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For those interested in Montana’s Governors Race, the following are excerpts from the candidates that are running for Governor in the 2012 November Elections.  As Governor Brian Schweitzer is termed out, Montana will have a new Governor come 2013.  Who will it be?  Here’s a chance for you to get to know the candidates a bit.    

Steve Bullock: Democrat

Montana is at a crossroads. The leaders we elect and the decisions we make today will define the Montana that we live in now and the Montana we pass on to our kids and grandkids – that’s why I’m running for Governor. 

With leadership, and a vision for the future, we can help Made-in-Montana businesses continue to grow and attract more companies to invest in our state.  We can create good paying jobs in research, technology, development and manufacturing.  We can lead the country in educational innovation, opportunity and achievement – and be a place where students are able to graduate college without tens of thousands of dollars of debt.   

Montana can be a place that maintains its rural identity and where family farmers and ranchers can still thrive.  And we can responsibly develop our resources – including coal, wind, oil and gas, hydropower, biofuels and geothermal – while preserving the quality of life that is so important to Montanans.

Larry Jent: Democrat

I’m running for governor to keep Montana the best place to grow up, raise a family, grow old, and chase a dream; because the tone and tenor of politics, here and elsewhere is unacceptable; because the governor’s office is the center of action for the kind of Montana we want in the future.

I am entering this race on a proven record of effective legislative leadership. I was selected as the 2007 Conservation Legislator by the Montana Wildlife Federation, and have consistently achieved a 100% voting record from the Montana Conservation Voters. I received the Crime Fighter Award from a national crime victims group for DNA database legislation aimed at solving cold cases. I wrote and passed Montana’s no-call telemarketing law, toughest in the nation. I also spearheaded efforts to reform a troubled mental health system. I was honored by the Montana National Guard in 2011 for service to guardsmen and veterans. This session I led the way with sponsorship of bills targeting Montana’s drunken driving epidemic. In five of my six sessions, I served in the minority, yet was able to author 48 bills that became law.

I’m running because Montanans need a moderate candidate – and I’m the only one in this race. Alone among Democrats, I fought the medical marijuana mafia and won.

And finally, I’m running because I’ve been tested and proven and I can win. 

Ken Miller:  Republican

I’m running to serve Montana as your next governor to bring a new pro-business culture to this state.  I have a background in family agriculture and small business as well as experience as a state legislator.  

I know firsthand how difficult it is to do business here as well as realizing Montana’s tremendous potential for wealth creation with our natural resources base.  There is no reason Montana cannot create an economy that will bring new, high paying jobs to every county and become the envy of every state in the union. I have the vision, work ethic, experience, and the fighting spirit it will take to get us there. After traveling more than 60,000 miles around our state speaking with thousands of Montanans, I feel an even stronger desire to work hard, to change Montana and create a business environment that creates good paying jobs.  We need the right leadership with the knowledge, experience, integrity and strong backbone to do it.  

I want a better future for our state and for my two children attending MSU Join me in creating the most pro-business administration Montana has ever seen.  As Montana business leaders, I would appreciate your input about what we can do to help your businesses be more successful and remove the barriers, both big and small you are facing.  

Please call me on my personal cellular phone at (406) 670-8318 and I look forward to the conversation. Please check out my website, Miller4Governor.com.

Corey Stapleton: Republican

I have unfinished business in Helena.  That’s why I’m running for Governor!  

I was the lead sponsor of the Otter Creek coal legislation ten years ago, that would direct millions of dollars in revenue to pay for our schools.  Yet not a piece of Otter Creek coal has moved under eight years of Brian Schweitzer!  If elected, we’re going to change that.  We’re going to develop the Bakken, get the coal moving, and create thousands of jobs.

I took on the bureaucracy in Helena, and saved Montana millions of dollars by shutting down a failed computer and management system in the Dept. of Revenue.  There are many more failing programs in state government, and just like before, if I’m elected we’re going to eliminate them.

Montana has 2500 doctors, and 600 of them are retiring in the next 5 years.   Yet, our only current solution is to send $3 million each year to Washington for 9 doctors.  What we’re doing isn’t working!  And now there is a physician shortage crisis across rural Montana, which could’ve been avoided, had we created a Montana Medical school in 2005, a senate bill I sponsored.  If elected, we’re going to reduce our dependence on other state and federal governments, and find better Montana healthcare solutions.

Jeff Essmann: Republican

I know that Montana needs bold leadership to address the issues facing us, from tracking and then removing the regulatory hurdles that have slowly strangled our economic potential to dealing with the 3.8 Billion dollar  public employee pension liability that is off the books but should no longer be kicked down the road.   

As Governor, I’ll continue my fight to unleash the economic potential of our great state which has been thwarted by heavy handed Helena bureaucrats that are isolated from the negative impacts of their regulatory delay and denial.  I’ll stand up for families and Montana solutions and against the top-down one size fits all Washington-type approach that destroys jobs and financially burdens future generations.  

Montana is a vast state with many cultures, but we can no longer afford to have the economic potential of our resource rich areas throttled by the insular culture of Helena bureaucrats and judges

Rick Hill: Republican

It’s up to us to leave Montana better off than we found it for our children and grandchildren – but to do that we must find solutions to the problems that are keeping our state from reaching its fullest potential. We need to take down the barriers that are hindering job creation, manage a government that we can afford, and protect our state from federal overreach.

For our state to find result-oriented solutions to our problems, we need a Governor who has the background, experience, and determination to get things done. We need a leader who has experience as a job creator, someone who understands how an economy works and who has been put to the test and succeeded.

I’ve been there before, I’ve run businesses, I’ve helped others get their businesses off the ground, and I’ve faced the toughest possible situations in business and found successful solutions through proper management. During my term in Congress I made it a priority to make Montana economically competitive.  Like you, I understand that it’s not government that creates jobs; it’s the private sector that creates jobs. I understand that the solutions to our economic problems aren’t more regulations; solutions come from breaking down self-imposed barriers that keep our private sector from growing.

I am running for governor because I see opportunities to fix the problems that are holding us back, but to do it I need your help. Please visit www.rickhill2012.com to learn more about my campaign and vision for Montana. 

Jim Lynch- Republican

Our current leadership fails to see the urgency that exists today in the lives of Montanans. We have a public sector work ethic that does not incentivize efficiency and value creation, but instead is ensnared in doing the same old things the same old way. The tendency for those currently in power is to control our economic system with new regulations, and restrictions. 

We need a Governor that believes the role of government should be limited, yet responsive to the needs of the private sector. The next governor must also have a record of creating jobs in the private sector. He needs to have a record of creating new efficiencies in government and pushing the creative destruction of harmful policies.  I have that record. 

I fought this first hand as director of the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT). I ended the practice of “double dipping” where employees retired, drew their pensions and were rehired at their old pay grades. In the 6+ years as the Director at MDT, I reduced the number of state employees, while increasing productivity. 

I transformed the second largest state agency into one that operated like a business. This allowed MDT to nearly double project payouts to the private sector without increasing gas taxes. 

I am running to expand that record to the rest of state government, instilling a sense of urgency to get Montanans the services they need, and then get out of their way. 

Neil Livingstone: Republican

The reason I’m running for Governor is very simple.  There’s Kevin, who lost his job in a mill four years ago and is living on food stamps in a dilapidated trailer.  Or Helen, who’s in her seventies and works like a dog, both cooking and waiting on tables in her tiny restaurant.  Or Jack, whose small construction company is going out of business and he’s going to have to declare personal bankruptcy.  They are just a few of the people I’ve met in my trips around the state.               

Despite what the Governor says, Montana is in trouble.  We rank 47th in per capita GDP, down next to Arkansas, West Virginia, and Mississippi. We need an economic revolution in Montana.  All of the states around us are doing better than we are.  North Dakota has the lowest unemployment in the country and has a booming oil and gas sector.  Wyoming has a multi-billion dollar surplus and has resurfaced all of its roads, rebuilt all of its schools, and its school teachers earn almost twice as much as their counterparts in Montana.               

The cornerstone of my platform is responsible resource development.  In other words, I support a major expansion of surface coal mining, oil and gas drilling, and a revitalization of our timber industry.                

I have pledged nothing less than a complete overhaul of state government to cut regulation, reduce workers comp costs, to make the state more business friendly, to lower taxes, and to promote tort reform.   

Bob Fanning: Republican

 

I am running for Governor in America’s darkest hour because I am the only candidate with the credentials to lead and restructure our state’s economy in a crisis. My 38 years of multifaceted financial and leadership experiences gave me the diagnostic tools to understand, explain simply, and quantify exactly what caused the fraud-based mortgage crisis.

   

These crises made tens of millions of Americans homeless and jobless. It is the number one issue in the 2012 election for all Americans, especially Montanans.  America is living in a credit vacuum. It was caused by corrupt central bankers and central planners who, in a treasonous breech of public trust, destroyed America’s financial system.  

 

I am the only qualified and accomplished Chief Restructuring Officer in the governor’s race. I am the only candidate who will lead Montana to rapid economic progress. I will help Montana succeed as the Criminal Counterfeit Ring at the Federal Reserve and their “Too Big To Fail” Bankster bosses go down.  To survive while the bosses go down, Montana will use our first line of defense: the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution. 

 

Under my leadership, we will hit the ground running with an actionable, multifaceted plan operating on parallel tracks to move Montana from the bottom rung on the economic ladder to the absolute top.  Fortunately, we live in the resource-rich Treasure State. Montanans have proved their work ethic, creativity, and ability to adapt. Once freed from over-regulation, Montanans will make Montana a shining beacon to 49 other states. 

 

Jim O’Hara: Republican

 

My agricultural and business background gives me a good perspective on a lot of the challenges facing Montana business.   

My years as a county commissioner give me an insight as to how government works. Business needs government, and government needs business. 

As governor I will work to ensure Montana is a state where business and government work together as a team to the benefit of all Montanans.