2020 Candidates

Scott is a proven entrepreneur, executive and Business Development expert, with significant experience in the leadership of technology growth companies. He has built success with organizations of many sizes, from smaller start-ups up to and including mid-size and multinationals. Scott creates customer and employee loyalty by leading and executing projects with unwavering ethics and an endless pursuit of win-win partnerships, driving organizations to succeed on their merits, with technical success.

Scott has built repeated success in the wireless space (satellite, cellular, wireless and IOT), applying decisive insight to successfully work through complex challenges, working with multi-partner organizations. He has one, lingering career goal, which is to bring to the US Government the best and most cost effective asset tracking solution it has ever had.

Scott is also a BridgerCare Ambassador.

Becky is a 26-year resident of Bozeman, working mom of three daughters, local small-business owner, and an executive director of a national conservation organization. Vital voices are largely missing from the state legislature–her family struggles with affordability issues and she worries her teenage daughters won’t have access to quality public education or safe healthcare. Edwards made a career of protecting our cherished public lands and climate.

Becky’s Values:

• Women’s & LGBTQI+ Rights
• Conservation & Climate
• Education
• Affordability

Josh Seckinger is a long time Bozeman resident and fly fishing guide. A passionate, pragmatic, progressive, Josh is committed to protecting our public lands, upholding women’s reproductive rights, and strengthening our public school system. Josh is also willing to work with anyone who has a good idea on tax relief, climate change policy, increasing access to health care, or housing availably and affordability. Josh is looking forward to getting to work, for the people who go to work everyday.

Through his frequent travels and love for the outdoors, Josh has gained a deep understanding of Montana and its people. His outgoing and personable nature has allowed him to connect with individuals from all walks of life, giving him a unique perspective on the needs and desires of everyday working Montanans. After years of simply talking, listening, and engaging with the people of Big Sky Country, Josh is convinced that the preservation of Montanan’s way of life is of utmost importance to its residents. He strongly believes that Montanans are dedicated to ensuring that the “last best place” remains just that.

Red Line Issues:

• Reproductive Rights
• Public Lands
• Public Education
• LGBTQ+ Rights

Pragmatic Issues:

• Property Tax Relief
• Fair Share Income Taxation
• Climate Change Policy
• Healthcare
• Local Government Control
• Housing Availability & Affordability

Peter served Bozeman as a public school teacher for nearly three decades, primarily at Irving Elementary School. In that role, he was named 2007 Montana History Teacher of the Year and 2019 Teacher Fellow with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Also, he worked actively to secure three sizeable grants through the US State Department, bringing to Irving full-time Arabic teachers and programming from overseas. In addition to his teaching role, Peter served as a legislative organizer for MFPE for three years, where he discovered the possibilities afforded by legislative organizing, even when confronting an extremist supermajority. All of these are markers of his commitment to the community.

While acquaintances are sometimes puzzled by Peter’s switch from teaching children to running for office, to him the progression is natural: Schools present arguably the most complex, emotionally charged, high-stakes, unpredictable work environments in the valley. When you can remain productive and successful there, you are well poised to ride the rollercoaster that is our current legislature. Peter has dedicated himself tirelessly to Bozeman families for decades, and now he seeks to give similarly but in a fresh way.

Peter wants to see Montana’s government return to serving the needs of regular Montanans rather than the interests of gargantuan corporations and the hyper-elite. Montana should prioritize expanding access to opportunities for people who can’t pay for them out of pocket: robust public schools for our children, meaningful access to services, affordability and fair taxation, stopping governmental overreach into our private lives, protections, and fair compensation for anyone on the clock, reproductive rights, and access to public lands.

Peter feels lucky to have raised his three now twenty-something children in the Bozeman community with his wife, Cameron Hildreth. You may have seen him walking the streets with one of his better friends, his wheaten terrier, Severus.

Learn more about his campaign at strandformontana.com

Brian Close moved to Bozeman in 1994, where he created an independent law office specializing in estate planning and tax law. Over the last 30 years, he has served as Chairman of Galavan, chaired the city task force on transit, pushed through Bozeman’s Smokefree Ordinance, co-wrote the Bozeman City Charter, which includes ethics reform, and chaired the Recreation board that proposed and passed the creation of Bozeman’s park district. A staunch opponent of censorship and advocate for public libraries, Brian served as a Lawyer for Libraries, pro bono, and is a recipient of a special award Intellectual Freedom award made by the Montana Library Association.

In his own words, Brian says on his candidacy, “I am running for the statehouse office after hearing the concerns of my fellow citizens about decisions made at the recent session of the Montana State Legislature. Seniors, in particular, are being devastated by the irresponsible property tax hike pushed through by Republicans in the last legislative session. As a tax attorney and experienced policymaker, I have the skill to fix that.

The state constitution, medical privacy rights, libraries, the LGBTQ+ community, professional credentials, and the Montana Supreme Court are all under attack by Republicans. Meanwhile, our antiquated tax system, state hospital at Warm Springs, mental health infrastructure, and Medicaid wither on the vine dying from lack of attention. We need less culture war and more good government.

As we campaign across the district, I look forward to hearing from the voters and better understanding their thoughts, ideas, and concerns. Government should serve the people. If elected, I will devote my legal expertise and policy-making experience to protect taxpayers, and improve how our government works for all Montanans, especially the most vulnerable among us.”