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Missoula Councilman to Seek Dem Bid for Congress

By Beacon Staff

MISSOULA – Two-term Missoula City Councilman Dave Strohmaier said Thursday he plans to seek the Democratic nomination for Montana’s congressional seat.

Strohmaier said he will formally announce his candidacy at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Farmers Market in Missoula. He also sent an email to supporters alerting them of his intention to run.

The state’s sole congressional seat is being vacated by Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg, who is taking on Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester next year. Leading state Republicans have rallied around Bozeman businessman Steve Daines as their choice to replace Rehberg.

Strohmaier began serving on the city council in 2005. He worked 14 years as a wildland firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management and is a graduate of Seattle Pacific University, the Yale Divinity School and the University of Montana, earning a master of science in environmental studies at UM.

Strohmaier said he’ll focus on bolstering Montana’s economy and preserving the environment — and he stressed the two aren’t essentially conflicting interests.

“We need to pull Montanans together, urban and rural, and not let our differences get in the way. There’s too much at stake,” he said.

Of his city council experience, he said, “I don’t know the last time we’ve had a local elected official elected to Congress. Government doesn’t get more grass roots than it does serving with a city council.”