millionaires who give tax breaks to their billionaire buddies."

She outlined her business plan she recently unrolled as what she would work for if elected to Congress.

"A math teacher from Butte knows how to kick Montana's economy into gear," she said. "It's not a slogan that you can put on a bumper sticker or a campaign sign. It's a real plan that will help real Montana families."

Curtis read a synopsis of her plan, including support for raising the minimum wage and equal pay legislation to ensure women are not paid less than men, which garnered enthusiastic applause.

Other points in her plan included investing in small businesses by cutting taxes and streamlining the process to apply for capital, as well as closing corporate tax loopholes and putting in place incentives for businesses to keep - or bring back - jobs to the United States.

Another point was encouraging businesses hiring unemployed military veterans. Thousands of veterans are without work in Montana, she said.

"That's not OK," Curtis said.