Putting Montana First

I was in Billings recently when a young woman, Devin, told me a story that happens all too often. Devin’s daughter, Brooklyn, had cancer, and her husband routinely had to make the hard choice between working shifts at his job to put food on the table or going to their daughter’s doctor appointments.

Devin and her husband are looking for solutions, but instead all they see is politicians standing in the way of doing what’s right.

I’ve heard many stories like Devin’s while traveling across Montana over the past year in my run for our state’s lone U.S. House seat. I’ve logged more than 25,000 miles on my odometer and spoken with Montanans in every corner of our state.

People are worried about the economy, and they think that folks in Congress aren’t interested in putting Montana first.

I understand those concerns, and I share them. Over the past few years, I’ve watched elected leaders in Congress choose political games over solutions that benefit Montana working families.

That’s not what Montanans expect, and that’s why I’m running for Montana’s lone U.S. House seat -- to put our state’s people, land and economy first.

In my two terms as superintendent of our state’s public schools, I’ve worked with Democrats and Republicans in communities across Montana to raise graduation rates to historic highs. And we’ve raised academic standards so graduates are more prepared than ever for today’s jobs.

I’ve also bucked my party in Helena and pushed back on the Obama administration when they tried to impose one-size-fits-all strategies that don’t work for Montana.

And I’ve created jobs in our forests and expanded access to our outdoors by nearly 40,000 acres as a member of Montana’s Land Board.

From day one, I’ve always put Montana first, and that’s exactly what I intend to do in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In Congress, I’ll fight to expand economic opportunity and raise wages to help Montana families make ends meet. I’ll be 100 percent opposed to the sale or transfer of our public lands. And I’ll work to ensure that people like Devin and her husband don’t have to choose between earning a paycheck and caring for their daughter.

Montana needs a representative in the U.S. House who will look out for folks like Devin, instead of looking out for themselves and D.C. insiders.

Montana has one voice in the U.S. House -- one voice for one million of us. It’s time that voice looked out for all Montanans. That’s why I’m running -- because I will spend every day putting Montana first.

It’s time for a change. I ask for your vote this election.

Denise Juneau is the two-term superintendent of Montana’s public schools. She is running to serve all Montanans in the U.S. House of Representatives.