Billionaires Sent Montana Prices Soaring. Can Democrats Capitalize?
New York Times · LC · trust 52/100
For years, Democrats have failed to harness the anger of Montanans contending with out-of-state wealth driving up costs. This year, a smokejumper thinks he can succeed.
Listen · 8:00 min Share full article 201 Sam Forstag, a telegenic firefighter and union leader, is the Democratic candidate for a House race in Montana. Credit... Will Warasila for The New York Times By Jack Healy
Kalena’s tea shop had shut for good because its owner could not find workers able to afford rent anywhere near Ennis. Staff shortages had similarly closed for the weekend a soda fountain catering to tourists bound for Yellowstone National Park. The Burnt Tree brewery was open only because its owners had turned a cluster of cabins and apartments into employee housing.
For the past two election cycles, Democrats in Montana have tried to harness anger over wealthy out-of-staters driving up prices and squeezing out residents, only to fall short. In the Senate and governor’s races of 2024, the Republican candidates were wealthy transplants, yet the Democratic brand proved to be the bigger liability. Senator Jon Tester, who lost his race for re-election that year, deemed his party’s brand electoral “poison.”
But this year, Democrats insist the cost of housing, health care and everything else has gotten so out of control that they might just flip a House seat in Montana’s western congressional district, which is less conservative. That race could help tip control of Congress.
Their candidate is Sam Forstag, a telegenic firefighter and union leader running as an unapologetic progressive who could barely afford Montana when he was earning $19 an hour jumping out of planes to fight wildfires.
“No one can afford a damn roof over their head,” Mr. Forstag said in an interview.
The race in one of the country’s most sprawling congressional districts will test whether Democrats can unwind years of losses in rural areas, or whether once-purple places like Montana are gone for good.
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