Montana
Montanans (still) concerned about housing costs, property taxes, poll says • Daily Montanan
“A whopping” 73% of voters say they don’t believe elected leaders are adequately addressing Montana’s housing crisis, according to poll results released Thursday by left-leaning Middle Fork Strategies.
“Montanans are tired of being priced out of their communities and feeling like the politicians that they elected to represent them are instead giving breaks to big corporations and the wealthy at the expense of working families,” said Brandon DeMars, Middle Fork’s executive director, in a news release.
Findings show Montanans are largely concerned about the same issues, the cost of living and cost of housing, along with inflation, property taxes and public education, Middle Fork said.
But compared to other recent surveys, “pessimism about the direction of the state continues to grow,” said a news release about the poll.
Middle Fork describes itself as a “multi-issue advocacy and research organization” with goals to hold those in power accountable and “empower progressive voices.”
The poll was released on the same day a property tax task force convened by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte delivered its proposal with ideas for property tax relief for the 2025 Montana Legislature to consider.
In a statement Thursday, Gianforte said his office will do its part to address the crisis in housing.
“While we need the federal government to do its part to fix the inflation it’s caused, we’ll do our part to address the affordability crisis,” Gianforte said. “Getting property taxes under control is one part of it. I know the members of this task force share my commitment to addressing rising property taxes and helping more folks achieve the American dream.”
The poll was conducted by Searchlight Research among 600 likely voters from July 28-Aug. 1, Middle Fork said in its news release. It has a +-4% margin of error.
Searchlight Research describes itself as “a full-service public opinion research firm specializing in electing Democrats at all levels and advancing progressive causes.”
The poll asked questions about support for abortion, the housing crisis, and political preferences for the Montana Legislature, among other topics.
Of voters surveyed, 41% said abortion should be legal and generally available; 15% said regulations are necessary, but “it should remain legal in most circumstance.”
Also, 31% said abortion should be legal “only in the most extreme cases, such as to save the life of the woman are in the cases of rape or incest,” the poll said. And 10% said abortion should be illegal.
Middle Fork said the findings on abortion match trends in other research.
“Additionally, an overwhelming majority (83%) favor keeping in vitro fertilization, or IVF, treatment legally available to everyone, underscoring the strong disapproval of proposals to restrict or ban it,” Middle Fork said.
Abortion is legal in Montana because it is protected through privacy in the Montana Constitution and the Montana Supreme Court’s decision in Armstrong vs. State of Montana.
However, a constitutional amendment is slated to be on the ballot this year to protect reproductive rights including abortion.
The poll also found 57% of voters surveyed don’t believe public education is adequately funded. It found 14% strongly agree that it is properly funded.
Generally, the poll also said 57% of voters believe the state is “on the wrong track” compared to 36% who say Montana is going in the right direction — and 52% who said Montana was on the wrong track five months ago.
In 2023, Republicans held a supermajority in the Montana Legislature, and the poll shows most voters still would support a generic Republican for office. It found 50% of voters would support a Republican over a Democrat for the legislature, and 44% would support a Democrat.
Republicans are expected to lose seats in November but retain a majority. Gianforte is also up for re-election but has been far ahead in other polls against Democratic Ryan Busse, according to a couple of surveys posted on 538 including one funded by the Montana GOP.
The Middle Fork poll also showed the following:
- 85 percent oppose cuts to Social Security benefits.
- 74 percent oppose the creation of a sales tax in Montana.
- 73 percent favor reauthorization of the state’s Medicaid expansion program.
- 66 percent oppose legislation allowing tax dollars to be taken away from local public schools and given to private charter schools.
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Clark Fork River has long been a defining feature of Missoula, shaping the city’s culture, economy and outdoor lifestyle.
The river is so closely tied to the area that it helped inspire the well-known book and film “A River Runs Through It.” But local conservation advocates say its importance goes far beyond scenery.
“Without the Clark Fork River, Missoula would just be another town,” said Lisa Ronald, Northern Rockies associate conservation director for American Rivers. “We wouldn’t be the River City. I think we’re known in Montana as Missoula the River City, and it’s really because of the Clark Fork River and its central role in business, in economics, in recreation, that really makes Missoula the town that it is.”
Carmen Murill, a field organizer with Wild Montana, said the river is deeply woven into daily life for people who live in Missoula.
“A lot of us would wonder what to do on a beautiful or a rainy summer day,” Murill said. “I mean, it’s really a lifeforce of town. And I think it’s pretty unique that Missoula, as a community is living and breathing on both sides of the river. It’s really like two downtowns but connected by the Clark Fork.”
Conservation groups say protecting the river begins with community involvement.
Advocates encourage residents and visitors to spend time outdoors, whether on a trail, in the woods or along the river, and to learn how they can become better stewards of the environment.
MISSOULA — Sam Forstag edged out Ryan Busse to secure the Democratic nomination in Montana’s 1st Congressional District.
Busse conceded the race to Forstag on Wednesday morning. Forstag had trailed behind Busse Tuesday evening, but he made up ground as the votes were counted into the early hours of Wednesday morning. The other two candidates in the race, Russl Cleveland and Matt Rains, are sitting at third and fourth, respectively.
Forstag leads in close race for Montana’s 1st Congressional District
Forstag spent eight years as a wildland firefighter, including four as a smokejumper, and he’s been vice president of the local National Federation of Federal Employees union. Last week, U.S. House of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, held a rally in Missoula to support Forstag’s campaign.
He told MTN on Tuesday that his campaign has been for the working class.
“We got a whole lot of people here that have been working their tail off to finally get some working-class representation in Washington,” Forstag noted. “So proud of everything we’ve done and so grateful.”
Forstag further noted he wants Montanans to be able to afford groceries, have universal free childcare and restore and expand Affordable Health Care Act subsidies.
“Hearing people’s stories and struggles and commonalities in the ways that we’re all fighting in the system that does not serve us so often, and the government serves corporations and the richest people in this country more than working people. It has been frustrating and saddening, but it has also inspired so much hope in me, like the fixes we can actually make,” he told MTN.
The 1st Congressional District covers much of western Montana, including Kalispell, Missoula, Butte and Bozeman. It is currently held by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, who chose not to seek reelection.
By securing the nomination, Forstag is slated tol face off against Libertarian candidate Nick Sheedy and Republican candidate Aaron Flint in November.
Brian Miller won the Democratic primary Tuesday for the U.S. House seat in Montana’s eastern district.
The Associated Press called the race for Miller, an attorney in Helena, who fended off a challenge from state Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, a longtime legislator from Box Elder, and Sam Lux, a farrier from Great Falls.
In the Republican and rural eastern district, any Democrat will be an underdog, and Miller will face off against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Downing, who was unopposed Tuesday.
Libertarian Patrick McCracken is also running.
In the primary, Miller took 58% of the vote. Lux took 27% and Windy Boy took 16%, according to the Montana Secretary of State’s website.
In April, Windy Boy paused his campaign amid “serious sexual abuse” allegations raised by the Montana Democratic Party — but Windy Boy restarted his campaign and later called the allegations “political attacks.”
Miller is representing the victim of the alleged abuse and her mother, although he said he didn’t take on the role until after Windy Boy initially suspended his campaign.
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