On Tuesday, voters in the Gallatin Valley will decide which candidates in contested primaries will head to the general election in November to represent them in Helena.
The Chronicle spoke with all the candidates for the contested House districts that impact Gallatin County to learn more of their views and ideas as they take on members of their own political party.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Bozeman Daily Chronicle: What should voters know about you and why should they vote for you? What do you bring to the table that other politicians might not?
HD62
Josh Seckinger (D)
I have been a resident of the Gallatin Valley for 15 years. I’ve been a fishing guide for 10 of those 15 years. I’ve worked a lot of jobs, paid rent and I’ve fought to carve out my place in this valley. I sympathize and empathize with other people who are finding it tough to live here right now, whether that be because of cost increases or threats to women’s reproductive freedoms or whether it’s the quality of education or teachers who aren’t getting paid enough.
Rio Roland (D)
My career exemplifies my dedication to environmental and energy policy issues. For the past 16 years, I’ve been an engineer for a renewable energy developer or manufacturer of renewable energy products. Before that, I was a land use and environmental planner for five years working on watershed planning and preserving critical habitat. I grew up, born and raised, in North Dakota, I’m gay, and my dad worked in the oil drilling industry. I’ve always had to convince people to hear my side of things and to see my side of the story — I think that’s a very powerful set of tools to go into the legislature.
HD 65
Brian Close (D)
I have a thirty-year record of public service in this community. I was chairman of Galavan. I was chairman of the city task force that led to Streamline. I co-wrote the city charter including ethics reform. I pushed through the smoke fuel ordinance. I wrote the first dark sky ordinance in the state. In my 30 years here, I have improved public transportation, public health and government. I have demonstrably improved the lives of people in this community.
Anja Wookey-Huffman (D)
I’m working two jobs in the service industry. I’m a renter. I feel like a lot of what we’re seeing in Helena is pretty distant from people’s day-to-day lives and I am really trying to work on issues like affordability of living, because that’s something I’m experiencing firsthand and hearing from constituents — I wouldn’t just be coming at it from a policy perspective but have lived experience. I really want to try to be reaching across the aisle and building coalitions to get the work done to make life better for everyone who lives in our state.
HD68
Rep. Jennifer Carlson (R)
I’m a workhorse, not a showhorse. What sets me apart from my opponents? Honesty, integrity, civility and hard work — in and out of session. A two-term legislator from Churchill. Elected as a Majority Whip, Chairman of House Health & Human Services Committee, and two terms on the House Judiciary. I have lived my whole life in Montana, graduated from MSU with a degree in Biomedical Science, and have lived in this district for 25 years. I have raised 5 children here — in public school, private school and home school. Four sons have graduated from Manhattan High School. I understand being part of the community, making ends meet and navigating bureaucracy.
Rep. Caleb Hinkle (R)
I am the only member in this race with military service and served in the Army National Guard for 6 years as an 11c Indirect Fire Infantryman (Mortarman), going from E1 Private to leadership as an E5 Sergeant. In the legislature, I was selected for leadership as Chair of the Legislative Administration Committee. I am also the only member of this race with a strong enough conservative record to be a member of the Montana Freedom Caucus. What separates me from my opponents, is that I do not play political games or make deals at the expense of our liberties. My yes is a yes, and my no is a no on principle.
Scott Sales (R)
I have a lot more experience than my opponents, both in business and in life and certainly the legislature. I served for 16 years in the legislature at a high level. I was president of the Senate twice. I was Speaker of the House. I’ve spent the last three-plus years working for the governor in different capacities. I got a lot more experience than my opponents who have been involved in the state government for a couple of sessions.
HD77
Kyle McMurray (R)
In this district, I think it’s important that I’m a native of Manhattan — I was born and raised in Manhattan. I went all the way through school here, went to undergraduate school at Montana State, came back from Optometry school, practiced Optometry for forty years and retired 18 months ago, so I know the area — my whole life has been spent here. That’s why I chose this district to run in. I’m conservative. I was endorsed by the governor a couple of weeks ago because he feels like he can work with me and we can reach across the aisles, consider other’s ideas and reach common ground and come up with solutions.
Rep. Jane Gillette (R)
I’m the only proven Trump conservative candidate with a track record for getting things done. My constituents want smaller government, less taxes, and traditional family values. I’m the only candidate that can deliver that.
BDC: If successful, you’ll represent your district but what you do in the legislature has statewide implications. Based on that micro and macro lens, what are your top two or three issues and why are those most important to you?
HD62
Seckinger (D)
Property tax reform because I want to make it more affordable for everyone to live here. Protecting women’s reproductive freedoms because I don’t believe it’s any business of the government what happens between a woman and her doctor. Access to public lands in Montana is what makes Montana great and getting more money into public schools.
Roland (D)
Housing is the number one most critical issue in the state right now — it’s affecting everyone’s ability to thrive. The ban on inclusionary zoning is one of the biggest pieces of legislation that I would like to see reversed. Property taxes — the inability to deal with that in the last legislative session and to equalize that was a dereliction. Montana has a very archaic backward energy policy right now and there are ways to reach across the aisle in terms of looking at our utility business model here in the state such that we incentivize the source of energy, perhaps differently, giving a higher return on investment for renewables, and maybe lower for carbon-based.
HD 65
Close (D)
The top issue is property taxes. The situation right now is a result of a completely irresponsible policy by the Republican legislature and the governor. Other issues include modernizing Montana’s tax system and protecting seniors from exploitation. And finally, we have people who are really being squeezed like tenants in trailer parks and tenants in apartments by property management companies. They need more protection.
Wookey-Huffman (D)
Affordability of living is something that everyone is grappling with, such as homeowners seeing the increase in property tax bills and renters seeing that trickle down into their rent increases. Another major issue is the adequate funding of public education. It’s been really hard the last few years to see just how challenging it is for teachers and students and it’s really important that our state stay focused on making sure that public schools have adequate funding before they direct it elsewhere.
HD68
Carlson (R)
We need to treat our children better: both personally and through government agency policy. Better mental health outcomes require better policies in child welfare, school policy, and public safety. Montana needs facilities and services for mental health crisis stabilization — people need a place to go to receive treatment in a timely manner. Law enforcement needs to have a place for people to go instead of jail when the problem is a mental health crisis. 99% of incarcerated people will return to the community at some point. We need the system to adjust policies to that reality and we can make intelligent decisions to reduce recidivism and keep our communities safer.
Hinkle (R)
My top issue, as it has been, is government spending and property taxes. The problem at hand is every level of government nickels and dimes the populace to pay for petty pointless projects or programs. Checking unwarranted government growth and spending is the solution, and the best way to do that is to check their pocketbook, therefore, there should be a spending cap based on population/growth for local governments, and any spending above that cap should be approved by the voters. This will cause governments to focus on allocating tax revenue to pay for essential services that benefit everyone equally.
My Second issue is returning over-collected tax revenue. In the 2023 session, we had a record of 2.5 billion in over-collected taxes. Only roughly 1 billion was actually returned to the taxpayers, while the rest was used to grow the government. If re-elected my main priority will be bringing a ballot initiative to the voters in 2026 that will allow them to approve a system where over-collected tax dollars will be returned automatically to the taxpayer without requiring the legislature to convene. Not having bucket loads of extra money will help the legislature and the state to be more fiscally responsible
Sales (R)
Property tax has not been addressed by the legislature in the last couple of sessions and is becoming for a lot of people an unbearable burden. The thing that really aggravated me in the last legislative session was while taxpayers like myself got a $1,250 rebate on income and a $675 rebate on property tax, they enriched themselves with a tax-free per diem increase. The two opponents voted for that and one of them voted for a roughly 70% increase in salary which the Governor vetoed.
HD77
Kyle McMurray (R)
In this district, I think it’s important that I’m a native of Manhattan — I was born and raised in Manhattan. I went all the way through school here, went to undergraduate school at Montana State, came back from Optometry school, practiced Optometry for forty years and retired 18 months ago, so I know the area — my whole life has been spent here. That’s why I chose this district to run in. I’m conservative. I was endorsed by the governor a couple of weeks ago because he feels like he can work with me and we can reach across the aisles, consider other’s ideas and reach common ground and come up with solutions.
Gillette (R)
Reduce property taxes for ALL Montanans. I have 3 bills that I’ve already written that do just that. Protect Montanans from the impacts of illegal immigrants. I have 2 bills that I’ve already written that do just that. Stop the woke agenda which is destroying our children, families, communities, and Montana. I have 2 bills that I’ve already written that do just that.
BDC: What bills do you think are most likely to pass this upcoming session with bipartisan support and what issues do you think your colleagues across the aisle realistically support?
HD62
Seckinger (D)
I have what I call red-line issues, issues that I’m uncompromising on. That’s any threat to women’s reproductive freedoms, public lands, any attempts at union busting, any attempts at unwinding LGBTQIA+ protections and public education. Everything else is a compromise.
Roland (D)
Ideally, we won’t be in the supermajority anymore due to redistricting and hopefully, we will have a more supportive governor. I think there are opportunities for these win-win situations if we look hard enough and when we spend the time and put in the work to find them (such as energy policy).
HD65
Close (D)
There has been bipartisan legislation passed in the last legislature that would have improved people’s lives that the Governor vetoed. Republicans back in their districts are hearing from the public on the property tax issue, just like we are and right now they’re hanging with the Governor because if they don’t, they will hang separately. If the Governor is reelected, the instant he’s reelected, he will be a lame duck because he cannot run for a third term and there’ll be some Republican cooperation on the property tax issue.
Wookey-Huffman (D)
Whether it’s a supermajority or Republican majority, there’s going be some defense to be played up in Helena. I really want to stay true to my values. I understand that sometimes, legislation won’t always pass that I want to see pass, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not going to work my butt off trying to have the conversations to keep it focused on the experiences of people who live in our state. I want to go up there and lead with integrity — I will stay true to my values and represent the people of the district even if that’s an uphill battle.
HD68
Carlson (R)
Many of my bills last session had broad bi-partisan support — child welfare reform, mental healthcare access, removing unnecessary licensing requirements; or nearly unanimous support from the Republican caucus — decriminalizing free-market in-home daycare, strengthening vaccination exemptions for school, for instance.
Montana State Hospital is in pretty bad shape right now. I know there is appetite for reform there. Two MSH reform bills (Sen. Gross–SB4 & Rep. Carlson–HB29) had nearly unanimous support last year and the legislature overrode governor vetoes on both.
Hinkle (R)
Republicans are likely not going to have a super majority after the Democrats gerrymandered the legislative maps and it is rare that a Democrat joins with the Republicans in “Bi-Partisanship” on a Republican issued bill. I would invite the Democrats to join us in supporting legislation that promotes free markets, individual freedom, reduced size of government, and strengthening laws against illegal immigration.
Sales (R)
I’m not worried about what the Democrats think any longer. They have moved so far to the left that in my opinion, they’re irrelevant. I’m not trying to be mean-spirited or anything. These are issues that need to be decided amongst Republicans. I’m not interested in what the Democrats think because most of them are not even for the free-market principles that America was established on anymore.
HD77
McMurray (R)
I certainly think that solving property taxes will be bipartisan. I’m a conservative Republican but I’m certainly willing to consider other folks ideas and bridge across the aisle. Republicans aren’t the only ones that have good ideas. We need to be able to come to a consensus with a set of ideas that we can all agree on and get some meaningful things done and property tax reform is certainly going to be a bipartisan collaboration.
Gillette (R)
Reduce property taxes for ALL Montanans. I have 3 bills that I’ve already written that do just that. Protect Montanans from the impacts of illegal immigrants. I have 2 bills that I’ve already written that do just that.
BDC: Property taxes have risen significantly, and based on the recent school elections, there wasn’t much appetite for tax increases. What specifically do you think needs to be done to address property taxes and what specifically can or should the legislature or the governor do to address the issue?
HD62
Seckinger (D)
The first thing the next legislature should do is wind back residential property tax to the rate that the Montana Department of Revenue recommended in November of 2022.
Roland (D)
The governor and the legislature have sent out economic miscues with their refusal to equalize the property tax situation. The very obvious, most basic thing to do is to make sure they get equalized in future legislative sessions. Longer term, we have to have a statutory mandate to equalize these taxes and we need to stop relying on property taxes as much — income taxes are a much more fair way.
HD65
Brian Close (D)
The legislators are blaming local governments for the problems that they caused. The simple solution is simply to reduce the tax rate to the number recommended by the Department of Revenue. Targeted relief could be looked at for people on a fixed income, perhaps a circuit breaker capping that taxes can only increase by a certain amount.
Wookey-Huffman (D)
We should be making sure not just that we’re adjusting that property tax rate, but also making sure that adequate funding is being directed towards our schools, so that local communities don’t have to ask voters for these mill lev
