Buchanan campaigns in Havre for Congress during Festival Days

Gary Buchanan, an independent running for Congress in the newly formed eastern district of Montana, stopped in Havre this weekend to take part in the Festival Days Parade, hold a meet and greet and speak with the Havre Daily News about his candidacy.

Buchanan, the only candidate in the eastern congressional district who came to Festival Days, said while he is neither a Democrat nor a Republican, and his positions on issues often draw the ire of both sides, he decided to run due to his increasing dissatisfaction with Montana's current representative, Republican Matt Rosendale.

The other candidates are Democrat Penny Ronning and Libertarian Sam Rankin.

He said he feels Rosendale represents very extreme positions in the political world and feels he doesn't represent the values and interests of Montana, but the tipping point for him was Rosendale's vote against supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia and imperialist invasion.

"(That's) when embarrassment became shame," he said.

Buchanan also criticized Rosendale for his vote against honoring the Capitol Police who protected Congress from the attempted insurrection by Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, as well as his vote against Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, which established a program of matching federal grants to the states for wildlife restoration projects, funded by a small tax on guns and ammunition.

"Mr. Rosendale gives me lots of room with his positions because they've become so strange and so radical," he said.

Despite his dissatisfaction with Rosendale being the primary driver of his decision to run, Buchanan stressed that he is an independent who has no intention of joining either major house caucus and has drawn accusations of being a "closet-liberal" or "closet conservative" from both sides, which he said is a good sign.

He said he's gotten endorsements from people and organizations that are usually assumed to be a lock for the Democrat or Republican in any given race, and the fact that he's come this far validates his opinion that independents can win in Montana, or, at the very least, the current political landscape of Montana.

Beyond the issues of ideology and electability, though, he said there are a host of issues he feels he can help address.

Inflation was one of his biggest issues, and one he feels he has a solid understanding of given his extensive history in banking as a Senior Financial Consultant at Merrill Lynch, as a former state commerce director, a former chair of the State Banking Board as well as the Montana Board of Investments. He was the founding department head of the Montana Department of Commerce, as well.

He now owns and operates Buchanan Capital in Billings.

He said he thinks the federal reserve needs to be aggressive in its handling of inflation, to get it under control before too much damage is done.

He said he supports the Inflation Reduction Act, though thinks ill of its name, and he thinks the Build Back Better bill proposed last summer went overboard with too much spending proposed.

Buchanan said the government had to do something to relieve the burden of the pandemic so much of the relief was necessary, but he feels some of it was overboard and contributed to inflation.

At a meet and greet later that day he said corporate greed and global instability also contributed to the crisish.

Overall, he said, both partis spend too much money when they're in power and, as a fiscal conservative, he thinks they both need to be reined in.

He said he's also not a fan of student loan forgiveness, particularly with his background in banking and investments.

Buchanan said he supports some of the restructuring done to the loan process and has no issues with the government working on the terms of loans to make them more manageable, but said forgiveness runs the risk of creating a "moral hazard."

"A loan's a loan, a bond's a bond, and a debt's a debt," he said.

Another big issue he talked about, particularly for Montana is agriculture and the increasing consolidation seen in industries like meat packing.

Buchanan said he gladly supports any antitrust effort to break up the industry which he said is largely dominated by just four companies.

He said he also supports efforts to fund the St. Mary Diversion's repairs, which he said are vital to the ag industry in north-central Montana.

He criticized Rosendale for voting against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill passed earlier this year, which included up to $100 million dollars for the project.

Another aspect of agriculture Buchanan said he wants to address is climate change, which he said is one of the biggest issues in the world right now, but is especially critical to people in that industry.

He said he had plenty of agriculture clients who said they didn't believe in climate change, but they sure do now that they've seen first hand what it's done to their operations.

Buchanan also commented on the recent conflict between the railroad workers' unions and BNSF which came to a tentative halt last Thursday.

He said he's glad an agreement has been reached, at least for now, but took issue with attempts by Republicans in Congress who tried to impose terms on the company and union during the dispute, a dispute he said Congress should have no place in.

"Stay the hell out of it," he said.

As for current social and health care issues, Buchanan expressed serious dissatisfaction with recent developments on the subject of abortion.

He said the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to reverse Roe v. Wade has created a frightening situation for many, and not just women.

He said he has a focus group of young people he recently spoke with and the decision was their biggest concern, especially for one of them who was gay and feared for the future of marriage equality.

"'Who's next?' That's what they thought," Buchanan said.

He also took serious issue with a recent proposal by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks, especially considering that Republicans have been saying for months that this should be an issue of states' rights.

Buchanan said he doesn't support efforts by Democrats in Congress to legislate the right to an abortion on the national level, but if Graham and his colleagues take the fight to the national level and Democrats use that as an opportunity push for the opposite he can hardly blame them, and if it comes to that, he may vote in favor of it.

On the subject of guns, he said he's a gun owner himself and supports the Second Amendment, but the mass shootings the country keeps having to endure are evidence that Congress needs to do more about high-powered weapons, weapons he said no hunter would ever need.

However, he said, he doesn't support any effort to confiscate such weapons from people who already have them.

On the state level, Buchanan said, he's extremely disappointed in the last legislative session and the resulting attacks on the character and professionalism of those in public health and education.

"That was the worst Legislature I've seen in 50 years," he said.

Buchanan said efforts to curtail the ability of public and private health to do their jobs, as well as the personal attacks many have made against people in health care during, and in the wake of, the pandemic are absolutely inappropriate.

And health care is not alone, he said, a lot of people in the state, from teachers to librarians to election officials feel attacked by their own Legislature, and whether he wins or loses, he wants to see that change.

"Montanans get along, it's our politicians that are tearing us apart," he said.

Buchanan elaborated further on his stance on education at the meet and greet, saying he supports efforts to raise teacher pay and to fund the public education system more effectively.

He also criticized recent efforts by conservative politicians to send money to private and religious schools, schools he says are perfectly capable of raising their own funds and shouldn't be taking public money.

He also criticized the Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen, who he said needs to be replaced.

"Not Billings' finest," he said.

Toward the end of the meeting he again contrasted himself with Rosendale promising that those present that feel ashamed of their representation in Congress can expect change under him.

"You will have a congressman that won't embarrass you and won't vote no on everything," he said.