Montana state Rep. Tom Winter entered politics in the aftermath of the 2016 election. He told me that his motivation was

"equal parts frustration with where we were and optimism about where we could go." When we spoke he wanted to make certain that everyone understand that "contrary to popular opinion, we are not a 'red state.' We elected President Trump and Democratic Governor Steve Bullock at the same time. Democratic Senator Jon Tester has won statewide twice. Montana just doesn't fit the mold of a red, blue, or even purple state. Republicans win when they can cast their opponents as unpopular or out of step with everyday Montanans. Democrats win when we make the case for our shared values and fight for what is right. Nearly half of the voters here identify as Independents. So in this arena it helps to keep away from partisan talking points."

And that's exactly what Tom did last year when he defeated a Republican incumbent Adam Hertz in a state legislative seat that had voted for Trump by 11 points. "I knocked on every door in a largely rural district, and I listened," he said. "Nobody felt like any party or any politician was addressing their concerns. And they knew the problems they were facing were systemic. Our broken politics had left them behind."

Tom ran as an agent of change in a western Missoula County district where people knew the system wasn't working for them. In 2016 Missoula County went for Bernie over Hillary 60.4% to 43.4%-- but Bernie also beat Trump on primary day-- by a lot.

County-wide Bernie got 13,271 votes and Trump got 7,623. Voters wanted change-- and Bernie and Trump were the two change candidates. Hillary was the candidate of a status quo that wasn't doing anything to help the people who elected Tom to the state legislature in 2018. Please consider contributing to his campaign here.