BUTTE – John Heenan and Grant Kier, the two Democratic candidates who have raised the most money for their congressional bids against Republican incumbent Greg Gianforte, stopped in Butte Wednesday to deliver a message of standing up for the average Montanan.
“We deserve representatives that are going to represent us. Not the 1 percent of people that are unwilling to pay their fair share,” Heenan said.
“The hope right now, the hope I’m seeing right now is that people are realizing that trickle-down economics doesn’t work, but trickle down scarcity does work and devastates our local communities,” Kier said.
When questioned about gun control, both candidates say they don’t support banning the AR-15, but they do want to find common sense solutions to gun violence in this country.
“We need to fund the CDC, that’s the Center for Disease Control, and the NIH so we can understand what our policies can do to make our communities safer,” said Kier.
“I support banning the bump stocks, closing the gun show loophole, enforcing the laws that are on the books,” Heenan said.
Both candidates say they support campaign reform, getting the dark money out of politics, because they say politicians are not looking out for the working-class Americans.
“Standing up to powerful corporate interests, you know, my background is I sit across the table from people that have been cheated by banks, insurance companies and I figure out with them how can we fight back,” Heenan said.
“I think Montanans are looking for people to represent them who understand everyday struggles of hardworking families who have been through those and really appreciate what it means to change policies in D.C. and what those impacts mean for people,” Kier said.
Heenan and Kier are being challenged by in the primary race by John Meyer, Jared Pettinato and Kathleen Williams.
