Stone's Next Battle

When I met Joyce Stone for the first official time at Soma Dis Deli on Jan. 10, it was obvious that she was not like most of the political candidates I had interviewed in past and current races. She showed up at exactly the scheduled time, wearing blue jeans and a sweatshirt and carrying zero notes (not even a date book). Contrast that to one of the last interviews I did, where the cowboy persona was so crisp and fresh out of the box that the boots and jeans would have stood up on their own, coupled with the bundles of campaign material falling out of a genuine leather briefcase, it is a wonder anyone wants to talk to a politician. So, my first thought about Stone was, "well, this could be interesting."

It's a cliché in politics to be an outsider. You have your insurgents, mavericks, dissenters, changers, leaders and the like. Many of them are just politicians trying to brand themselves in a different light, but Stone does not come off as any of those things. She calls herself an informed voter, but said she had never considered politics before, but a series of events brought the opportunity to give back to her adopted hometown (she moved to Glasgow in 2007) front and center.

So, she says, she took the opportunity and is running for the Republican nomination for Montana House District 33, which represents Glasgow's northwest side and stretches north of Highway 2 across Valley County, Phillips County, Blaine County and part of Hill County (to include parts of Havre and Malta). Currently the position is held by Republican Casey Knudsen of Malta, who has filed for re-election, setting the scene for a primary showdown.

The first event in the series of events that led to her running, was her diagnosis with breast cancer in 2017. After bouts with the disease, cancer treatment, shaving off her hair and fighting to get back to work throughout 2018, she was finally dubbed cancer free. She says she was overwhelmed by the support Valley County showed her and her family during that time. After the successful treatment she returned to work as a nurse at Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital and started thinking about ways to give back to the community that had showed her so much support.

As she tells it, she was discussing a school board issue with Suzanne Billingsley–a board member– when Billingsley stopped her to ask, "What are you going to do [to give back to the community]". Stone said she heard that and started considering her options, namely, city council or school board. She said it was not until the 2019 legislative session that she really considered the legislature as a viable option.

She explained that during the session FMDH CEO Randall Holom would send out updates about the legislative happenings in Helena, especially as they pertained to health care. She remembered thinking, "I would make some different choices." She looked into the process, talked to her husband and decided to run for the State House.

When asked what those choices would have been, Stone answered with emphasis, "expanded Medicaid. I would have liked to see that supported more. I think it is important to those covered and it gets people back to work."

She told an anecdote about a friend of hers that spoke at her initial campaign event. She said he had been a tax paying member of society, was self-employed and injured himself on the job. As a result he was neither insured nor able to continue working. As she told it, she recommended he get on Medicaid – something he was unaware he qualified for – and get the surgery he needed to recover. He did so and has since returned to work.

"It changed him, it physically changed him," said Stone, about her friend's injury and healthcare experience. "As a nurse I see how unexpectedly it happens that someone can get injured. That is a pretty hard kick in the pants."

The second concern was Knudsen's support for a bill that would have eliminated a childcare providers' right to require that children under their care be properly vaccinated. In other words childcare providers would have been forced to accept unvaccinated kids, even at the risk of others in their care. The bill failed.

"That hurt my heart," said Stone, "it really did. Vaccinations are incredibly important. They saved my life."

Stone explained that during her cancer treatment she was able to return to work, despite having a compromised immune system, because she was protected by the fact that the majority of Americans receive their vaccinations.

She reiterated that she is not the only one that was protected by group immunity, or herd immunity as it is also called. Another friend who also battled cancer had her immune system completely reset by chemo therapy and a stem cell transplant. "She was protected by people, including children, having their immune systems," said Stone, trying to emphasize that this is not a trivial matter but a personal one for her.

Stone said that when she gets to Helena she will have a lot to learn about politics, but that she hopes to be a part of solutions-based legislation that helps with both the local economy and local education. She also said she is not partial to party loyalty.

"I am not moved by someone saying that 'all Republicans will vote this way'," said Stone, who added, "I'm moved by what's best for northeast Montana and the people."

Outside of health care, education is an important issue to Stone. She supports more locally available distance learning and higher education opportunities for young people – especially in high school – to receive college credit without leaving the area.

"You know, Billings has lots of opportunities," said Stone. "We have zero distance education. That could be improved upon."

When asked what kind of feedback she had received about her campaign, she said that she had not received much and that she felt most people were less interested than more interested in politics. She lamented, "We have to have good humans that want to represent us." Then she caveated, "Not that Casey [Knudsen] is a bad person. I haven't met the man and I don't mean to disparage him in anyway."

When asked to describe her campaign, Stone pointed back to her cancer battling days. She said that she had read a book that basically said to "fake it until you make it" in regards to being positive. She went on to say, "The 'fake it until you make it' was my motto in 2018. I was gonna make it and, if this is as bad as your day's getting, then you're doing awesome." Then she commented about people who complain about their days or lives and added, "Everyday you wake up is a great day. When I was puking, when I only had enough effort to get to the couch in the morning or when I had to shave off my head, I'd think 'fake it until you make it'."

"Cancer made me a better nurse and a better human," said Stone. Then she added, "I will always believe that."