Two Gen Z Candidates Face Off in Flathead’s House District 5

At only 26 years old, Republican Braxton Mitchell is preparing for his fourth term in the Montana Legislature as he predicts another “landslide” victory next month in ruby-red House District 5 — one he won with three-quarters of the vote in 2024.

Democratic challenger Luca Welle knows it will be an “uphill battle” to unseat the young but already seasoned incumbent legislator. Welle, however, thinks he has the stamina for the campaign trail ascent with his pragmatic pitch to voters to focus on issues of real consequence, as opposed to leaning into “culture wars” like his high-profile Gen-Z conservative opponent, he said. 

Welle, an even younger member of Gen-Z, has deep roots in the Flathead Valley, having grown up in Kalispell and gone to school in Whitefish. An advocate for the environment and public lands since middle school, Welle carried his passion with him to the University of Montana, where he graduated in spring of 2025 with degrees in environmental studies and sustainability science.

“I had long been dissatisfied with my representative in the Legislature for various reasons, and I was like, God, it’d be really cool if someone would take that guy on,” Welle said. “And then the next thought was, oh, it’s going to be me, isn’t it?”

“Just kind of not really liking how Braxton represents our district and our generation … and just wanting someone who is going to actually propose policies and such that are going to benefit your constituents rather than just engage in the culture wars that the establishment is playing with each other in D.C.,” he added. 

Mitchell, however, rejects the notion, saying he boasts a “diverse” policy portfolio. If an issue comes up while door knocking, he’ll do his best to find a solution and get it passed in Helena, he said.

“I diversify my policy,” Mitchell said. “If I see a need to pass a certain thing that I feel like is a need or prevalent issue, then I’ll use my platform to promote them. Many of those bills that I think [Welle’s] specifying have all been signed into law by the governor, so it’s pretty clear and obvious that the vast majority of the elected representatives in the state also agree with the policy priorities. If he disagrees with them, then get more people that run on issues that he thinks are more important.”

A Columbia Falls native, Mitchell initially found himself in the political spotlight in 2018 after organizing a rally that was part pro-gun, part memorial at Columbia Falls High School following a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla. He was first elected to the Montana Legislature in 2020 to represent House District 3, which included Columbia Falls and parts of the Badrock Canyon.

Following a redistricting effort, Mitchell in 2024 shifted to run for District 5, which includes Hungry Horse, Lake Five and Glacier Park International Airport, as well as parts of the Helena Flats area. He handily won the new district with 74% of the vote. 

During his first term, Mitchell introduced three unsuccessful bills, including an attempt to designate antifa as a terrorist organization in Montana and legislation that would allow individuals to shoot injured game within city limits. His tenure during the 2023 legislative session was defined largely by House Bill 359, which sought to ban drag performances on public property where minors could view them. The bill, dubbed  the “drag ban,” drew ire from civil rights groups and attention from national media outlets, and it remains blocked and cannot be enforced after a federal appeals court upheld a lower court’s decision. Mitchell has defended the bill as “common sense legislation,” citing the 82 lawmakers who cosponsored the law. 

The 2025 session saw Mitchell work his way into a legislative leadership position as a majority whip. His third session, and first as District 5’s representative, was highlighted by House Bill 267, which became known as “Bobby’s Law,” named after Bobby Dewbre — a 21-year-old Columbia Falls man who in 2023 was struck and killed by a drunk driver. 

Mitchell teamed up with Dewbre’s mother, Beth McBride, and her nonprofit, the Montana Bar Fairies, to get the legislation to the governor’s desk. The bill created the crime of aggravated vehicular homicide while under the influence. It applies to anyone who causes the death of another human while operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol content of 0.16% or higher — twice the legal limit — and implements a three-year mandatory minimum sentence.  

It’s this victory, along with other local legislative successes like securing the future development of a state veterans cemetery in the Flathead Valley, that Mitchell cited among his greatest triumphs so far in his three terms in Helena. 

While Welle may lack direct legislative experience, he said his time spent working adjacent to legislators of both parties through his environmental advocacy will serve him well at the statehouse. Volunteering frequently for Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Welle is no stranger to meeting with members of Congress, such as U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke and U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, and their staff.

“We take a very bipartisan approach, building relationships, listening, trying to understand where people are coming from, and I think that is something that we need because it’s so divisive out there,” Welle said.

“I think that being in Montana, and especially the Flathead, it’s a place that has historically been very neighborly, and I think still is,” he added. “I think just focusing on those relationships and building trust and listening to develop policies that actually reflect the needs of the people and can be balanced, rather than just turning into shouting matches of ‘I’m right, you’re wrong,’ and being able to sit and listen is just so important generally, and something that I definitely want to bring to Helena.”

While knocking on doors ahead of the 2027 legislative session, both Mitchell and Welle said affordability was top of mind for their constituents. 

“That is probably the thing that’s brought up 90% of the time,” Mitchell said.

To address affordability, the main goal for the upcoming legislative session should be tackling the “property tax problem,” Mitchell said, noting the 2025 Legislature’s property tax reform measures didn’t deliver Montanans the level of relief legislators were after.

“What we need to do is we need to take all this money from tourism during the summertime, especially bed tax dollars, take that money, and right now it goes back to the state coffers, we need to send that money back to the counties of origin,” Mitchell said. “Specifically areas like Gallatin, Missoula, Flathead, especially. That money staying in those counties of origin, goes back to the county, can’t be spent by the county commissioners, but only be used for property tax relief.”

In the upcoming legislative session, it will be key to properly address the simple question on a majority of Mitchell’s constituent’s minds: “can we afford to stay in our homes due to rising property taxes?” 

“The question is, how much does the state want to insert itself into the problem?” Mitchell said. “But I think that we’re at that point now where there’s too many folks that are deciding, all right, do I want to stay here, the place I was born or raised in, or do I need to go somewhere else where it’s cheaper to live?”

Both Mitchell and Welle take issue with how the 2025 property tax reform has played out for lifelong Montanans who own second homes, often a small cabin or lake house passed down through generations. Those owners are now feeling the squeeze of the tax shift. Mitchell said the reform has had the “complete opposite effect” of what lawmakers intended, with “a lot of trickle down effects.”

Welle, whose own family has a small cabin near Ashley Lake, said the Legislature needs to tighten up the second home tax so Montanans who have been here “forever” don’t experience drastic property tax increases. 

“What’s [raising property values] is the short-term rentals, the Airbnbs, the people who only have one residence here, but they only live in it one week a year because they spend the rest of the time in California or the East Coast or wherever it might be,” Welle said. “It’s those kinds of properties that we should be taxing at those higher rates

“That policy was so broad, and even though it had good intentions and that kind of measure can be good to generate that revenue and rebalance things to make things more affordable, we also need to fix it and provide those additional specifications so that we are actually fulfilling that goal and not just throwing a huge blanket to smother everything,” he added.

Aside from affordability, other top issues for Welle on the campaign trail include healthcare, public education funding, transportation infrastructure and public lands. 

“We need people who are going to stand up for [public lands],” Welle said. “Stand up for what we believe in as Montanans rather than just cater to what people in D.C. want to do to extract more profit from us, take our wealth, take our inheritance, and just turn it into more money for the billionaires out there.”

Other top priorities for Mitchell in the upcoming legislative session include building on Bobby’s Law and continuing DUI law reform, working to create license plate reader legislation that balances citizens’ right to privacy and law enforcement needs, and drafting legislation for data center transparency.

“I know there’s a lot of concerns about data centers and whatnot, and I want to make sure that there’s more transparency in the process with potential businesses and groups coming into the state,” Mitchell said.

Ballots were mailed to absentee voters Oct. 9. Election Day is Nov. 3. Voters can check their registration status and the status of their ballot here: https://voterportal.mt.gov/WhereToVote.aspx. 

To register to vote, voters can either bring their completed voter registration application to their county election office or visit their county elections office to fill out a voter registration application and receive a ballot there.

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