Railroad union local endorses Tuss race to represent Havre in state House

Democratic candidate for state House District 28 Paul Tuss announced this week he picked up a key endorsement from a local union.

A press release said the local Teamsters union endorsed Tuss in his campaign for HD 28, which includes the city of Havre and a small area outside the city limits.

Local No. 0016 of The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, which includes area railroad workers, is encouraging their members and area residents to support Tuss in this November's general election, the release said.

Tuss is challenging incumbent Rep. Ed Hill, R-Havre, who said he is a lifelong member of the local, in his race to win a second term representing HD 28.

Hill declined to comment on the union endorsing Tuss.

"Havre is a hard-working, blue-collar community that has literally helped keep the trains running on time for over a century," Russ Stinnett, chairman of the local union, said in the press release. "We want someone working for us in Helena who we know will always have our backs and will stand up for the needs of working families in Montana. That person for House District 28 is Paul Tuss."

Stinnet noted that Tuss has also been endorsed by the Montana State AFL-CIO, as well as the Montana Federation of Public Employees, the state's largest public sector union.

Hill did vote against a right-to-work bill in the 2021 Legislature, but the union said it was unhappy with his overall stance on unions.

"The incumbent legislator in House District 28 has a dismal 28% voting record with organized labor, which is a failing grade. The working men and women of Havre and northern Montana deserve better than that and is why our local union decided to unanimously endorse Paul Tuss for this important position," Stinnett said.

Tuss said he was honored and humbled by the endorsement.

"I grew up in a union, blue-collar household; my dad was a Teamster," he said in the release. "Havre's sole representative in the Montana House of Representatives must back a strong middle class. If elected, I will promote policies that generate good jobs, build vibrant communities and support a quality of life that is second to none."

The general election is Nov. 8, with early voting starting Oct. 11, the release said.