Morigeau, Winsor face off in Democratic primary for auditor: Shane Morigeau

Rep. Shane Morigeau of Missoula is facing Auditor's Office attorney Mike Winsor in the Democratic primary race to take the place of Auditor Matt Rosendale.

"I just so believe Montana wants candidates that are actually from our communities and went through the issues that we are wanting to change and address," Morigeau said. "I grew up in a small town, Ronan, Montana, in a family of modest means, I would say a pretty low-income family, and I think it is a desire for me to want to advocate and fight for others that are often in a position where they can't."

First-term Auditor Rosendale is running in the Republican primary race for the U.S. House.

Morigeau said the auditor's office is one of the most important offices that people don't know enough about or talk about.

The office has a direct impact on a person's health, he said, their ability to access health care.

"This is an opportunity to ensure everyone in Montana has the ability to access health care and that health care is a fair and meaningful coverage that they are getting," Morigeau said. "... I don't want people to settle for less. I grew up in a place where people oftentimes they just throw up their hands and they give up."

He said he spoke with some senior citizens last Monday who are struggling with numerous issues like coverage and billing for some pharmaceuticals they needed, adding that he thinks that is what it is all about - helping people in Montana, finding ways to insure people have health care.

"If people don't have the ability to access quality health care and they're one instance away from bankruptcy or they don't have health care at all, they don't have an opportunity to be on a level-playing field," he said. "That's what I see this office doing, I see it being an opportunity to step up for people in the state of Montana, I see it as an opportunity for me, someone who grew up in a community knowing what that looks like, feels like, knowing how serious that is and making sure that people understand I know that a few bucks in your pocket can make a big difference for your family. That's one of the main reasons I'm running for this office."

What makes him the best candidate, Morigeau said, is he has well-rounded background of experience.

He said he has been an attorney for almost a decade, done transactional work, civil litigation, insurance, criminal law, health care policy and more.

He just won his first federal case the week of April 19, he added.

"I think that gives me the skills to really step in and lead a real serious charge in the office, especially with the legal side, going after fraudulent investors, fraudulent insurers," Morigeau said. "... I believe I have a proven track record as well. I've shown that not only do I have experience, but I have proven that I can get stuff done."

He said he would ramp up the investigative side of insurance if elected and go after bad actors as well as provide training across the state on fraud, financial management and making sure people know what their rights are as an insurer, adding that he doesn't think the current office is doing enough.

The state auditor is a member of the land board and, he said, he will always step up to protect public lands as he grew up fishing and hunting.

"The state land board in my mind, really needs to take that into consideration, that this is what people live here for, this what people come here for, and making people have opportunities to recreate, hunt and fish, never selling our public lands off is really important to me, making sure people have clean water and the opportunity to fish in clean streams, rivers and to recreate in properties that are clean and don't contributing to the detriment to the environment," Morigeau said.

In the office, he said, he would like to see changes in health care cost sharing, rate increases, investigations and so on. 

"We need to able to make sure this office is beefed up and doing the critical and important work that it was set out to do," he said. "... Something that I just think is lacking is the proactive efforts of the office - getting out and providing financial management training for people so that they can manage their money better in the state."

This office needs to provide more transparency, he added, on how rates are set and for people to have a better understanding of what they're paying for.

He said one of the biggest things he hears from people is that they are not receiving enough clarity and transparency in their costs.

Rosendale brought back the Christian health sharing ministry plan Medi-Share to Montana after it had been removed from the state for more than 10 years over questions of whether it was truly insurance and if it selectively refuses to pay for some treatments, with the Montana Supreme Court ruling it was selling insurance without registering with the state.

Rosendale said the company had restructured and does not qualify as insurance and can again operate in Montana.

Morigeau said that can cause problems.

"If we have programs like that floating under the radar without any regulation we are setting people up for failure," he said. 

Morigeau said he is not supportive of efforts to repeal or severely restrict the Affordable Care Act. He said structure has been found in the program over the years to where people can access it, which was also the purpose of it.

He added that something he will always fight for is people with pre-existing conditions.

"The way the Affordable Care Act is working right now, I think we are getting to a place where people are able to have insurance and are able to access it, (it) is something we cannot take it off the table," Morigeau said. "Do I think there are improvements that need to be made? Do I continue to hear that people and their costs are too much for them? Yes I do, and I do think we have to take those concerns seriously. I don't know what the forthcoming health care (reforms) are going to be, if any, but I do know that people continue to share concerns about the cost that they are paying.

"... I don't know what the forecast is with Congress, but no matter what happens this office if it's under the guise of my oversight I am going to do everything that I can to make sure that we're protecting those with pre-existing conditions and that I am doing everything to continue to make sure the rates are hopefully going down or holding them as low as possible, and not allow them to continue to go up," Morigeau added.

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Born Sept. 1, 1984, raised in Ronan on the Flathead Reservation.

B.S. in resource conservation, University of Montana College of Forestry and Conservation, 2007; Juris Doctorate and Indian Law Certificate, UM School of Law, 2010; Master of Law, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, Tucson, Ariz., 2011.

Prosecutor, 2011-2013, and attorney, 2013-presen, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

State representive 2016-present, served as minority whip.