Letters to the editor May 10

Tranel is scrappy

This June Democrats will choose a candidate for Montana’s Western Congressional District.

The likely Republican opponent is the ethically challenged former Secretary of the Interior and California resident Ryan Zinke. Democrats need a strong no nonsense candidate that can go toe to toe with the Zinkanator when he flies up from Santa Barbara to campaign.

For me, that candidate is Monica Tranel. Monica is a lifelong Montanan. She’s an eastern Montana ranch kid, and today she is an attorney who has gone to bat for ranchers, clean energy developers and Montana consumers. She can talk cows and kilowatts with authority.

Monica has called out Northwestern Energy, taking them to task when their generating plants went down and they tried to saddle ratepayers for the cost of the plant, profit and cost of replacement power. The end result is she prevented Northwestern from charging consumers $10 million for their mistake. Ratepayers kept that money in their pockets. Ethical, tough and on my side, what’s not to like?

Democrats need a strong, smart scrapper this November to take on special interest and fossil fuel industry backed Zinke. That scrapper is Monica Tranel.

— Bob Rich, Missoula

Decker will fight for liberty

Devon Decker is running for House District 11 and he is the one who will protect our individual freedom and liberty. Not like one of his opponents who voted for lockdowns in the March 19, 2020 Board of Health meeting. Our freedoms suffered immensely during the Covid-19 outbreak. Where was our individual health choices then? Devon States he will fight for these individual health choices.

When our own health choices are taken away the alternative is tyranny and our loss of our freedom and liberty. Freedom and liberty is something this country stood for. We want it back. Our children need it back.

Devon will fight for our children as an advocate for pro life, parenting rights, school choices and against indoctrination of critical race theory.

As a parent and grandparent, our children need us to fight for these rights. Please consider voting for Devon Decker. He will be the one to help us fight to obtain this.

— Amber Golliday, Kila

Endorses Huestis for SD4

If you are anything like me, you may not be looking forward to our critically important mid-term elections. For me, I am tired of hearing the nonstop rhetoric that can be endlessly heard from both extreme ends of our political parties, resulting in very little getting solved and accomplished.

Despite my apprehension concerning this sad situation we find ourselves in, it is so very important that we vote in the primary elections and support candidates who are running for a higher goal based on decency, integrity, honor, and faithfulness to the best interests of our communities, state, and those they serve. We must take extra care in evaluating the character and motives of each candidate.

As a conservative, I am supporting Lee Huestis (R) for Senate District 4 and this is why.

Lee is a lifelong Montanan who is a husband, father, teacher, and most importantly a man of integrity. Lee will listen to anyone’s concerns and work to represent the needs of the Flathead Valley and state when representing us in Helena. Lee is not prideful, neither a politician, nor does he have his own private agenda but is a humble individual with a servant’s heart that desires to serve the people he represents.

Most importantly I am supporting Lee Huestis because he can work with anyone and get things done for the good of our state and community. He will protect the values that we love and support in Kalispell. Let’s get the important work facing our region and state solved in Helena in a spirit of cooperation and respect, help elect Lee Huestis, Senate District 4 (R).

— Mark Flatau, Kalispell

RINOs on the loose

“Birds of a feather”…. Gary Krueger’s letter from April 29 is the exact reason why he was trounced in the Republican primary and only served one term as a county commissioner: He is a Democrat masquerading as a Republican.

The skulduggery, collusion and fringe special interests he alludes to were with Democrat operatives that are still his associates where he gets his talking points and marching orders from. For those new to the Flathead County political scene, Democrats have infiltrated and posed as Republicans in every election cycle.

They get outed and, like Gary Hall, Bob Brown and Gary Krueger, assume their rightful place on the political trash heap. They now act openly in support of those opposed to the principles of truth, honor and integrity in order to feel relevant to a process they spent their political careers loathing.

If a Krueger endorsement of a candidate means anything, it is the principles of division, acrimony and deceit. Those are the Krueger political navigational beacons and expect nothing less than the same from those he supports… “flock together.”

— Rick Breckenridge, Kalispell

Supports Holmquist

I’d like to take this opportunity to urge you to join me in re-electing conservative Republican County Commissioner Pam Holmquist in the upcoming primary election.

Holmquist has served two terms as our county commissioner and is one of the best, if not the best county commissioners Flathead County has ever had. We need Holmquist to continue to protect property rights, freedom, public safety and our wallets. Holmquist stood strong and kept our county open during the Covid pandemic, working hard to protect our freedom. Holmquist is a hard worker and if you believe in property rights, freedom, public safety.

I urge you to join me in voting to re-elect conservative Republican Pam Holmquist for Flathead County Commissioner in the upcoming Primary election.

— Ardis Larsen, Lakeside

Don’t believe the mob

I support Ronalee Skees for HD 11. She has been a committed leader for our community for many years. Ronalee has the experience to serve us in Helena and the willingness to listen to her constituents.

We have seen there is an angry mob in Kalispell that has been sending in letters that are a lie about her character. Ronalee is not responsible for the lockdown in Flathead County — that was the governor’s orders and it was because there was no idea of what Covid would do to our most vulnerable. Ronalee, Pam, Ardis, and Annie were a solid vote to keep Flathead County as free from mandates as could to push back against the state and federal issued lockdown. This angry mob is not entitled to rewrite the facts to fit their political narrative.

Join me in support of Ronalee Skees for HD 11 and vote Skees!

— Elaine Hamilton, Lakeside

Jack Fallon a conservative?

Fallon, campaigning for county commissioner, is trying to pass himself off as a conservative. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Parents right’s laws are the top of discussion in many areas right now, prompted by the Florida law to not push sexual education on kindergartners. Not so long ago a father of a rape victim was punished for speaking out in a Virginia school board meeting because the board covered up for the boy (dressed as a girl) in the girls bathroom who raped his daughter.

Let me take you back to a time when the hot topic was granting transgender youth special protection at Kalispell School District 5. The school board adopted a policy back in 2015 (Policy 3210) which provided special recognition and protection to transgender youth, sexual orientation and gender expression. This disturbing and troubling transgender policy was drafted by a subcommittee led by trustee Jack Fallon. This policy was opposed by many leading conservatives in Flathead County at the time. Over their objection, the board (led by Fallon) adopted this disturbing policy.

This type of policy could lead to boys in girls’ bathrooms or boys on the girls’ sports team (this is not allowed by state law, thanks to Rep. John Fuller) or boys in girls rooms on overnight trips.

I have been at the fore front of this discussion to protect our kids in the Montana Legislature. I carried the “bathroom bill” at the Legislature and I voted for the “Protect women’s sports bill.”

We need to reject policies that push transgender and other similar policies on our kids. Let our kids be kids.

Jack Fallon conservative? I think not. We can do better for a county commissioner in the Flathead.

— Sen. Carl Glimm, Kila