Zinke begins organizing staff offices

The start of the 114th U.S. Congress is two months away, but Representative-elect Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, is anxious to get started.

“It’s time to go to work,” Zinke said two days after he defeated Democrat John Lewis. “My wife and I will take a couple of days to be alone with family. Then it’s off to D.C. and roll up the sleeves.”

Zinke, the state’s first U.S. Representative elected from Flathead County, said he will establish a staff office in the Flathead.

“I’m taking the model Rep. Steve Daines had, with four field offices statewide. But the locations will be different,” Zinke said.

The decorated former Navy SEAL commander said his main field office will be in Billings. Many members of his campaign team were veterans, and he said that will continue as he develops his staff.

“We’re going to continue to have a very veteran staff,” he said. “We’ll have every service represented in one capacity or another.”

Zinke estimated he’ll have about 18 staff members, but he needs to get briefed first about how his office and satellite offices can be set up.

“One of the reasons I’m going to D.C. is to verify what the budget is, how many full- and half-time staff people there will be.”

Zinke said he believes the huge wins for Republicans on Election Day weren’t so much an endorsement of his party as it was a mandate for Congress as a whole to “head in the right direction.”

“I want to be part of the solution rather than the problem,” he said on Election Day. “I’ve never looked at issues through a red lens or a blue lens — I look at them through a red, white and blue lens.”

Zinke said his family will continue to operate Continental Divide International, a consulting business he has been involved with. His role will be advisory from here on out, he said. His family also has some property in the Flathead they will manage while he’s in Washington, D.C.

Zinke said he will continue to serve on some nonprofit boards, including the Great Northern Veterans Peace Park, which he helped establish to create a park in Whitefish. He said he will resign from any corporate boards he sits on.

As a state senator, Zinke offered assistance to the Montana Firearms Institute, which was launched in the Flathead three years ago to help existing firearms businesses and to bring educational institutions and firearms-related manufacturers together.

“I think I did my part,” he said, noting the growth of the firearms industry in the Flathead in recent years. “I tried to be the connector. As a congressman I’ll advocate for all businesses.”

Zinke also did consulting work for Proof Research, the Columbia Falls area manufacturer of high-tech rifles with carbon-fiber gun barrels and stocks. Zinke said he holds a small-percentage in the company.

“I’ll still maintain stock in Proof because it’s a great company,” he said.

Zinke said he’s still amazed by the level of support he received during his campaign.

“We had over 30,000 donors. That’s unprecedented, and so many were for $35 or less,” he said. “That’s someone making a choice to fill up their gas tank or support this campaign.”