Brown will run for state senate
Dee Brown, a well-known Republican
conservative, has thrown her hat in the ring for the Montana Senate
District 2 race next year. The incumbent senator, Ryan Zinke,
R-Whitefish, is running for lieutenant governor. The senate
district includes Columbia Falls and Whitefish.
A Columbia Falls High School graduate,
Brown has a bachelor’s in elementary education from the University
of Montana-Missoula and a master’s in guidance and counseling from
Montana State University-Northern.
Brown started her 26-year long teaching
career in Columbia Falls before transferring to Canyon Elementary
School in Hungry Horse. She retired in 1998.
An outdoor enthusiast, Brown and her
husband Steve now operate Canyon RV in Coram. Married for 40 years,
they have two grown children and three grandchildren.
Brown is the current president of the
Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce and a past president of the
Montana Tourism Coalition. She was recently picked as this year’s
Columbia Falls Lion’s Club Citizen of the Year.
She has been a member of the Whitefish
Chamber of Commerce, North Valley Hospital Foundation Board, Travel
Industry Association of Montana, Glacier Country, the
Gateway2Glacier business group, National Federation of Independent
Businesses and the Flathead Snowmobile Association.
Brown served four terms in the Montana
House of Representatives. She began her political career by
defeating John Polotto, D-Hungry Horse, in 2000 and 2002 in the
race for the former House District 83.
At that time, HD83 included Columbia
Falls and surrounding rural areas and was part of Senate District
42, which also included House District 84, the LaSalle and
Evergreen areas. Following redistricting, Brown ran for House
District 3, which along with House District 4, urban Whitefish,
make up Senate District 2.
In 2004, Brown defeated Linda Jaquette,
D-Columbia Falls, in the HD3 race. She then lost to Doug Cordier,
D-Columbia Falls, in 2006. The next year, Brown unsuccessfully ran
against Martin City businessman Chris Byrd for a seat on the
Flathead Electric Cooperative board of trustees.
Cordier chose not to run again for HD3
in 2008, and Brown went on to defeat Michael Holm, D-Columbia
Falls, by 2,633-1,970. With four two-year terms in the Montana
House, Brown was term-limited out in 2010.
One other well-known Republican
conservative, Bill Beck, has also declared for the SD2 race next
year. Beck actually doesn’t live in SD2 and has served three terms
as representative for House District 6. According to state law,
Beck can run in any legislative district in Flathead County so long
as the district doesn’t cross county lines.
“Bill and I will have a very civil
primary since we both agreed that it is in everyone’s best
interest,” Brown told the Hungry Horse News. “Just look at the
kooks in Washington, D.C. Both of our voting records are easily
called up on the Internet, so people can judge for themselves.”