Regier, Waterman Face Off in Senate District 4 Race
The Republican House member and Democratic Kalispell councilor are running to represent downtown Kalispell and Evergreen
By Zoë Buhrmaster
Republican Rep. Amy Regier and Democratic Kalispell City Councilor Kyle Waterman are vying for the state Senate seat in District 4, which includes downtown Kalispell and Evergreen up to Helena Flats. Incumbent John Fuller, R-Kalispell, who’s represented the district since 2023, is not running for reelection.
Regier, a 48-year-old nurse at Glacier Surgical, has represented House District 6 since 2021, a seat she is vacating to run for the Senate. Before that, she served on the Flathead County Republican Central Committee.
In the House, she has sponsored bills exempting senior care facilities from property taxes and shielding pregnancy centers from being required to make abortion referrals. She also co-sponsored legislation that would have offered scholarships to help cover the cost of private school and tutoring.
Regier said she hopes to follow in Fuller’s footsteps by continuing to advance conservative legislation.
“I grew up here in Kalispell and just want to keep preserving what we know and love about the Kalispell and Evergreen area,” Regier said.
Heading into the 2027 Legislature, Regier sees cutting the state budget and shifting property taxes as pressing issues facing both Senate District 4 and Montana. She proposed using the state’s bed tax revenue from tourism, along with money from the Montana Growth and Opportunity Trust, to offset property taxes. The Legislature established the trust in 2025, funding it with state revenue and an initial surplus to fund long-term projects.
Waterman, 51, represents Ward 3 on the Kalispell City Council. He served on the council from 2018 to 2022 before being reelected in 2025. He has also held a number of other public positions, including as a member of the Flathead County Board of Health and chair of the Flathead Transportation Advisory Committee. He co-owns a retail shop in downtown Kalispell.
Mental health is at the forefront of Waterman’s campaign. He said he wants to explore using the state’s marijuana tax to help fund local mental health services. The marijuana tax currently goes into the state’s general fund, and Waterman would advocate for distributing it to communities based on how much tax revenue their dispensaries generate.
Waterman doesn’t believe a sales tax is likely to gain enough support in Montana, but he is interested in the idea of an “Amazon tax” on online purchases shipped into the state. He sees it as a way to promote shopping local while contributing to state tax dollars.
A self-described social libertarian, Waterman believes the government should “stay out of your business and out of your pants,” backing reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ rights and limited government.
“We have to live in the modern age,” he said. “New things are happening, AI, data centers, things like that, but we can have some of those traditional libertarian, small government values in what we’re doing.”
Though he is running as a Democrat, Waterman said his time on the nonpartisan council has taught him how to work with others. He is willing to work across party lines on the issues facing Flathead County and the state.
“I have a couple pretty clear north stars of where I’m advocating toward, but I’m also here to work for the people’s agenda,” Waterman said. “People first … and I’m definitely going to put party last.”