Now is the time for experience in Congress, says House veteran Denny Rehberg

Denny Rehberg had just announced his first run for U.S. House when his father Jack, who had done the same unsuccessfully in 1970, offered this sage advice: “Don’t promise to pave the road from Ekalaka to Alzada.”

The two southeast Montana towns were separated by 72 miles of two-lane road, 47 of which were unpaved and unnavigable for much of the year. The workaround was a 251-mile trip through Broadus, Miles City and Baker.

The joke was that you could drive to Ekalaka, but you had to back out. The year was 2000, politicians had been promising to pave the connector since the 1920s. Someone would produce enough money to pave a mile or two every so often, but then the effort would stall.

“It took forever,” said Rehberg, who after a 12-year political hiatus is running for Montana’s eastern U.S. House Republican primary. “Conrad Burns worked on it. And actually, we became sensitive to the issue when Conrad was a Senator because one of our staffers, who has since passed away, was Leo Giacometto. Leo was from Alzada. Leo had to go to high school in South Dakota because in the winter the road between Ekalaka and Alzada would snow over and you couldn’t get to Ekalaka to go to high school.”

Rehberg went against his father’s advice and assumed the cause, which was about as far from being a hot political topic as Alzada is from Yaak, that’s 786 all Montana miles. Members of Congress not from Montana weren’t making pilgrimages to Carter County for photographic proof it was on their radar.

And this where Rehberg gets to the point of his current campaign, which is that the work of the district shouldn’t be eclipsed by the big national issues. There are issues for which no other member of Congress will fight. Experience helps.

“We don’t need the congressman in training,” Rehberg said. “I mean, if Trump was elected, he’s going to be ready to rock and roll. He’s got four years to try and right the ship, and he’s going to need somebody beside him that’s ready to rock and roll with him for those four years. And I’ll tell you, it takes a couple of years just to get your feet under you when you go to Congress. And that’s why I say you don’t need the Congressman in training right now.”

There are eight Republican candidates in Montana’s eastern U.S. House primary. Ballots are mailed out May 11 to voters who requested them, but not to voters who didn’t. With so many Republicans in the race the outcome is likely to be a plurality. If past large primaries are an indication, a 30% vote might win it.

It took 10 of Rehberg’s 12 years in Congress to get that road paved, as churn of the big national issues like Sept. 11, Hurricane Katrina, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, set the agenda.

Rehberg challenged incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in the 2012 election and lost. He launched his House campaign in February after Rep. Matt Rosendale launched a Senate campaign, which lasted a little more than a week. Rosendale then decided not to seek a reelection in the Eastern Montana House district.

“You look for committees to be on when you first go to Congress, besides the Agriculture Committee, which I was on, and resources, which made sense. I asked to be on Transportation just because transportation is so important to Montana, and I asked to be on the aviation subcommittee so I could try and get more airplane service into and out of Montana.

Well, wouldn’t you know it, no sooner did I get on the Aviation Subcommittee than 9/11 happened. We spent all our time on security and TSA, as opposed to be trying to get the focus on local things and highway transportation.”

There is a distinct split in how Rehberg graded out in the conservative scorecard of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that wields considerable influence over Republicans in Congress. Heritage gave him a lifetime score of 53%, with approving marks for blocking tougher coal regulations, prohibiting federal funding of abortions, and voting to defund Medicaid expansion, aka Obamacare.

But Rehberg broke with the group to approve agricultural disaster assistance in 2012, and transportation spending. He voted to keep Essential Air Service, which requires subsidized roundtrip flights between Billings and Eastern Montana airports in Glasgow, Glendive, Havre, and Sidney.

“The Heritage Foundation would love to get rid of Amtrak, would love to get rid of Essential Air Service. Now, I work very well with the Heritage Foundation, but we are just going to disagree on those issues,” Rehberg said.

Political party: Republican

Age and place of birth: 68 

Home: Billings

Occupation: Rancher

Family: Wife, Jan, three children, five grandchildren

Education: Bachelor’s of science – political science/public administration

Past employment: Self-employed rancher, U.S. Congress (Congressman Ron Marlenee), Marlenee for Congress, Burns for Senate, U.S. Senate (Sen. Conrad Burns), State of Montana (Montana Legislature, Lt. Gov.) U.S. Congress (Congressman MT-AL), Mercury,LLC.

Political experience: Fundraising Director-Marlenee for Congress, Campaign Manager- Marlenee for Congress, Campaign Manager -Burns for Senate, Congressional aide-Congressman Ron Marlenee, State Director- Senator Conrad Burns, State Representative HD 88 (3 terms) Lt. Governor, At-Large Congressman State of Montana

Endorsements: N/A

Ways voters can contact you:

a.) Email: [email protected]

b.) Address: P.O. Box 81515

c.) Phone number: 406-413-5171

d.) Web page: DennyMontana.com

Q: Identify two national priorities that are part of your platform, explain your position on each and tell voters how you intend to address both. If there’s an existing bill you support to advance your position, please identify it.

1. The economy: control spending, reduce the deficit

2. Southern border: reinstate Remain in Mexico policy; Require proper application for entry into the United States. Enforce existing law. Finish the wall.

Q: Name two issues unique to the Eastern District that you will have to advance because no one else in the House will be familiar enough to do so. Explain how you’ll get the job done.

1. Infrastructure. During my 12 years in Congress, I continually worked to improve transportation and infrastructure within Montana. This is particularly important to Eastern Montana and the sheer size of the state and diversity of its communities need to be communicated to those who know nothing about us. As Congressman, I constantly worked to increase Essential Air Service in Montana; pave the Ekalaka to Alzada highway to improve commerce and enable students in Alzada to go to school in Ekalaka rather than South Dakota; build a four-lane highway in Northern Montana (Two to Four); and add passenger railroad service in southern Montana. There is still work to be done on Two to Four and southern passenger rail, and I am ready to start again. Water distribution in Eastern Montana is always an issue of importance. I was successful in gaining approval for the Dry Prairie Water Project in Wolf Point, which now provides irrigation and household water for most of Roosevelt County.

2. The Farm Bill is reviewed every four years. As Congressman, I constantly worked to see that most of the resources went to production agriculture as opposed to non-production food allocation programs. The needs of food producers in Eastern Montana can be unique and must be raised in the debate of how best to allocate resources to the Montana producers.

From my 12 years experience in Congress, I have found that the best way to promote Montana’s interests is to develop working relationships with other members who have an interest in the subject matter and educate them on the reasons the Montana priorities are important. There are always conflicting demands for federal dollars, and prioritization of how those dollars are spent is critical. While in Congress, I served on the Resources Committee (Energy and Minerals Subcommittee), The Transportation Committee (Air and Rail) and the Agriculture Committee and on the the Energy and Water, Transportation, Foreign Operations and Legislation Subcommittees of the Appropriations Committee and Chaired the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health, Labor and Education and Human Services Each of these committees had a significant direct impact on life an Montana and gave me the opportunity to put Montana’s needs at the forefront of the discussion.

Q. A rare earth minerals miner in Montana recently suggested that to sustain a domestic supply of metals essential to all things tech —semiconductors, batteries, advanced military equipment — Congress would have to act. Otherwise, China, which supplies about 80% of the rare earth minerals imported by the U.S., will continue the dominate supply. Consider the traditional basket of trade options — tariffs, subsidies, government purchases, federal leasing, and environmental laws — and suggest a policy approach to this challenge.

The Geological Society has told us that most of Eastern Montana has rare mineral deposits. We have to quit closing federal land to responsible natural resource development and develop a reasonable functioning permitting process that encourages Montanans to develop these needed minerals, or we will be dependent on other countries like China for our future. This is unacceptable.

Q. Explain how an import tariff consequential to sales of U.S. corn and soybeans to China affects the price of Montana’s top export ag commodity.

At this time in history, China is not just our competitor or our customer. It is our enemy. The question on tariffs is not merely a question of pricing, it is a question of national security and must be treated as such. The impact on Montana ag exports is only one part of the equation, and I am sure Montanans agree that national security should be at the forefront of our negotiations with China.

Q. President Joe Biden has suggested “codifying Roe,” in other words creating a national right to abortion. Explain your position on this issue.

I have always been baby first and created the Baby Caucus in Congress. My position on abortion remains unchanged, I believe that abortion should be prohibited except in cases of rape, incest and life of the mother.

Q. What role would you assign yourself as a member of a slim House majority? Would you get behind policies or leaders that 90% of your party supports to advance the preferences of your caucus? Or would you use your dissent as leverage to advance positions most of your caucus didn’t support?

As I did for the 12 years I served in Congress, I will evaluate each policy on its merits and try to understand how it impacts Montana and America and after careful consideration vote my conscience.

Q. Would you have certified the electors from all 50 states as a member of Congress in 2021? Explain your decision while identifying any state whose electors you would have rejected.

The 2020 election is over. This question is irrelevant. I was not there and was not privy to any of the evidence, testimony or arguments offered at the time. I am running for office in 2024. I truly hope that all states have implemented sufficient ballot security measures to ensure the integrity of the 2024 election so we can move forward without challenge.