BUTTE -The recent Democratic primary candidate debate held at the Mother Lode Theater in Butte did not seem like much of a debate since the four candidates agreed on most of the issues.
Candidates Ryan Busse, Russ Cleveland, Sam Forstag, and Matt Rains are seeking Montana’s First Congressional District, which is held by Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke, who is not seeking re-election. The candidates addressed various issues important to the state.
“Data Centers as a symptom, well, if they are going to be making profits hand over fist, they should have to meet strict requirements before they come to Montana. That means energy self-sufficiency, providing all their own power, so that our power bills are not going up in a place where working people are already struggling to afford that,” Candidate Sam Forstag said.
WATCH: Four Democrats debated Montana's open congressional seat. Here's where they stand
“I would propose a 50 to one ratio on executive to frontline worker wages to close that wage disparity and start attacking that without necessarily raising the federal minimum wage and hurting small businesses. The second would be banning corporate ownership. We need to keep residential homes in our hands, in working-class hands,” Candidate Russ Cleveland said.
“We need universal healthcare in this country. We need somebody to stand up and fight for it, okay. We allow insurance companies to profit $74.1 billion a year, a billion with a ‘B,’ and every penny of that is profited by slowing down your healthcare, making your healthcare worse,” Candidate Ryan Busse said.
“I will absolutely defend every single acre of public land in Montana and this nation. We had some games played by Ryan Zinke, who we scared out of the race. He was good with selling off our national lands, but he came to protect ours, that’s bull---- you either protect public lands or you don’t,” Candidate Matt Rains said.
When reached by KXLF, Zinke’s Chief of Staff Heather Swift responded by saying Rains’ statement was false.
“Rains is either deliberately lying or completely uninformed. Possibly both, considering he doesn’t live in the district and receive local news coverage.”
Rains lives outside the district boundary in Simms.
