Zinke and local GOP candidates speak at forum in Hamilton

“What’s more important, probably, is that we’re failing culturally,” Zinke said. “I can fix the energy in a few months. But the culture, when boys play sports for girls, when we have a puberty block in middle school, when CRT is openly promoted, when our founding fathers are racist… the culture of our values ​​is in jeopardy.

Local candidates Justice of the Peace Scott Burlingham and Justice Jennifer Ray also spoke at the event, followed by local Republican legislative candidates Jason Ellsworth, David Bedey, Michelle Binkley, Wayne Rusk, Ron Marshall and the Commissioner of Jeff Burrows County. State Supreme Court nominee James Brown was scheduled to appear but pulled out at the last minute.

Zinke described the Biden administration as an administration of surrender and spoke about Republicans’ fears that their values ​​are at risk.

“A cavalry isn’t going to come over the hill – it’s you,” Zinke said. “There is fear, uncertainty and doubt in the leadership of our country. And you have to realize that fear is the most used word in the Bible, 365 times fear is used, and this what we feel is fear, we feel our values ​​are in danger.

Zinke expressed a lack of faith in the federal government, including the FBI, calling the investigation into collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign a “Clinton hoax” and saying “we need to take our country back.”

He also spoke out against the “deep state” and said the first bill he would introduce would be his federal Employee Liability and Reduction Act.

“There’s a lot to change,” Zinke said. “And the biggest thing we could change is the deep state. People asked me, what’s the first bill? The acronym is FEAR because our federal government bureaucrats are like tenured professors on steroids. You can’t move them, you can’t shoot them. Bureaucrats should be accountable to the chain of command. And the president should be accountable to the people. If we’re not accountable, then we don’t. have no country.

Zinke also spoke about the importance of the Republican vote to offset the vote from Indian reservations and the Democratic strongholds of Missoula and Butte, saying “the red tide has to start here.”

Prior to Zinke’s speech, Republican candidates in Bitterroot Valley took turns voicing their positions and delivering stump speeches to supportive local audiences.

Senator Ellsworth, who is running against Democrat John Schneeberger for re-election in SD 43, said he plans to run for Senate Speaker in the next legislative session and has pledged to appoint a Deputy committee to review the elections. He stressed the importance of a Republican supermajority in order to make changes to the rules of the Legislative Assembly as well as changes to the Montana State Constitution – the changes, he said, would be sent to voters for approval. .

“With a supermajority, what we can do is if there are responsible issues that need to be addressed with respect to our state constitution, then we can make those recommendations,” Ellsworth said. “And then we can send them to you as citizens, and you would actually have the right to vote for them. So we’re not making that decision.

Rep. Bedey, Democrat Anne W. Brown’s re-election candidate in HD 86, spoke about the importance of national security and the erosion of national power due to what he described as social policies failings, Pentagon leadership and energy policy. as the state of the economy and the lack of national unity.

He described the Montana State Constitution as “tailor-made for litigators,” saying it requires judges to make interpretations based on conflicting rights and ambiguities. He also reiterated his support for an Article V convention of states to amend the U.S. Constitution to impose a balanced budget amendment.

Bedey ended by emphasizing the importance of civility and expressing his support for Ronald Reagan’s “Big Tent” philosophy.

“We must treat each other with civility, and not just among Republicans, but in our interactions with our political opponents,” Bedey said. “I know in our hyper-partisan world, if you’re not with us, you’re against us, you’re our enemy… And, you know, if we keep demonizing our neighbors, how do we ever hope for a chance of attracting them to join us in preserving our constitutional order? There is no better way to alienate someone than to make them your enemy, to express hatred towards them, and you can expect a reciprocal relationship.

Rep. Binkley, running for her second term to represent HD 55 against Democrat Rosan Stover, described herself as “the perfect example of a citizen legislator” and spoke about her experience as a small business owner and mother. She also spoke about the importance of unity among Republicans and working together. She ended with a recitation of scripture, quoting from 1 Corinthians 13.

Rusk, who is running against Democrat Ko Moua to represent HD 88, escaped a contentious primary election season but spoke of the importance of unity among Republicans, describing their differences as not so much in principle only in proportion.

“It’s definitely a blood sport,” Rusk said. “I was told. And I can testify to that. I’ve removed most of the stitches and the scars are starting to fade. But it’s also a team sport.

During the primary season, Republican Senator Theresa Manzella, SD 44, sent letters targeting Rusk’s financial supporters and urging them to vote for Rusk’s opponent, Alan Lackey, who is currently chairman of the Republican Central Committee of Ravalli county. The sender’s addresses were reportedly taken from Rusk’s official financial support campaign materials and sent on official state letterhead, sparking outcry from other local Republicans and resulting in a riff that went viral. is played out in arguments between Republican lawmakers in the opinion pages of newspapers across the state.

“The olive branch is stretched out on all occasions, to visit and understand each other so that we can move forward together,” Rusk said. “Unity does not require unanimity of thought.”

Rep. Marshall, who is running for re-election in HD 87 against Independent Will Lovett Moore, spoke out against recent news of the Montana State Library system doling out more than $240,000 in staff bonuses that , according to listeners, did not meet state guidelines, and accused lawmakers of spending $600 a day at Starbucks and taking first-class flights at public expense.

“We should be there to regulate the government,” Marshall said. “Not the people.”

Commissioner Burrows, running for re-election against Libertarian Marlin Ostrander Sr. in District 3, said he was most proud of paying off the county’s debt and what they were able to accomplish regarding the county budget. He also spoke about forestry management in the Bitterroot Valley and using forestry projects as a source of revenue for the county.

“We’re 73% public land here, most of it national forest, and it’s been mismanaged,” Burrows said. “There’s not even a discussion of the current situation. What we’ve done as a county, there’s a lot of money falling right now at the federal level, I can say it hasn’t always been like this. But we have Forest Service personnel here now that we need to support and rally behind. They want active management, they want to increase pace and scale. And we need to be behind them.

Burrows expressed support for the Bitterroot Front project and touted the county’s partnership with the Forest Service on the 130-acre Trapper Bunkhouse project.

“We have Roaring Lion fires, we have Mill Creek fires,” Burrows said. “We bring smoke for three months, then it snows and we forget about it and go on with our lives until next year when our valley will be full of smoke. So this is my next project is on the level of the We will increase the pace and scale of forestry projects in Ravalli County and bring some timber revenue back to Ravalli County.