Dems thank those who helped for victories in this region

It’s been an honor serving as chair of the Hill County Democratic Party over the last 2.5 years. This election cycle saw many ups and downs, but for Hill County, it was mostly ups. Last summer the Hill County Democrats hosted a “We Love the Montana Constitution” Rally in Pepin Park featuring an impassioned and educational presentation by Mae Nan Ellingson, the youngest delegate to attend the 1972 Constitutional Convention. This June we hosted over 250 people from across the state at the Montana Democratic Party Platform Convention at MSU-Northern. Public officials and delegates from every corner of Montana gathered in our community to develop the state party’s platform and to support our candidates. 

Last week the people of Hill County voted to send Paul Tuss back to the Legislature to represent HD 27, elected Bill Lanier as a Hill County Commissioner from District 3 and elected Jonathan Windy Boy to the State Senate in District 16, which includes Rocky Boy and Box Elder.

A deserving shoutout also goes to Blake Borst who ran for House District 28, a district that stretches over a 300 miles range from Chester to Glasgow. Blake drove hundreds of miles knocking on doors, meeting with voters and going to every corner of the district. He did everything a quality candidate must do. In an era where folks are increasingly unwilling to run in districts that may be unfavorable to their own political party, Blake stepped up and worked hard. Although he didn’t win I’m proud of him and you should be too. 

While Senator Tester was unable to overcome the wave of new Montana residents from out-of-state who tended to vote straight ticket Republican, he won Hill County by 3% and Blaine County by 19%, something we are all immensely proud of on the Hi-Line. Come January, for the first time ever, Montanans will be without a representative in D.C. who regularly meets with the public, keeps a public schedule for constituents, and comes from a rural part of the state. Montana has ceded all of our representation to a concentration of 5 wealthy multi-millionaires, four of which live in the Bozeman/Big Sky area (Daines, Sheehy, Gianforte, Downing). I pray that Montanans hold our new representatives accountable when it comes to infrastructure funding, rural hospitals, Veteran’s healthcare and creating opportunities for Indian Country, all issues championed by Senator Tester over the past 2 decades. 

I want to thank everyone who turned out to vote, put up yard signs, made phone calls, hosted fundraisers, donated time or money,  knocked doors, brought snacks to meetings and showed up to events. Our volunteers worked tirelessly for our candidates and I am honored to serve with a dedicated group of folks. 

We look forward to continuing our work in January when Representative Tuss begins his second term in the Montana House of Representatives and continues to fight for common sense solutions to the challenges faced by rural Montana, including here in Havre and on the Hi-Line. 

Sincerely,

Lindsey Ratliff

Hill County Democratic Party Chair