Cooney keynotes Hill County Democratic office opening

Montana's lieutenant governor was in Havre Monday for the grand opening of a Democrat campaign office and to tout the Democratic candidates up for election this year.

The Hill County Democratic Central Committee hosted the opening of the Democratic regional field office in Havre at 5 p.m, where Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney and candidates spoke to the people who were in attendance, with organizers reporting 62 came to the event.

The Montana Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and the Hill County Democratic Central Committee opened the regional field office at 417 1st Street in Havre and Monday had a grand opening event with food and drinks for the community.

The Hill County Republican Central Committee has not yet set a grand opening for its headquarters.

Cooney said that he was so thrilled to be in Havre and thanked everyone who had come out.

"This is just the beginning," Cooney said. "Today, I want everyone to say to themselves, 'This is the first day of the next election.' We are going to do everything that we can to get good Democrats elected."

Cooney said that the Democrats have many great candidates this year and that it is important to keep the local candidates in mind for the election.

"These folks tend to get lost in the excitement of these big races," Cooney said. "We cannot afford to let that happen."

He said he and Gov. Steve Bullock had many discussions and the governor is very concerned about what will happen if changes don't happen in the Legislature. Cooney said that Bullock has not been afraid to fight bad legislation and that if two more seats in the Legislature are lost "there won't be a way to fight them."

"Elections are not won by these candidates ... elections are won by each of you," Cooney said. "You need to commit yourself to make sure you talk to all of your friends, and we need to start tonight. Every day talk to somebody new and let them know why it is important that they vote for these people."

"We can't outspend the Republicans," he added. "They will out spend us, they have way more money than us, but we have never depended on outspending the Republicans. We've always beat them by outworking them."

"We say that the upcoming election is the most important election, but it is probably true," Cooney added. "This is Gov. Bullocks final legislative session as governor. He is not ready to just get out of office quietly. ... To him, this is not the swan song. This is where he wants to begin to make sure that when he leaves office, he and I, have left Montana in better shape that what we were handed. We need a Legislature willing to work with us to get us there."

Paul Tuss, Democratic candidate for the state Senate, said that the party has never had a building like this or a crowd like this.

Tuss, who is facing incumbent Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, in the general election, added that he didn't want this to be the only time people are welcomed to the field office because the party needs good volunteers to make sure people are getting to the polls.

"All of this is representative of what is happening in this country," Tuss said. "You can feel it; I can feel it in this room; I know that you can, too. What's happening in this country and what's happening in the state, people have had enough."

"What people want isn't crazy things," Tuss added. "When I knock on doors, what people are telling me what they want is quality schools, they want to protect (Montana State University-Northern), they want infrastructure that works, they want to make sure the rural hospitals remain open. What's crazy about that? Unfortunately the majority party of the Legislature for seven sessions now have made those issues partisan."

Tuss continued that this Senate seat was once U.S. Sen. Jon Tester's seat in the state Senate, and that the party needs to take it back for the Democrats. He added that he was confident that the party was going to win and, with the help from the community, strive to make a change.

Doug Kaercher spoke on his campaign for the Public Service Commission seat.

Kaercher said that one of the main reasons that he decided to campaign for the PSC seat was that he was unhappy with what happened last October in Havre, when Havre experienced a large amount of snow that damaged many power lines and took down many trees. Kaercher said that it was not handled by the PSC properly and that he wanted to thank NorthWestern Energy for the company's hard work during that time.

"I am a certified mediator and I tend to run a little bit more on the consensus basis and I like to be a collaborator," Kaercher said. "I want to make sure that when we go out there we go looking for the best rates for the consumers, we do it on a fair and affordable basis."

Kaercher, who faces Republican Randy Pinocci of Sun River in the general election, also added that he and his opponent are two completely different people, and he needed everyone's support, as do the other candidates.

Dan Nelson of Fort Benton, candidate for House District 27, said that he has always felt more independent until recently. Current events have him siding more with the Democratic party in the past year, he said, He said that he had no plan to run for the seat until meeting Tuss when he was campaigning through Fort Benton and was inspired to run for office.

Nelson, who is facing fellow Fort Benton resident Republican Joshua Kassmier in the general election, said he was born during World War II and he comes from a construction family background. He has lived all over the state and worked as a teacher and a school administrator for most of his career. Given his background, Nelson said, he feels that he has a good understanding of rural Montana and the middle class.

Nelson added that 1 percent of the United States have the wealth of 40 percent of the nation, which is the highest divide world-wide. In recent years, he said, there has been more of a divide between the rich and the poor with the middle class slowly disappearing. Nelson said he hopes to promote the middle class in Montana and help promote rural parts of the state.

Rep. Jacob Bachmeier, D-Havre, who faces challengers Libertarian Conor Burns and independent Bob Sivertsen in the general election for the seat in House District 28, said he wanted to thank everyone for their support and future support for the candidates, as well as the The Montana Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee for helping with establishing the regional office.

Bachmeier said that this election will be won by the volunteers, and through hard work, great staff and great volunteers the Democrats are sure to win the elections.

"This is a great year for Democrats," Bachmeier added.