Senate District 3

By JIM MANN/Daily Inter Lake

Bruce Tutvedt and Mark Holston bring classic Republican and Democrat values to the Flathead Valley's Senate District 3 race, and some stark differences.

"I'm a free-market capitalist. I'm a Reagan fiscal conservative. I believe in lower taxes and less regulation," asserts Tutvedt, a longtime farmer and rancher on family land north of Kalispell.

Senate District 3 includes the northwest portion of Flathead County, plus the area between Evergreen and Columbia Falls. Sen. Jerry O'Neil is not seeking re-election in that district because of term limits.

Tutvedt says he believes in government that "empowers the individual" and he brings a strong belief in private property rights.

Holston grew up in the Bigfork area at a time when Montanans, particularly Democrats, looked up to leaders like Sen. Mike Mansfield and President John F. Kennedy.

"A Democrat in Montana would probably be a Republican in most other states," said Holston, citing a favorite quote he picked up years ago.

A freelance journalist, musician and project coordinator for the Flathead Basin Commission, Holston said he is fiscally conservative with a populist streak.

Holston said he joined the race partly at the urging of local supporters and he considered the time to be right, now that he is a part-time contractor for the basin commission. He says he did not feel comfortable running for public office when he was a state employee.

Another major factor: "It was obvious that no Democrat was going to file in this district … and I just felt very strongly that voters should have a choice, that the seat shouldn't be handed to anybody."

Tutvedt says he's long been interested in politics, and in the last session, he was active in the state capitol with legislation regarding the regulation of gravel pits. Tutvedt owns a gravel pit on his land that was temporarily shut down by litigation.

And that, for Holston, is an issue in the race.

"I have no self interest in my decision to run … There's no bill I could vote for that would enrich me in any way," he said.

Holston asserts that Tutvedt, on the other hand, has a "very specialized and strong self-interest in getting elected," with the ability to influence regulatory restrictions on gravel pits.

"I don't have an agenda," said Tutvedt, who asserts that his gravel pit is already in operation, having cleared the necessary regulatory reviews and meeting the terms of a court order.

He acknowledges that gravel pit regulatory issues are "going to come forward" in the next session, but he believes he has become knowledgeable on the subject of balancing public health and safety with property rights and an obvious need for gravel in communities across the state.

Making his point, he said Flathead County uses 2 million to 3 million cubic yards of gravel annually. With rising fuel prices, communities that choose to restrict gravel pits only to distant locations will greatly add to the costs of construction, public and private.

Montana communities need "sources of plentiful, readily available gravel" and the challenge is siting those sources in a balanced way.

Holston said he is also seeking the Senate seat because of a strong disappointment in the "acrimonious" partisanship of the 2007 session.

"One of my motivations for running is I've been concerned for about 15 years now about the quality of representation" in the Legislature, not only from the Flathead, but also other parts of the state, he said. "I would do my best to work with people on the other side of the aisle. I know many of these people."

Tutvedt said there is a good possibility for Republicans to assume the majority in the Senate, and if that happens, he predicts there will be less acrimony.

"I think we will handle ourselves with class," he said.

Tutvedt said a major priority will be restricting government growth. He and other Republicans contend that Gov. Brian Schweitzer's administration has driven a 40 percent increase in state spending over the last four years.

Schweitzer has rejected those claims, contending that much of the spending was directed at solving "one-time" problems and paying for projects outright rather than borrowing funds for them.

Even so, Tutvedt says, the state payroll has grown by more than 1,200 employees over the same period.

Holston also predicts there will be a need for fiscal restraint, particularly in light of the country's stock-market crisis and teetering economy.

"This session will be about making painful choices about what gets funded and what doesn't," Holston said, adding that he supports Schweitzer's position to avoid spending increases.

"He wants to hold the line," Holston said. "Brian Schweitzer has had very strong leadership … and I want to be part of that."

Holston considers the state's property-tax structure to be a "growing burden" on Montana homeowners.

"Sooner or later, the Legislature really has to roll up its sleeves and figure out what to do about taxes so there isn't such a disproportionate burden on homeowners," he said.

Tutvedt also sees major problems with the state's tax structure.

"I'm running because I think we need to get the economy of the state of Montana going," he said.

Tutvedt favors the outright elimination of a business equipment tax that he believes is a hindrance to business investment and growth.

"And we need real property tax relief, not a one-time check," he said, making a dig at Schweitzer's $400 rebate for taxpayers last year.

Both candidates also are interested in natural-resource issues.

"I believe in using our natural resources, our fossil fuels in the east and our timber in the west," said Tutvedt, who believes that Montana has revenue potential similar to Wyoming's in coal development.

In his work with the Flathead Basin Commission, Holston has been involved with the state's opposition to coal and methane development in the Canadian Flathead river basin, which flows south into Montana's North Fork Flathead River.

"The North Fork is a special case," he said, noting that there is potential for coal development in Eastern Montana.

To Holston, "the first and foremost thing" is whether those resources can be developed without harming state residents' constitutional right to a "clean and healthful environment."

He notes that Wyoming's approach to methane development in the Powder River Basin has had downstream pollution effects in Montana.

If elected, Tutvedt said, he anticipates that he will have a role in agricultural issues.

"In the old days, there were a lot of farmers and ranchers in the Legislature, but now there's not."

Holston said his journalism skills, the ability to sift through volumes of complex information, would serve him well in the Legislature.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com