Dooling lists in Havre some of his priorities in House race

U.S. congressional candidate, farmer, rancher and former Lewis and Clark County Republican Central Committee Chair Joe Dooling held a meet and greet Thursday at Triple Dog Brewing Co. to talk to people about issues facing the country.

"(I will be) a steady hand for Montana," Dooling said in an interview. "Somebody who understands Montana's biggest industry needs to be at the helm."

Dooling is facing off against Republicans Secretary of State Corey Stapleton, State Auditor Matt Rosendale, former state Repblican Party chair Debra Lamm and Corvallis Public Schools Superintendent Tim Johnson in the Republican primary.

Dooling he is a third-generation Montanan, growing up in Dillion, graduating from Beaverhead County High School and attending Montana State University, where he earned an agricultural business degree. In 1999, Dooling moved to Helena and worked as a hired hand before starting his own ranch, which he runs with his wife, state Rep. Julie Dooling, R-Helena. He added that he was the Lewis and Clark County GOP chair for 14 years.

He also worked in marketing development for the engineering firm which worked on the Rocky Boy's/North Central Regional Water System that will supply water to the reservation and 22 communities and water districts in seven counties in the north-central Montana area, including Havre.

The fundraiser Thursday was organized by local residents Tyler Smith and Shaud Shwarzback, Dooling said.

Dooling said that he decided to run for Congress shortly after Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., announced his campaign for governor. Dooling said he was upset by the fact that a number of congression-al candidates leave the office shortly after they are elected to pursue other government offices or become lobbyists. He added that Montana has had five different representatives in the past 10 years.

"This doesn't make any sense because Congress is a body that leadership matters, seniority matters, and if we start sending a freshman every two years to start over again, Montana loses its voice in the House," he said.

U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., was elected in 2000 but left that seat in a failed Senate bid in 2012.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., won the House seat in 2012 to take Rehberg's place but left that seat in a successful Senate race in 2014.

Former state Sen. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, won the 2014 race to take Daines' place, but resigned when President Donald Trump appointed him secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Gianforte won a special election in 2017 to take Zinke's place and was re-elected in 2018. He will forgo re-election to the House next year, announcing his candidacy for Montana governor.

As a Republican chairman in a larger county, Dooling said, he understands recruiting candidates and the importance of raising money for campaigns, but once someone is elected into office they should stay in the office. He added that incumbents tend to win their bids for re-election 90 percent of the time in Montana. Montanans have put people into office to serve in those offices, he said.

He said that he doesn't want to be governor or a senator, once he is done serving as a representative he is done in politics and will resume being a full-time rancher and farmer.

"That's how I believe our forefathers wanted the House of Representatives to be, one where people took time from their lives to do public service and then go back and live with the laws they passed," he said.

He added that Representatives need to be everyday people, not millionaire lobbyists and not career politicians.

Montana is also facing a number of big issues, Dooling said. As a member of the state Farm Service Agency committee, he said, he saw the farm crisis growing eight years ago. He said that since the market's peak in 2010, a number of things have hurt the market prices, such as overproduction and adverse weather conditions. He added that the issue will eventually have to be dealt with by Congress.

It is important, when Congress addresses the issue, Montana has someone who understands production agriculture and producers' needs, he said. He added that he is the only Republican candidate on the ticket who is an active farmer and rancher.

The worst part is producers cannot see a light at the end of the tunnel, Dooling said. Something has to change, he said. Prices are at a low and farm or ranch bankruptcies are up 30 to 40 percent, he added.

The trade war has also had a negative effect for producers, he said, and has put many producers over the edge. The trade war has no end in sight, he said, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is preventing progress with trade agreements.

The federal government is working on getting producers some relief, but the relief program has many contingencies and is created by people who do not understand production agriculture and leave out half of the industries, he said.

Another large problem Montana is also facing is a deterioration of infrastructure, Dooling said. He said the beautiful thing about the United States is that all people are equal, but not having adequate infrastructure in more rural areas like Montana puts the state at a distinct disadvantage. 

"We live in Montana so that people can live in cities," Dooling said. "If we don't bring them their food, if we don't bring them their minerals, they can't live there.

"People talk about freedom," Dooling said, "... to me freedom is being able to drive over a bridge knowing that the thing's going to hold up, with my semi full of grain or cattle or whatever."

He said the St. Mary Diversion that supplies much of the water in the Milk River each year is also of critical importance to Montana. The system needs to be rehabilitated and Congress needs to make it a priority to make repairs to the water system.

"These are things that we need to commit to, we need people to fight for," Dooling said.