Democratic congressional candidate Quist stumps in Havre

Democratic congressional candidate Rob Quist was in Havre Friday where he took questions and threw barbs at his Republican opponent during a campaign stop at the Atrium Mall.

During his brief remarks, Quist poked fun at some of the TV ads that have been aired against him. He said his favorite was one that described him as "out of tune" with Montana.

"My response is I will meet him (Greg Gianforte) anytime and any place, let him choose the instrument of his choice and we will see who is out of tune in Montana," Quist said,  

Quist Campaign Field Director Amanda Frickle said the event was an organizing meeting to mobilize volunteers. Some in the audience later made calls on behalf of the campaign at the end of the event.

Quist also later attended a campaign fundraiser at the home of Wayne Koepke and Renelle Bratton.

A poet and musician turned politician, Quist will face 2016 Republican gubernatorial candidate Gianforte and Libertarian Mark Wicks, a rancher from Inverness, in the May 25 special election to fill Montana's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The seat was vacated earlier this month when Ryan Zinke resigned to become U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

In the campaign, Quist said, people need to remember two phrases: consider the source and follow the money.

Since he captured the Democratic party's nomination earlier this month, Republicans have sought to paint Quist as out of sync with Montana. In ads and press releases, the Gianforte campaign and their allies have said Quist supports a national registry for guns.

"I'm a product of the farming and ranching community and, of course it is not about gun control, it is about gun safety, and that is what we learn from a very early age," Quist said. He added that he has hunted and owns several guns "older than the number of years Greg Gianforte has been in the state."

Barb Jergeson, who was in the audience, asked Quist about his thoughts on the American Health Care Act, known by some as Trumpcare, as well as health care in general.

Quist said the bill was "horrendous" and would negatively impact rural hospitals. Though the Affordable Care Act has flaws, Quist said, it could be improved by taking action to reduce prescription drug prices and increase transparency in health care costs.

He added that he has had to deal with medical bills in the past.

The Associated Press reported March 21 Quist had three tax liens filed against him for about $15,000 that Quist's campaign said stemmed from long standing medical issues. The story said Quist settled the tax liens with the Department of Revenue last May.

Quist said that, though Republicans have tried to make the issue a liability, Quist believes it is a strength because it shows he has coped with  some of the same financial hardships other Montanans have.

Retired union member Dave Brewer asked about Quist's stand on unions.

Quist touted his membership in several musicians unions as well as endorsements his campaign has received from the AFL-CIO and the MEA-MFT.

"I think one of the reasons the middle class in this country is disappearing is because of the hits that the unions have been taking," Quist said.

He added that when he was younger, wealth was much more evenly distributed across classes. Quist said that he always made sure his musicians and tech support were paid well because they needed to make a living, too.

Though he said that he did not advocate doing so, Quist said that when he was growing up in the 1950s, the "super wealthy" were taxed at a rate of 90 percent,  

"And what happened was instead of piling up all this wealth, they realized it was going to be taxed so they would reinvest it into the country, and I think that is what really caused the boom that happened," Quist said.

The issue of funding for arts education was raised by Lindsey Ratliff, a history and art teacher at Havre High School, who asked what Quist would do to promote arts education in the face of large budget cuts.

A past Board member of the Montana Arts Council, Quist said Ratliff was "probably looking at the biggest advocate of arts education that will be in Congress."

Students who have an arts education do better in everything from math to public speaking, Quist said.

"It impacts their lives in every other way," he said.

Quist said he started a songwriting seminar and he takes the program to different schools to encourage creativity among students,

In his proposed budget, Trump proposes doing away with funding to the National Endowment for the Arts, something Quist said he will fight against.

"I will be a huge advocate for arts education. You can count on that," he said.