MISSOULA — A day after he declared victory in Montana’s western U.S. House race, Democrat Sam Forstag said his work is only beginning – and he vowed to continue reaching out to serve those who didn’t support him, as well as those who did.
“We didn't sleep a whole lot last night, because the work we have to do in this seat is to make sure that we actually use the success to pass legislation to protect our public lands, to start tackling the housing crisis, and make sure everybody can meet those basic needs without having to work two or three jobs to do it,” Forstag said during a news conference outside the Missoula County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon.
(Watch the video to hear more from Forstag's news conference.)
The Associated Press still hadn’t called the 1st Congressional District race when Forstag spoke, but Republican candidate Aaron Flint had already conceded Tuesday night. Forstag said he was confident his lead would increase as the final reports came in from Missoula and Gallatin Counties. On Wednesday, he talked about plans for opening congressional offices and hiring staff.
“I intend to reach out to Montanans and make sure that we are hiring Montanans to staff those offices, to be here for constituent services, to make sure that when you call your representative here in western Montana, there's somebody to pick up the phone and help solve that problem,” Forstag said.
Forstag repeatedly said he’ll be looking for opportunities to get bipartisan victories in Congress. He said, after speaking with Flint, his first call was to Montana’s other U.S. House member, Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Downing. Forstag said he told Downing he hoped they could find ways to work together on issues like public lands – in particular, he said he’d back the “A River Runs Through It Act,” a landscape plan for the Blackfoot River watershed, introduced by Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke.
“Beyond that, we need to reinvest in our public lands and public service,” Forstag said. “What wise investment looks like is investing in things like fuels management and fire mitigation – the sorts of investments we've been talking about throughout this campaign.”
Forstag is a former Forest Service wildland firefighter and union leader. He has said Trump administration policies, particularly Forest Service budget cuts, were a major reason why he decided to run for Congress. MTN asked him if he thought there was realistic room for cooperation over the next two years, with a big incoming Democratic congressional majority and Trump still in the White House.
“All I care is that we get bills passed into law, because people are suffering and drowning in costs out there, and Montanans who I'm talking to do not have two years to wait,” said Forstag. “So if we’ve got to give the president credit for signing the bill into law, by all means – that is how we get desperately needed aid and relief to Montanans who've been waiting far too long.”
Forstag will now be Montana’s only Democratic member of Congress, and the party’s highest-ranking official in the state. He said he wants “rebuild the Democratic Party in a way that people are excited to engage with.” Still, he said he won’t be focused only on Montanans of one party.
“There are a lot of folks still here in our states who are not real jazzed to be Democrats,” he said. “There are folks who voted for this campaign and voted for Republicans because, well, splitting your ticket is still alive and well in Montana – that's the way it should be.”
