Brooks enters SD2 election

Whitefish resident Suzanne Brooks has entered the race for Senate District 2.

She is running against fellow Republicans Bill Beck and Dee Brown in the June primary. Democrat David Fern has also filed for the seat.

Growing up in the Midwest, Brooks was raised a Democrat.

“My family were Democrats and I became a Democrat,” she said, and it was natural to become a Democrat too.

That all changed when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade in 1973.

“The Democratic platform supports abortion and the Republican supports life,” she said. “That’s when I made the switch.”

Brooks graduated from law school and later taught school in Chicago. Brooks cites her law degree as preparing her in her effort to stop abortions.

Running as a pro-life supporter with the goal of restricting abortion in Montana is her main campaign goal.

“I’m anxious to do something about restricting abortion,” she said.

Roe v. Wade gave the “right to an abortion,” but it also provides an op-out clause for states with a compelling interest, she said.

For Brooks that compelling interest is what she calls an imbalance in the population of the state. She believes the decrease in the number of school-age children and a need for those children to eventually fill jobs is compelling.

“The older population is moving here to retire,” she said. “The birth rate is really low.”

Brooks’ argument against abortion extends further. She says that DNA testing shows that a baby’s DNA is the same at the beginning of life as it is 20, 50 or even 90 years later.

“You definitely have a person,” she said. “If you use a gun to kill a person it’s murder, but if you kill a person with abortion it’s not considered murder. It’s murder to me.”

Brooks moved to Whitefish 16 years ago and lives in the Railway District. She came to Whitefish after making the move to Montana to be in the mountains and near Glacier National Park. She is retired.

Brooks said that taxes are another concern for her.

“Property and business taxes,” she said. “I have a few ideas on that. Taxes are getting out of hand.”

As an example, she points to older homes that have become surrounded by newer structures and therefore driven taxes up.

“Taxes have gone sky high,” she said. “We need to reduce the tax rate on older, historic structures.”

On education funding, Brooks says her 25 years working as a teacher gives her the background for dealing with education. She said it’s an issue she plans to learn more about.

Although, Brooks identifies with the Republican party she said she likes Gov. Brian Schweitzer and has supported some of the things he has done. As an example she said she supported his move to reject a federal requirement that would have required citizens to carry a federal identification card.

“I will work across the aisle,” she said. “That’s the only way to get things done.”