BILLINGS — Stacy Zinn is a retired DEA agent and private security expert who says she has spent her career tackling cartels and terrorists.
(Watch: MTN's profile on Stacy Zinn)
She’s playing on that experience as she tries to set herself apart from a crowded field of Republican candidates in the race to replace outgoing 2nd district representative Matt Rosendale.
“The world is in chaos right now. I still have this fire in my belly,” Zinn says.
She is a political newcomer with a lot of unique experience on her resume.
“I was in the DEA for almost 23 years. I had started my career off on the southwest border down in El Paso, Texas. Then I was selected for a tactical team where I relocated in Virginia. I went back and forth to Afghanistan. I did four tours over there. Later, I spent five and half years down in Peru building relationships with the different foreign governments down there,” she says.
Zinn, who is married with a child in high school, grew up in Texas. She became the first woman to be named Montana’s DEA resident agent in charge after being transferred here in 2014. She puts border security, north and south, as the top issue facing the country.
“If we don’t have the security of our borders then we are broken down on the inside-- meaning we have nefarious people coming across the borders that will cause us harm eventually,” she says.
She says the national debt is one of her other biggest concerns.
“The national debt is out of control. We are over that cliff already and if we don’t pull ourselves back out, the U.S. dollar could be de-valued,” she says.
At the recent Yellowstone County GOP’s Lincoln Reagan dinner, Zinn suggested stopping United Nations funding as well as cutting the FBI and other federal agencies.
“The way to get them in line is to cut off some of their funding. Limit their funding and then maybe their upper management will say hey we need to shape up,” she says.
She supports former President Donald Trump and sees his sometimes-unpredictability as an asset.
“You saw how Trump kept everyone on their toes. We didn’t have any wars. We had relationships, we had strong relationships. We had wonderful relationships as Trump would say,” she says.
Zinn also says she agrees with Trump’s position now that abortion rights should be decided by the states.
She believes her greatest asset is experience-- not in in politics, but on the front lines.
“I think I have a very good overview of what is needed— of what is happening in the world and world events. I think I would be able to add to the situation and give good solutions to the problems that we have,” Zinn says.
Zinn is among 12 candidates, including eight Republicans, running for the eastern district House seat. You can find interviews with all of them here.
