SENATE DISTRICT 19 Kenneth Bogner - R Age: 31 Occupation: American Legion baseball head coach Education: CCDHS/B.A. political science; Columbia University; M.A. public policy, Middlesex University, London, UK Past employment: U.S. Marine Corps; Montana Senate aide; Field representative for U.S. senator Online campaign info: Facebook: Facebook.com/ KennethBognerStateSenate Website: www.kennethbogner.com Address: Miles City
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No it should not, the Montana Legislature should not be restricting U.S. Constitutional rights. If it feels it needs to address vulnerabilities, it should work to eliminate some restrictions on gun-free zones in the state. Mental health services should be improved and focus on becoming more efficient in order to address suicide rather than taking away firearms. The Legislature should move toward providing a budget that forces departments to become more efficient rather than continuing to increase spending on their bureaucracy. We should not be raising taxes.
We should not be negotiating university buildings as a part of an infrastructure bill while rural and Eastern Montana’s roads, water systems, and schools are deteriorating. Unfortunately, this partisanship over the past couple of sessions has led to this issue being an immediate need in which bonding will likely be the solution before the needs get even more expensive. The Medicaid Expansion program is too expensive for the state in its current form. Currently, I do not support continuing the program. An important issue in Eastern Montana is what many refer to as “brain drain.” Eastern Montana
is losing its population, especially younger, to other areas of the state and country. This, coupled with Helena largely ignoring the issues of Eastern Montana has had many consequences on the local economy. In order to get the population to stay or return, eastern Montana needs to create an environment that competes with the economy and entertainment of other portions of the state. That starts with maintaining our infrastructure, improving mental health services, updating our education system, and ensuring access to public lands. I will be that voice that ensures Eastern Montana finally gets equal representation when it comes to securing these resources.
disenfranchised, of essential services. Those of us who can afford to pay more, should. And we all need a voice in the conversation. Comprehensive” may be the problem. What works in one context won’t necessarily work in another. Bonding makes sense in cases where people can see relatively immediate results. Gas tax increases make road sense. Universities have donor bases to prime the funding pump, and more. Importantly, there is the overriding tension between rural and urban contexts and constituencies, and their relative needs and priorities. Dare I say it? Rural Montana needs more infrastructure development than the more populous areas. The will to compromise on progressive tax increases, coupled with jobproducing infrastructure projects, could (no pun intended) pave the way toward progress. I-185 goes a long way toward resolving this question. Providing quality health care for the 91,000 Montanans who cannot otherwise afford it is the moral and right thing to do, and it makes sound economic sense. According to the Bureau of Business and
Economic Research at the University of Montana, continuing Medicaid expansion—the lion’s share of which is federally funded—will generate 5,000 jobs and $270 million in personal income each year from 2018 to 2020. Meanwhile, we can be working toward the establishment of universal health care in Montana, via the creation of a single-payer program. Everybody wins. Divisiveness. “Us” against “Them” thinking. Mindless regionalism. Variations of the disunity plaguing American society. We Eastern Montanans are uniquely prepared to address it. Come blizzard or drought, boom or bust, we “get” that as irreconcilable as some of our differences appear, we are ultimately all in this together. Hence my motto: Unity through Community. The way forward can only be through open and honest dialogue: all parties forthrightly engaged, none silenced. Recent legislative cycles demonstrated a glaring lack of this dynamic balance. The time is now to restore it. Senate District 19 is the place. Voting Democratic is the way.
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SENATE DISTRICT 19
Mary Zeiss Stange - D Age: 68 Occupation: Retired college professor, writer, bison rancher Family: Spouse, Douglas C. Stange Education: B.A., Magna cum laude/Phi Beta Kappa, English literature; M.A & Ph.D., religion and culture, Syracuse University. Past Employment: Several academic appointments, includ-
ing (among others) Eastern Montana College, Central Michigan University, Black Hills State College; then 26 years (1990-2016) as senior faculty member and administrator at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY. Past political experience: Two terms of service on MTFWP Region 7 Citizens Advisory Council; Vice-chair, Carter County Democratic Committee, 2006-2008, and presently; Member of the Steering Committee, Adirondack Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice; Vice President of Artemis, the Women’s Working Group on Sustainability and Hunting, International Council on Game and Wildlife Conservation. Online campaign info: Facebook: https://www. facebook.com/MaryForMontanaSD19 Website: www.crazywomanbison.com Email: Mary.for.Montana@ gmail.com Address: Mary for Montana, POB 136, Ekalaka, MT 59324 Phone: 406-775-8808
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Montana is a gun-positive culture. We embrace the Second Amendment’s provision of a fundamental right to gun ownership and use. As a hunter and shooter, I support the Heller decision affirming the right to gunarmed self-defense. However, also following Heller, I recognize the need for reasonable gun regulation. In that light, one very problematic law on the books in Montana is “Stand Your Ground” which, as in the premeditated Missoula killing of an unarmed German exchange student in 2014, is murder masquerading as self-defense. It is bad law. It gives gun-owners a bad name. I would work to overturn it. Governor Bullock partially answered this question in his 8/30 announcement of the restoration of significant portions of the 2017 budget. This was good governance in action. We need to build upon this foundation. The key change to make is in the direction of genuine cooperation, with an eye toward the greater good for all. If this sounds like “socialism,” so be it. We cannot deprive the poor, the sick, the hungry, the
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VOTER GUIDE | October 2018
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