Dear Editor,
I’ve run for office four times, and each time I’ve worked to reach all voters, not just those who closely identified with my own politics or political party affiliation. We call our elected officials “representatives” for a reason. Once elected, their primary job is to represent their constituents, and that means all of their constituents. To be clear, that doesn’t mean pleasing everyone all the time—that is impossible. In my view, it simply means pausing before taking a vote on legislation to consider, “what are the needs, opinions, and views of all the people I represent, including those who did not vote for me?”
Unfortunately, that is not the type of politics we’re seeing today, in Helena or in Washington. I believe Montanans want leaders who put their constituents first and are willing to listen and build consensus in order to pass laws that benefit Montana. Our current system doesn’t incentivize that kind of behavior by our leaders, and the ideological extremes are dominating our politics.
That’s why we need CI-126 and CI-127. Our Founding Fathers warned us not to stray away from our foundational principles of democracy and majority rule. CI-126 and CI-127 are two ways Montana voters can protect freedom, independence, and accountability in our political process, heeding that warning, and creating incentives for elected officials to build coalitions of support from across the party spectrum.
These two initiatives give me hope in an era of political polarization. We need to protect the values we were raised with and give voters the chance to vote for any candidate they think will best represent them, regardless of party. CI-126 and CI-127 give us better choices and greater ability to hold politicians accountable, helping us elect leaders who are more representative of the majority, not the party fringes.
Zach Brown, Gallatin County Commissioner
Bozeman, Montana
