Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
Democrats in Havre Saturday urged voters to help them take or maintain offices in the state government, saying they have the best ideas on how to continue making gains in helping the lives of Montanans. The issue is key for the tone of the state government the next two years narrow margins in both the House and Senate could easily change with the results of the general election on Nov. 4. Perry Miller of Havre, who faces Republican Wendy Warburton of Havre in the race to fill the seat in House District 34, said that there are areas that need to be improved and areas that need to be strengthened. The state can create new jobs and income and tax revenues by focusing on energy production, he gave as an example. “We just have to keep Republicans from giving it away when we get it,” Miller said during the Hill County Party’s Annual Harvest Day Dinner Saturday held at the Eagles Club. Miller and incumbent candidate Rep. Bob Bergren of Havre and Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy of Rocky Boy, who won the Democratic primary for Senate District 16, were joined by Democrats Monica Lindeen, who is running for Montana State Auditor, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Linda McColluch, who is running for Secretary of State, at the dinner, held in the Havre Eagles Club Saturday. The keynote speaker was State Auditor John Morrison, who talked about I-155, the Montana Healthy Kids initiative which proposes increasing the coverage provided to Montana children through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Morrison cannot run for reelection due to term limits. Miller and Warburton are running for the seat now held by Democrat John Musgrove of Havre, who cannot run for re-election due to term limits. Musgrove also addressed the audience Saturday, reading a letter from state Sen. Ken Hanson, D-Harlem. Musgrove said Hanson, a Blaine County farmer, could not attend the dinner because he was “out working in his fields even as we speak.” Hanson, who is not up for re-election this year, wrote in his letter that he is preparing to go down to Helena next year with the attitude that the Democrats will control the majority of both the House and Senate. Control of state government Control of the Legislature was a topsy-turvy affair after the 2006 election. The Senate was originally split 25-25, until Sen. Sam Kitzenberg of Glasgow left the Republican Party after the election, becoming a Democrat and giving that party a slim 26-24 lead. In the House, it appeared that the Democrats would have a 50-49 edge until a recount gave the election in Laurel to Republican Krayton Kerns over Democrat incumbent Emelie Eaton by three votes, giving the Republicans control of that body. The control of state government is still up in the air, with Kitzenberg’s seat open because he is unable to run due to term limits he lost a primary election to Democrat Denise Juneau of Helena in the race for state Superintendent of Public Instruction and other seats also open due to term limits. Juneau now faces Republican Elaine Sollie Herman and Libertarian Donald J. Eisenmenger, both of Helena, in the general election. Several other elections on the state level also are up for grabs due to term limits. Perhaps the highest-profile race with an incumbent is the run for the governor’s seat, where incumbent Democrat Brian Schweitzer faces Sen. Roy Brown of Billings and Libertarian Stan Jones of Bozeman. The state Democratic Party announced in a press release Monday that a poll conducted for the Democrats shows that Schweitzer holds a comfortable lead over Brown, 63 percent to 24 percent. Candidates push issues, their qualifications The only other state-level race with a challenger facing an incumbent is for the Secretary of State, with current Superintendent of Public Instruction McColluch facing incumbent Republican Brad Johnson and Seiglinde Sharbono of Stevensville, Constitution Party, in the general election. McColluch said during Saturday’s dinner that her experience in two terms handling the office with the largest budget in the state and dealing with “the most important asset in Montana, 143,405 kids” makes her the best candidate for Secretary of State. McColluch said her experience on the state Board of Land Commissioners would follow her to the position of Secretary of State. Both positions are automatic members of the board, which oversees the management of land to best generate revenue from the school trust land. McCulloch said she also has plans to stimulate interest in elections in the youth of Montana, trying to increase participation. She also said her work managing the Office of Public Instruction will help her to better run the office of the Secretary of State, on issues ranging from making sure files of registered voters are up-to-date to making sure that the administration of elections are better planned and organized. “I can do that from Day One,” McCulloch said. Lindeen said that in her race, running against former state legislator Duane Grimes, her longproven work as an advocate makes her the better candidate. Lindeen, also a former legislator, said her experience as an advocate for her constituents, members of her community and her employees and customers as a business woman shows she will be an advocate for insurance customers and investors. The State Auditor acts as the insurance and investment regulator for the state. Lindeen said that especially on insurance, Montanans need a strong advocate. State residents spend $2 billion a year on premiums for house, auto, business and, “if you’re lucky, health insurance. “That’s a lot of hard-earned money that every one of you is putting into insurance companies’ hands ,” she said. “This will really be about who will be the strongest advocate,” Lindeen added. She said Grimes, who ran unsuccessfully against Morrison in 2004, has a different attitude than she does. Grimes, she said, opposes strong regulation of the insurance and investment industries. “He thinks that what is good for business is good for you ,” Lindeen said. “This guy truly does not like regulation.” Legislative campaigning Miller said, if elected as the representative to House District 34, he will work to continue state efforts in areas of strength and improve efforts in others. While the state is making progress in energy, including new oil and gas development as well as alternative energy, some areas still need work, he said, citing the cost and lack of insurance coverage for health care as one. Another is in education. Miller said a key area is increasing pay for teachers, citing a recent Associated Press article that reported Montana education graduates and Montana teachers and administrators are leaving the state to work in Wyoming, where they start at salaries thousands of dollars higher and with greater benefits. “It’s an uphill battle,” Miller said. “I think we can do it; we have been working that way.” He said the Republicans agree that the problem with funding education in Montana needs to be resolved. “They just don’t want to pay for it,” Miller added. Bergren, the House Minority Leader who also acted as master of ceremonies at the Harvest Day Dinner, warned the audience that the Republicans may change tactics and try to make many state elections hinge on a single issue gun control. Bergren faces Havre Republican Kyle Austin in the race for House District 33. Bergren said claiming Montana Democrats will try to take away guns from state residents is simply not true. Both he and Miller are gun owners, he pointed out. “No Democrats in this room, no Democrats in the state of Montana, are going to take away your guns,” he said,
