HELENA — Health-policy expert Cora Neumann of Bozeman on Tuesday became the third Democrat to jump into the 2022 race for Montana’s new U.S. House seat
Neumann, 46 years old, said that she’ll be a strong voice for working families, to ensure they have good jobs and wages and can afford to continue to live in Montana.
“Over the last year, Montanans have lost jobs and livelihoods and they’ve lost loved ones, far too young – and I can relate,” she said in a statement. “I lost my father in a lumber-mill accident when I was a baby and later watched my step-dad drive hours across Montana just to find good work that could support our family.”
Neumann ran briefly for U.S. Senate in 2020, but withdrew after Democratic Governor Steve Bullock got into that contest, against Republican Senator Steve Daines.
She is the founder of a group called We Are Montana, which has worked to get personal-protective equipment and vaccines to parts of the state during the pandemic. Neumann grew up in Bozeman, but moved back to the state just two years ago. She has a graduate degree in public health from Columbia University and a doctorate in international development from Oxford University.
Neumann joins two other Democrats in the race: State Rep. Laurie Bishop of Livingston and Missoula attorney Monica Tranel.
Two Republicans also have announced they’re running for the new seat: former state Senator Al Olszewski of Kalispell and former U.S. Representative and U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.
The new district’s boundaries won’t be drawn until later this fall, but the district is expected to cover western portions of Montana. The state will have two districts starting in 2022, after three decades of having only one House seat.
