Zinke announces election plans

Ryan Zinke, the Republican state senator from Whitefish, announced July 10 that he is running for Montana lieutenant governor with Neil Livingstone, of Helena, who is running for governor.

Zinke, whose Senate District 2 includes Columbia Falls and Whitefish, will not run for senator next year. No candidates have yet announced for that position.

Livingstone is a third-generation Montanan with three master's degrees, one from the University of Montana-Missoula, and a Ph.D. from Tufts University, Livingstone has spent much of his time outside Montana working in business management, including consulting in security, investigative work and natural-disaster mitigation to U.S.

The author of nine books and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, Livingstone has made more than 1,500 TV appearances, commenting on homeland security, international business and intelligence.

Livingstone and Zinke say they want to use their business backgrounds to help Montana grow its economy. Montana ranks 47th among the 50 states in per capita gross domestic product, Livingstone notes.

Livingstone says he opposes new taxes and unfunded federal mandates. His goals are to abolish the state corporate income tax and the business equipment tax and to attract companies to Montana by providing tax breaks and a more friendly regulatory environment.

Altogether, five Republicans and one Democrat have filed for the 2012 governor race. Additional candidates are rumored to be in the wings.

Republicans

• Rick Hill, a retired insurance company executive in Helena, was elected to the U.S. House in 1996, where he worked on reforming welfare, cutting taxes and balancing budgets and opposed the Clinton administration's plan to stop snowmobiling in Yellowstone Park and the reintroduction of grizzly bears and wolves in Montana. He didn't seek re-election in 2000 because of eye problems that he says are now stabilized.

• Ken Miller was raised on farms in Colorado and Montana and started several businesses in Laurel before being elected to two consecutive terms in the Montana Senate in 1995. He and his family have owned a furniture business in Laurel since 2000. A social conservative who served as Montana Republican Party chairman from 2001-2003, Miller finished in third place in a four-way Republican primary race for governor in 2004.

• Corey Stapleton, a fourth-generation Montanan who grew up in Great Falls and spent a decade with the Navy's nuclear program, has a master's in political science from Temple University. Elected to the Montana Senate in 2000 and 2004, Stapleton currently works as a financial advisor in Billings.

• Jim O'Hara is a Fort Benton native and has been a Chouteau County commissioner for 10 years. He has a background in agriculture, energy and business.

Democrats

• Larry Jent represented Bozeman in the Montana House from 2001-2006 and has been in the Montana Senate since 2007. He unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House in 1996. He works as a lawyer in Bozeman.

• Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock has not filed for the 2012 governor's race but the Web site name www.bullockforgovernor.com has been purchased by one of his spokesmen.

• Dave Wanzenreid, who has a long history in state government, withdrew from the governor's race on July 7.