MISSOULA — The 2024 Primary election for who will represent Montana’s First Congressional District is on June 4.
The district, created in 2023, covers 16 counties in Western Montana.
Ahead of the vote, MTN’s Kathryn Roley sat down with the Democratic and Republican candidates for an interview, asking their ideas about housing, the drug crisis, inflation, and abortion rights.
Mary Todd is challenging incumbent Ryan Zinke in the Republican primary. Todd’s campaign website says she is “A proud Montanan, a mother & grandmother, a small business owner, a church leader, author, and an unapologetic America-First conservative.”
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Below are excerpts from the conversation.
Kathryn: After Roe v. Wade was overturned, we saw several states move to some type of ban or limit. Montana has tried to do that as well. There has also been talk of a federal ban. What would you do as a U.S. Representative when it comes to reproductive rights and abortion for women in Montana and across the country?
Todd: I think it should be a state issue — statewide issue that the federal government should not be deciding. The states need to. I am pro-life, but I wonder if you know that there are only eight countries that in the world have abortion rights. We’re one of them. China is the worst, and I really believe that it is egregious the amount of babies that are being killed by abortion every year. And so, I would do my best to help moms make different decisions. I really feel that there are two victims when a baby is aborted. The mom and the baby. I would have a compassionate heart towards the mom and really try to get alternatives.
Kathryn: Montana has seen a huge uptick in crime and drug-related deaths. What would you do to lower drug-related deaths and crimes coming into the nation, as well as Montana to help keep communities safe?
Todd: Well now you’re hitting on one of my topics which is the Chinese Communist Party. They’re the ones that create fentanyl, they give it to the cartel, the cartel brings it across our country — so, this is being done by design. We are being fundamentally torn down — our youngest, between the ages of 14 and 45 — it is the number one cause of death now. The Chinese Communist Party knows exactly what they are doing, and this is what I would fight. What is being done to our country has to be exposed from the deepest level and we have to close our border. There are so many avenues to come through our border with drugs that we are being fundamentally changed by design.
Kathryn: Montana is home to a very large population of veterans. How would you support veterans at a federal level to ensure they are getting the benefits they need, and the resources they need to support themselves?
Todd: Number one, I am the wife of a naval aviator veteran, and so I have a heart for veterans. I don’t believe they are being cared for the way that they should be. Their medical needs to improve. They need to have housing. There’s so many homeless veterans, so that is one area that I believe that we really need to put into on a federal level for our veterans. To take care of them, to support them. I’m also supporting nonprofit agencies personally with my own money to help those who are helping the veterans, like Wounded Warriors and people like that, who are already doing this for our veterans.
Watch the full interview with Mary Todd below:
