Living costs dominate debate between Montana Gov. Gianforte and challenger Busse

How to help people struggling with Montana's rising cost of living — driven in part by people inspired by the hit show "Yellowstone" to move there — dominated a debate between the state's Republican governor and his Democratic challenger Wednesday.

While Democrat Ryan Busse sought to portray Gov. Greg Gianforte as out of touch with people trying to afford housing, Gianforte pointed to the state's strong economy as he argued for a second term in office.

"I wake up every day looking for ways to help Montanans prosper and we're succeeding," Gianforte said. "There's more to do."

Gianforte's personal wealth was a focus as Busse, a former gun industry executive, emphasized the state's rising living costs — which Gianforte blamed on President Joe Biden's administration.

Busse, of Kalispell, criticized Gianforte, a multimillionaire tech industry businessman from Bozeman, as being more willing to give tax cuts to the wealthy than to help ordinary citizens.

"The rest of us were walloped with the highest tax property increase in the history of this state and people across this state are hurting," Busse said. "Now you may not be hurting — you have four mansions, you fly around in a private jet — but the rest of us are hurting."

Montana has prospered over the past four years thanks in part to tax cuts and rebates, Gianforte said.

Income and property tax relief approved in 2023 totaled as much as $3,500 for a couple living in their home if they had paid that much in taxes.

"Montanans at every income level have benefited. Record tax rebates, record job creation and wage growth, we've boosted education and law enforcement funding and we've made Montana completely debt-free," Gianforte said.

While Montanans got property tax rebates, Gianforte agreed with Busse more could be done. He suggested a task force's recommendation to cut property taxes for homeowners, landlords, businesses and farmers and ranches.

"We need permanent reform," Gianforte said.

The governor should have followed the example of his predecessors by cutting them already, said Busse.

Neither disputed a moderator who called the show "Yellowstone" an inspiration for some to move to Montana — and change the state in the process.

Gianforte at first dismissed Busse as not a "serious candidate" and refused to debate the Democrat because he hadn't released his tax returns.

Busse responded by releasing 10 years of income tax records, setting the stage for the debate hosted by ABC Fox Montana.

Gianforte's election by a wide margin in 2020 — with backing from former President Donald Trump — ended a 16-year run of Democratic governors in Montana.

Gianfote spent more than $7.5 million of his own money in the 2020 race, and has since overseen a decrease in individual income taxes and an increase in residential property taxes in Montana.

He signed laws blocking gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors and limiting access to abortion, but those have been blocked by courts.

A former vice president at firearms company Kimber Manufacturing, Busse has said his disagreement with aggressive marketing of military-type assault rifles caused him to exit the gun industry.

Tax returns show Busse and his wife earned about $260,000 annually over the past decade.

Gianforte's tech career began in New Jersey. He moved to Bozeman in 1995 and founded RightNow technologies, which was eventually sold to software company Oracle for nearly $2 billion.

A criminal case put an early stain on Gianforte's political career. He was charged with a misdemeanor in 2017 when he body-slammed a reporter, but he went on to win a seat in the U.S. House in a special election and won reelection to the seat in 2018.

    Ryan Busse, senior advisor at Giffords Law Center, listens during a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing, July 27, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)