Courtesy of The Bob Music

Known for his work on the Montana Arts Council and his time touring with the Mission Mountain Wood Band, Rob Quist won the Democratic nomination for Montana‰’s single congressional seat several weeks ago. Unlike the rest of the country, Montana has another shot at rectifying the mess that was November 8 2016 in May, rather than November of 2018. This is because Ryan Zinke, an opponent of environmental regulation and the Affordable Care Act, and their previous congressman was appointed as the Secretary of the Interior. Musician and Montanan Rob Quist goes up against businessman Greg Ginaforte on May 25 for the Montana congressional seat. Rob, unlike his opponent and the former representative of Montana, stands by the mantra of “Keep Public Lands in Public Hands‰” (as seen by this meme he shared on his campaign‰’s Facebook page).

Photo credit

Additionally, he would defend the Affordable Care Act against “special interests and DC politicians looking to dismantle [it].‰Û

His songs, some of which are compiled on his album Songs from Western Harmony as “Rob Quist and Great Northern‰” range from cultural narratives resembling a more direct storyteller-esque Bob Dylan (“Kootenai‰Û) to fun and catchy little songs like “Back in Harmony.” Rob, politically, seems to have focused on being an earnest and steadfast defender and legislator for all of Montana. A defender of public lands and a fighter for those who are more disadvantaged than he.

He‰’s doing well so far: though there has not been any university polling yet, an online poll by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle has him very far ahead than his republican opponent from New Jersey, Greg Ginaforte.

Though I wouldn‰’t put too much weight into that poll, since it doesn‰’t seem like it‰’s the most scientific, my inner (AU) WONK is telling me that Rob will do well in this election. Really, the longer Trump is president, the better that Rob will do against the man that already lost his race to governor against a democrat. Not to mention that Obama narrowly lost the state in 2008 by 2 percent. A democratic victory for this congressional seat is wholly possible. Spread the word among everyone that you know: word of mouth and grassroots donations will be the most important thing for this race. With national momentum building on what‰’s already going in Montana, we can get one more step closer to defeating the Trump and republican agendas by getting a fantastic musician and citizen in office in Montana.