Williams, Winter face off in Democratic U.S. House primary: Tom Winter

State Rep. Tom Winter of Missoula and former state Rep. Kathleen Williams of Bozeman, are facing off in the Democratic primary to advance to the general election for a seat in the U.S. House.

"(I am running) because what I saw in the state Legislature, because now that I've been involved in state government, that so many of the problems that face specifically rural Montanans are because our federal government doesn't have anyone speaking for rural voices and for the Montana experience on a national level," Winter said. 

He said he got involved in politics because of health care and wanted Medicaid expansion to pass.

"I fought like hell to win a seat in a district that was held by a Republican, and voted for President Trump plus-11 points, and wanted to vote against Medicaid expansion, and instead I was there to vote for it, I shepherded that through, and I want to be in the U.S. House to shepherd through health care for all because every Montanan deserves health care, because they are humans and every person deserves it and it is a right. It doesn't matter if you live in Bozeman, doesn't matter if you live in Havre," he said.

The government has to serve the people, he said, and whenever he looks at a policy to support or something that is going to be talked about or something needing to be led on - will this policy or will this action help and will it center politics on working families in Montana, and if it does he supports it and if it does not he does not.

"Another reason, I believe I'm qualified, but also a good candidate here, is we've been leading from the beginning and that's in the primary and in the general," Winter said.

He said he has a comprehensive platform out and revises it as needed, bringing in people with expertise and learned-life experience for advisement, because government truly is about coalition-building and bringing in people with knowledge that can change policy for the better.

He said the federal government has not handled the response of COVID-19 well.

The United States is the strongest nation on Earth, he said, adding that 60,000 Americans - at the time of this interview - have died and this is a disaster.

The U.S. death toll for COVID-19 listed this morning on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website was 78,771.

"Anyone who tells you this is going well is lying to you for political gain," Winter said.

He said other countries, poorer countries that have received aid from the U.S., have done better than the U.S.

"The idea we have nurses wearing diapers on their faces in rural health care settings in order to open the ER door says that we have failed," Winter said.

His campaign used campaign funds to buy protective equipment for frontline health care workers, he said.

"If you think that this is going well ask the nurse wearing a diaper on the critical access hospital, ask the coroner dealing with a scene with there's human body fluids over a scene of a death they are having to investigate that without proper protection," Winter said. "This has been an unmitigated disaster, and it's an absolute embarrassment, more so than that it's a tragedy, because 60,000 people have died."

COVID-19 relief has driven up the federal deficit and the debt, but Winter said, no one questioned increasing the deficit when the federal government gave a $2.2 trillion dollar tax cut to corporations in 2017.

"I privilege working families over giant corporations any day. Congress can revisit the deficit question when working Montana families can get tested, when we have a vaccine, and when everyone has a job again," he added.

There has never been a greater urgency for change, he said. 

"We've seen the government fail us on a massive scale. They've failed to protect us and they've failed to have a system of political governance or a health care system that prepared Montanans for this crisis," Winter said. "Now, (Gov.) Steve Bullock has done an amazing job, but the federal government of which I aspire to be a part has clearly lost its way.

"... I'm tired of people lying to us so that they can get re-elected and I'm aiming to bringing governance that is focused on working people and people who are exposed to illness, people who are exposed to losing their jobs and I want to make sure that they are represented in the Congress and not corporations, not pharmaceutical companies," he added. "I'm just tired of this and we need change."

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Born 1986, Prairie Village, Kan.

Some college, no degree

Former volunteer emergency medical technician, small business owner providing in-home health care through rural western Montana

Montana state representative.

Has three dogs.