Incumbent Millett, Democrat Maahs Offer Sharply Different Visions for House District 2

Voters in House District 2 will choose between a first-term Republican and a first-time Democratic candidate on Nov. 3. The district covers Marion and Ashley Lake in Flathead County, Libby in Lincoln County, and the communities in between along U.S. Highway 2.

Freshman Rep. Tom Millett, R-Marion, is seeking a second term. Jane Maahs of Libby is running as a Democrat in her first bid for the Legislature.

Millett, 60, is an independent contractor and consultant in the nuclear, electrical, power generation and telecommunications industries. He has lived in Marion for 14 years. A Navy Nuclear Power Program graduate and Persian Gulf War veteran, he is a life member of the VFW and American Legion and volunteers with Marion Community Outreach.

He says the district calls for a legislator who shares its values. “House District 2 is one of the most conservative legislative districts in Montana,” Millett said. “After just one legislative session, I’ve built one of the most conservative voting records in the legislature.”

Maahs, 77, has lived in Libby for 36 years along with her husband, a retired forester. She grew up in Austin, Minn., and came to Montana to work in Glacier National Park before attending the University of Montana. She later raised a family as a stay-at-home mother and has served on church boards and a community health board.

She acknowledged the district’s political lean but said she senses a shift. “We used to elect some Democrats here, but it is very red,” Maahs said. “But I am finding that more Democrats are coming out of hiding because someone stood up and said, ‘why not?’” Her campaign slogan is “Jane for the People.”

The candidates split sharply on federal land management, though both say they oppose selling it.

Millett sponsored House Joint Resolution 24 in 2025, which backed Utah’s lawsuit seeking control of federal land. The House rejected it, 34-66. He still supports transferring “unappropriated” federal public lands to the state, which he calls constitutionally required, but says he would back legislation barring the state from selling them to private interests.

Maahs opposes any transfer. “Keep hands off public lands, they belong to the public,” she said. She favors active management, comparing the forest to a garden that must be weeded, and said she wants smaller local companies to harvest and process timber in the same communities. She said federal land makes up about 75% of both Lincoln and Flathead counties, and that selling it would cut off public access.

Millett said the 2025 property tax overhaul will dominate the 2027 session once bills reach mailboxes this month. He said constituents with second homes, generational family cabins and land report increases of 250% to 400%. A full repeal may be out of reach, he said, but he considers retroactive relief “a realistic goal.”

Maahs said she is not deeply versed in the issue. “This is one of the areas that I’m not too versed in,” she said, calling for more research and reform so that taxes are “more universal, so you can pay what you can afford.”

On housing, Millett would focus on supply: helping communities finance infrastructure, cutting regulatory and construction costs, and possibly using state-owned land. He also wants to review the property tax law, which he says discourages multifamily development.

Maahs’ priorities are education, affordable health care, and jobs in Lincoln County beyond seasonal logging and mining. She said the state does not need to wait for Washington to act on health care. She opposes school vouchers and said she has little patience for “frivolous debates” and “culture-war issues” such as whether to allow transgender athletes in sports, which she said should be handled at the local level. She also called for easier voting, saying there is no voter fraud, and for safeguards against Canadian coal mining upstream in the transboundary watershed.

Millett would prioritize public safety, behavioral health, the Public Defender’s Office and infrastructure. He would hold overall spending growth to the rate of inflation and create a Montana version of the Department of Government Efficiency.

Millett said he ranks legislation by whether it is constitutional, benefits constituents, can be supported in good conscience, and is a party priority, in that order. He cited his vote against every tort reform bill in 2025, a Republican platform plank, because he believed they would make it harder for Libby asbestos victims to seek compensation.

He also opposes all three Nov. 3 ballot measures: I-194, CI-132 and CI-133.

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.