MISSOULA - “I'm running for mayor because I grew up here and I grew up with everybody in this community and we recently went through a huge growth spurt that has brought a lot of stress on. And so I am running to listen,” said Missoula mayoral candidate Brandi Atanasoff.
Atanasoff, a long-time Missoula resident with no political background, is seeking office largely due to changes she says she’s seen within the community over the past couple of years.
“Over the last few years, a lot of people have felt unheard and a lot of people that have navigated our resources before are having a hard time navigating them now because we have shifted the way in which it is being done. And so a lot of what I've been doing within this campaign has been listening to the community talk about the issues that they're having, navigating the new structure within the community and how it has harmed their ability to get to resources and utilize resources like they used to,” said Atanasoff.
Watch the full interview with Brandi Atanasoff:
Atanasoff says that she is also looking to address how the City of Missoula uses tax increment financing (TIF), a system that typically goes hand in hand with the Missoula Redevelopment Agency. Broadly speaking, TIF is used to help fund infrastructure for new developments within the city.
“Honestly, we are all talking about decreasing taxes and how much taxes we spend and the TIF funds are meant to increase property value and bring in more tax revenue, which is exactly opposite of what the town is trying to do right now,” said Atanasoff.
She says that in order to address how TIF funds are used, she would sit down with different city departments on day one to try and determine the best path forward, largely by taking a look at the city’s budget. A budget that she thinks is currently not addressing the community’s needs.
“We say we are being super frugal and we're cutting things because we don't want to increase taxes, but then the MRA has $28 million that have been allocated to be invested to increase property value and bring in tax revenue,” answered Atanasoff.
On top of TIF funding, Atanasoff says that addressing the city’s homeless and unhoused residents is also top of mind.
“I also want to get the structure of how we deal with homeless services and adversity back into something that functions. Fifteen years ago, it functioned and we had a really great structure, so it'd be really easy to go back to what we already did to fix what we have going on right now."
But overall, Atanasoff says that listening to the community is her top priority.
“I love my community and there's a lot of people that have not been heard and there are a lot of people that are going into situations like the people in the trailer courts right now that they need to be seen. We cannot just turn a blind eye to these things going on right now and that is why I'm running,” said Atanasoff.
Missoula mayoral race profile: Brandi Atanasoff
The primary election is mail-in only. You should have already received your ballot. If not, contact the Missoula County elections office right away.
Election Day is September 9, 2025. If you’re mailing your ballot, get it in the mail by September 5, 2025, as postmarks are not accepted. You can drop off your ballot on election day at the elections center, which is located at 140 N. Russell St. (Building B), 2385 Flynn Lane (Hellgate Elementary Baseball Fields) and on South Russell St. between the fairgrounds and YMCA.
If residents need to register to vote, change their address or make other updates to their registration, they will need to do that in person at the Elections Office. By law, the office will be closed to new voter registration between noon and 5 p.m. Monday, September 8. Voters can still drop off a ballot, receive a replacement ballot or pick up an undeliverable ballot during that time. Voters can check that their address and other information are up to date online at myvoterpageMT.com.
