BUTTE – Republican Ryan Zinke and Democrat John Lewis faced off for the first time as the top contenders for the state’s lone U.S. House seat last weekend, each presenting themselves as a leader who can restore trust and end dysfunction in Congress.
Mike Fellows, a Libertarian candidate, also appeared at the 90-minute debate at the Montana Tech Library Auditorium in Butte, which was sponsored by the Montana Newspaper Association and Montana PBS. The event can be viewed online at mtpr.org.
The first debate of the general election campaign saw two first-time House candidates – and a familiar challenger in Fellows – seek an early advantage in the race to replace Republican Rep. Steve Daines, who is running for the U.S. Senate after serving one term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Zinke, the retired Navy SEAL officer from Whitefish and former state senator who emerged victorious from the GOP’s tightly contested four-person primary, repeatedly described himself as “an optimist” and centered his message on restoring citizens’ trust in the government, limiting the “overreach” of the executive branch and striving for energy independence by developing the nation’s natural resources.
“We’ve got to get government out of business, to grow our economy. The way out of our problems in this country is to grow the economy, create jobs and energy independence,” he said.
Lewis, a former state director for longtime U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, is trying to become the state’s first House Democrat since Pat Williams served through 1997, and criticized Republicans for failing to do their jobs or find solutions on Capitol Hill in recent years, citing the government shutdown last October.
“I see a real rural-urban divide in D.C. Congress is paralyzed and unelected bureaucrats in D.C. make the decisions,” he said, adding, “What we see from the other side is more of the same dysfunction, tired rhetoric, that led to government shutdown last fall, and people are sick and tired of it.”
Fellows scrutinized both Republicans and Democrats for attacking the Constitution and proliferating federal power.
“Certainly this nation is broken,” he said. “We need more citizens to get involved in their government to fix it. We also need a government that is a lot smaller. Unfortunately the two main parties in power won’t give us less government because they’ve been spending so much for years to satisfy the rich and well connected.”
Federal Land Access
A clear difference in ideologies emerged when the candidates were asked about federal lands in Montana, which amounts to roughly 28 percent of land in the state, and whether they agree on conferring management duties on the state government.
Lewis said public lands benefit Montana’s outdoor heritage, including hunting and fishing, and also significantly aid the state’s economy.
“The idea of transferring lands to the state is a terrible idea,” he said. “It will result in the sell off of our public lands to the highest bidder. I do not support that in any shape or form.”
He also questioned who would manage those lands if the U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies didn’t, citing firefighting costs and other necessary management duties.
Zinke said the state would better manage the land than the feds. He criticized the U.S. Forest Service for having “Tasers and attack dogs” and for hampering multiple use in national forests, citing the Montanore Mine near Libby, which sits idle while it awaits a federal record of decision, as an example. Persistent lawsuits are also hurting the state’s timber industry, specifically in Lincoln County, he said.
“Timber and mining companies, people who want to use our land, can’t get to it,” he said. “There’s a better way to do it. Stop the lawsuits. Go back to multiple use management for the benefit of everybody.”
Health Care
Lewis defended the Affordable Care Act, which his former boss, Sen. Max Baucus, largely crafted and sponsored through the Senate.
“The law was passed and well intentioned. Did it fix our health care system? No, but can we continue to improve on our system,” Lewis said.
He said “thousands of Montanans” are benefiting from the new law and that lawmakers need to “continue to talk together” and work to find solutions for issues within the law.
Zinke agreed that the nation’s health care system was broken already and said he appreciated the intent of Obamacare. He said there are aspects of the reform that were good, such as allowing those with pre-existing conditions to receive insurance. But he still supports its repeal.
“I say abandon it,” he said, adding, “We took a bad system and made it worse.”
He said his solutions would include supporting tools for small businesses to offer insurance through co-ops and health savings accounts.
Fellows said he believes Obamacare can work as long as more lawmakers were actively engaged in finding solutions and more free market ideas were involved.
Foreign Policy
Zinke, who served as a leader overseas in the recent conflicts, called the nation’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and policies involving Iran and Russia “an unprecedented failure across the board of our foreign policy.”
He said energy independence “is a key to a great” foreign policy and wants the nation to move forward with the Keystone XL pipeline and relax restrictions on developing crude oil.
“I don’t want to see my kids and your kids fight on foreign shores for a commodity we have in America,” he said.
Lewis said the situation in Iraq could create a breeding ground for terrorists and the top priority should be national security. He said he supports exhausting “all diplomatic solutions before sending troops on the ground.” He agreed that energy independence was key, citing his new plan that calls for investing in all forms of energy, including coal, oil and gas, as well as alternative forms.
Minimum Wage Increase
Lewis said he favors increasing the state’s minimum wage while Zinke said he opposed the proposal.
The Gun Debate
Candidates were asked about recent shootings across the nation, and if lawmakers should do anything to try to prevent the tragedies.
“That’s a tough question,” Zinke said. “It’s about the Second Amendment.”
He added, “I believe our legacy is to own a gun” and said the rules in place are “appropriate.” However, he said he does not believe an individual should be able to own a Howitzer or similarly large, destructive weapons.
Lewis said he strongly supports the Second Amendment and that the current laws need to be enforced, along with looking at other ways to address the issues.
“We need to address how we treat mental health care in this country. Clearly we’re not doing a good enough job of that,” he said.
Social Issues
Lewis said the government should not be making personal decisions for Americans.
“People want to make their decisions and live freely,” he said. That’s not a role for the federal government. That’s between a woman, her family and her faith.”
Zinke largely agreed, saying he supports individual rights not collective rights.
“I’m not anti-government; what I am is good government and good government is small. It understands who the boss is: we the people. And the mission and role and scope are limited,” he said. “There’s an old saying, ‘Government stops at the mailbox.’ It’s true, because that’s Montana. Montana is self-reliant and we don’t want government in our lives. I support that 100 percent.”
He added that there is a compelling interest to defend those who can’t defend themselves, including the elderly and unborn children.