Former House District 96 Montana State Rep. Tom Winter is running for Montana’s new United States House of Representatives seat in Montana’s Western District. The new district includes the entirety of the Flathead, Missoula, Butte, and Bozeman. In a district where Ryan Zinke is running to recapture his former seat, it will be a tough fight for a Democratic challenger, but Tom has proven that he’s up to the task and can be successful.
In a tight race in 2018, Tom flipped a district that voted for Trump +11 to earn his seat in the state Legislature where he introduced 24 bills as a freshman lawmaker – a Montana record.
At the state level, he fought for progressive priorities like affordable healthcare, including protections for pre-existing conditions, banning lifetime payment caps, and lowering the cost of prescription drugs. A union member himself, he fought for worker protections, including minimum wage and overtime protections. He was an advocate of policies to strengthen our democracy, including online voter registration. He introduced a bill to legalize recreational cannabis, which ultimately served as the basis of the successful voter initiative which legalized cannabis in Montana as of Jan. 1, 2022. Tom is strong on housing, introducing bills to address high property taxes for middle-class homeowners and protections for mobile homeowners and tenants – he will be instrumental in addressing Montana’s housing crisis at the federal level.
In addition to his passion, energy, and proven election track record in Montana, Tom is, above all, a normal and accessible guy. I’ve skied with him on Big Mountain and have had a beer with him while talking about important societal and political issues. I’ve watched him make himself accessible to Montanans from all walks of life and have one-on-one conversations in low-key and everyday settings – rather than simply lecture from a podium. This is who he is as a person, and though he will undoubtedly be busier in Congress, his down-to-earth and personable nature will give a voice to progressive Montanans in Washington D.C.
Vote for Tom Winter on June 7 in Montana’s Democratic Primary for U.S. House District 1.
Nathan Dugan
Whitefish