Dem statewide office candidates speak in Havre

A number of statewide candidates spoke Sunday at the 2019 Pasma-Peck Democratic Dinner held by the Hill County Democratic Party, discussing their campaigns and their goals if elected.

After Montana Attorney General Tim Fox announced his candidacy for governor, a number of candidates from both the Republican and Democratic parties have announced their candidacy for the office.

Republicans Jon Bennion, a senior staff member in the attorney general’s office, and Austin Knudsen, former state house speaker, are running in the Republican primary, while Democrats Rep. Kim Dudik, D-Missoula, and Ralph Graybill, the governor’s chief legal counsel, have announced their candidacy.

Graybill and Dudik both spoke at the Pasma-Peck dinner.

Graybill said that the reason he is running for office is because he cares about his community and Montana. He added that he was born in Great Falls and later moved to Helena with his wife and child to work for Montana Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, who is campaigning for U.S. president. Graybill is Bullock’s chief legal council, and said his job is to resolve legal issues in the governor’s office.

Graybill added that the attorney general’s office has been failing, and is not protecting the state’s constitution, but rather serving special interest groups, saying a recent case in the U.S. Supreme Court is clear proof of the problem.

In the case, an out-of-state activist group is attempting to take state tax dollars to provide funding for private religious schools, Graybill said. He said Montana’s constitution prohibits that, but the attorney general’s office didn’t take action on the case with the case now falling to governor’s office.

“The attorney general’s number one job is to defend our constitution,” he added.

He gave another examples of the attorney general’s office failing to address important issues, including another case, which he characterized as the attorney general’s office attempting to shut of public access to public lands.

The State Land Board had voted against a conservation easement, with three Republicans voting to delay the acquisition and Bullock and Fox voting for it.

Bullock then had the state acquire the easement without the Land Board’s approval.

Senate President Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, asked Fox to issue an opinion on whether the state could acquire easements without approval of the Land Board, and Fox said in his opinion the state could not.

The state Supreme Court later ruled against Fox’s legal opinion, saying the state could acquire easements without the board’s approval.

“It’s important that we win this race — because we can win this race — because all of you deserve an attorney general who works for us again,” he said.

Dudik said she has served as a state representative from Missoula for the past eight years, adding that during her time in the Legislature one of her biggest accomplishments was legislation for criminal justice reform. She said that she and other legislators were able to reform the public defender system for the state. 

Before she served in the state Legislature, she said, she served as a deputy county attorney for Bozeman and served as an assistant attorney general while Bullock was state attorney general.

“Experience matters,” she said, adding that she has a proven record of getting things done.

She said she also helped pass a bill to establish the Holistic Defense Program, which passed the Legislature with nearly 100 percent support. She added that she also worked to get the statute of limitations removed for child sex crimes, allowing people who have sexually abused children to be prosecuted in perpetuity.

The attorney general’s office does some work with tribes but has no official tribal affairs office, she said. She added that the attorney general’s office needs to further look into crimes that happen on reservations. From her time working in the child protection system, she said, she is aware of the high crime rate experienced on the reservations, where, in addition to drug crimes, children are more likely to suffer from violence and sexual abuse. She added that women on reservations are also more likely to suffer from sexual violence, Native American women are 10 times more likely to be murdered than non-Native women.

“This issue in our state has been ignored for too long,” she said.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen, R-Billings, is running for re-election against challenger Democratic Melissa Romano, a Helena teacher.

Romano, who lost the race to Arntzen in 2016, spoke Sunday in Havre about her campaign

Romano said that she is first and foremost a mother and a wife as well as a proud Montana public school teacher. She added that she is not a politician, but she is a very experienced and accomplished teacher who knows the educational system. 

“We deserve and need a leader in the office of public instruction to work and protect public education in the state,” she said.

She added that the state needs someone who is a strong advocate for children, not just in grade school but through college, especially on the legislative level. Public education is a critical part of the future of the state and children deserve to be invested in. Public education and the state deserve someone who is capable of leading and understands the day to day challenges communities face. 

Education is a life passion, she said, and she believes it is possible to create a system where fewer students fall through the cracks and instead go on to live positive lives. If elected, she said, she would wake up every day with the mission to assure every student is given the resources they need to learn, from preschool to college.

She added that the office of superintendent of public instruction also has a position on the land board, and if elected she would also work to assure Montana’s public lands are safe and secure for future generations to enjoy.

After Secretary of State Corey Stapleton, R-Mont., announced his candidacy for U.S. House, Republicans Senate President Sales, Rep. Forrest Mandeville, R-Columbus, and Christi Jacobsen, chief of staff for Secretary of State Stapleton, are campaigning for the office.

Sen. Bryce Bennett, D-Missoula is the sole Democrat running for the seat and spoke at the Pasma-Peck dinner Sunday.

He said he is running for the office of secretary of state because he is committed to democracy and believes that the democratic system should be protected. He said his mother is originally from Chinook and, although he was born in Billings, he has spent a large amount of his life on the Hi-Line. He added that the secretary of state’s number one job is to assure people are able to vote and their basic rights are protected.

“I am running for secretary of state because I believe our democracy is worth it,” he said.

He added that Stapleton has failed in his leadership in the office and a change needs to happen. A secretary of state should fight for every Montanan, not just special interest groups, he said, adding that the office should fight against dark money and make sure the state’s elections are secure and accountable to the people. The office also should work to protect public lands and the basic rights every Montanan has, he said.

“People often forget about this race, but it is an important office,” he said.

After State Auditor Matt Rosendale announced his candidacy for U.S. House, Republicans Troy Downing, a military veteran living in Big Sky, and Billings communications manager Nelly Nicol along with Rep. Shane Morigeau, D-Missoula, announced they are campaigning for the vacant seat.

Morigeau said at the Pasma-Peck dinner that he is running for the office because he wants to see a change. He began his career as a lobbyist focusing on Medicaid expansion, which, he said, has helped him focus his goals on producing a health care plan that works for all Montanans.

Morigeau said that in his home town the cost of health insurance can be the difference between putting food on the table and having to figure out alternative ways to feed one’s family, calling it life-or-limb health care.

Morigeau said he grew up on the Flathead Reservation and is a member of the Consolidated Salish-Kootenai Tribes. He said he is proud of where he grew up and he is running because no one, no matter who they are or where they live, should struggle for insurance or be taken advantage of because of the insurance they have. 

“I think that’s unacceptable — people are going bankrupt because they can’t pay for health insurance or care,” he said.

Every Montanan has a right to live in Montana and enjoy everything Montana has to offer, but people with inadequate insurance are not given that ability, he said. All of Montana should have access to health care, and the state should be working to find ways to hold insurance companies accountable.

The office needs to be put back to where the state needs it to be and serve its original purpose, to protect the people, he said.