Dudik campaigns in Havre for attorney general

Rep. Kim Dudik, D-Missoula, Democratic candidate for Montana attorney general, was in Havre Sunday at Vizsla Brewing to talk to local voters.

"It's so early in the campaign but people are hungry for change in our nation and they want to see a strong state," she said.

Dudik faces Gov. Steve Bullock's chief legal counsel, Ralph Graybill, and Kalispell bankruptcy attorney Jim Cossit in the Democratic primary.

Dudik said her campaign has been going well and she feels confident about the primary elections. She has also taken off time from her law practice in Missoula to campaign full-time and meet with as many people across the state as possible, she said. 

Dudik said that she has campaigned in more than half the counties in the state and has a list of more than 70 past and present elected officials who have come out in support of her. She added that she has not gotten any group endorsements at this time, but it is still early in the political season and expects some endorsements soon.

"People in Montana, we really vote the person, and if they know someone, they can talk to them, find out what they stand for, what they have done and what they want to continue to do," Dudik said.

She added that it is important to talk to people face-to-face. If someone wants to represent the people they should know the people and be available to answer questions people may have about important issues. 

"If I want to represent people, I feel like I have a duty to talk to them," she said.

As she has traveled across the state some issues that many people are bringing to her attention is climate change and health care, she said. She added that the attorney general's office has the authority and the duty to work on these issues and needs to do something.

Dudik said that people of all ages, young and old, have talked to her about climate change. She added that the issue is becoming more relevant to people across the state and across the country and as attorney general she is determined to work on the issue. The issue relates to wildfires, water levels in rivers and wildlife.

"It affects everything," she said.

The attorney general has a position on the state land board and has the duty of protecting public land and protecting people's access to them, she said. The attorney general also has the duty to ensure that public lands are healthy and clean, she said, something she has experienced working on while serving in the state Legislature. 

While in the Legislature she fought to get a number of bills passed, including a bill to hold companies, such as lumber mills and mining companies, accountable for paying taxes on their property, she said.

The attorney general also has the ability to join in multistate lawsuits against companies and organizations which have done noticeable harm to the environment, she said.

"In Montana we have a right to a clean and healthy environment in our Constitution, and that is something that the attorney general should be vigorously protecting," she added.

Health care is an issue she also has experience in working on, she said. Before she became an attorney and a legislator, Dudik was a nurse for a number of years and knows about the health care industry. She added that health care was one of the main reasons she first wanted to get involved in the state Legislature.

Across the state and the nation, people are struggling to pay for health care and medication, she said, and the attorney general's office can play a large role in helping people and protecting consumers. 

She added that while in the Legislature she also fought for getting a number of bills passed to lower the cost of medication and worked to get Medicaid expansion passed twice.

"We need to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable, the insurance companies and any intermediaries," she said, adding that issues with health care affects everyone.

Dudik said most people don't know what the attorney general's office can do. The attorney general's office can work to help the state in a number of ways and is where the political rubber meets the road. She said that the attorney general can greatly affect Montana's chemical dependency problem, alcohol, methamphetamines, opioids and heroin, and how cases are handled in the court system. 

She said the attorney general needs to work to protect everyday Montanans and she believes she can do the job.