Republicans face off in Senate District 14 - Tempel

State Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, hopes to be on the ballot this November in the race to represent Senate District 14, but he will first need to fend off a challenge in the Republican primary.

Tempel, a retired farmer and custom harvester, faces Brad Lotton of Havre in the June 5 Republican primary. The winner will take on Democrat and Bear Paw Development Corp. Executive Director Paul Tuss of Havre in the general election.

District 14 extends from the Canadian border in Liberty County down to just above Great Falls across into hill County to just east of Havre.

Tempel was selected in December 2016 by the county commissions in the Senate district to fill the seat after state Sen. Kris Hansen, R-Havre, resigned from the Senate to move to Helena and accept the job of chief legal counsel to Montana Auditor Matthew Rosendale.

The names of Lotton and Darrold Hutchinson, a farmer and aviator from north of Hingham, were also submitted to the commissioners by the Cascade, Chouteau and Hill County Republican central committees.

Tempel said he promised the central committees before they submitted his name to the commissioners that he would run for a full-term in 2018. He said that he is running to keep that promise and because he likes the work.  

A member of the Senate's Education Interim Committee and the Senate Education and Cultural Resources Committee, Tempel said if elected he wants to work to address the shortage of teachers in rural school districts and make college more affordable for students.

A former three-term Liberty County Commissioner, Tempel said his time in elected office, where he worked on a range of issues, and his ability to communicate with different groups of people, is experience that is useful to him in the Senate.

Less-than-expected tax revenue and a historically bad fire season led to a budget shortfall that was the top issue during the 2017 legislative session. Lawmakers made cuts to state agencies to balance the state budget, first during the regular legislative session and then again during a special session in October.

Tempel said state lawmakers should look at slowing the rate of the state government's growth rather than looking at how to generate new revenue.

Montana's Medicaid expansion is set to sunset next year unless the Legislature votes in the next legislative session to keep the expansion in place.

Tempel said he thinks lawmakers should vote to keep the expansion in place because people who are on it need the help, but that it should be "tweaked" so it is more affordable for the state. He said it is a complicated issue and lawmakers are trying to figure out what needs to be changed.

Bonding to pay for infrastructure projects is something Tempel said he supports.

Lawmakers have fallen short of the two-thirds of votes in favor bonding needed in each house of the Legislature needed to move forward with an infrastructure bill that includes bonding.

Tempel said infrastructure projects can be completed cheaper and quicker through bonding.

He said that when he was on the Liberty County Commission, the county spent 10 years trying to save enough money to build the Liberty County Senior and Community Center.

Inflation rose during that time and increased the overall cost of the project.

The project could have been done quicker and for less money if the county bonded it, Tempel said. He added that the same is true for infrastructure projects across the state.

Tempel said he does not support any transfers of federal land within Montana to state or private ownership.

The federal government has managed land for years and though it may not be perfect, the existing system works pretty well, Tempel said.

Voters will decide this November whether to continue a 6 mill levy that for decades has helped fund the Montana University system. Tempel voted for Senate Bill 85 to put the mill levy on the ballot in November.

Tempel said he supports the levy because it will be helpful to funding the university system, he said.

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Russ Tempel, Chester, Republican candidate for Senate District 14

Born: May 26, 1947, Havre

Education: Graduated from Joplin High School, 1966, Associates of Science in agricultural business, Northern Montana College, 1979

Work history: Former farmer, former custom harvester

Family: Married to Judy Tempel, four grown children

Political experience: Liberty County Commissioner, 1989-2016. Appointed to Montana Senate District 14 2017-present