Zinke’s Trump Cabinet days shape Montana race for US House

By Matthew Brown ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOZEMAN—Donald Trump’s former interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, stood in the cold outside a Loaf ‘N Jug gas station in southwestern Montana and weathered a barrage of curses, friendly honks, obscene gestures and shouts of support as he waved a “Veterans for Zinke” sign.

Love him or hate him, Zinke is a well-known commodity in this Western state with a complicated political record.

“If I get a honk out of a Subaru it’s a victory,” Zinke joked Thursday, referencing the vehicles considered popular among many liberals in the college town of Bozeman. “Some people express their dissent.”

More than three years after resigning from Trump’s Cabinet amid multiple ethics investigations and then going to work for the petroleum industry he used to regulate, Zinke’s bid to return to the U.S. House is challenged by a well-financed Democrat on the left, a determined Libertarian on the right—and by his own reputation among Montana voters. Republican Zinke barely survived June’s primary against a hard-right conservative.

The former U.S. Navy SEAL has responded with characteristic aplomb to rising hope among Democrats they can defeat him: He boasted later that day in Bozeman during a tour of a wildfire aircraft hangar about his expectation to be on the influential House Appropriations Committee.

Once viewed as a moderate, Zinke’s rightward shift under Trump and revelations that Zinke lied in two federal ethics cases have exposed him to sharp attacks from Democrat Monica Tranel, a longtime consumer rights attorney who once worked for former Republican U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns. Libertarian John Lamb has toured the state with Tranel attending Democratic-sponsored debates. They’ve differed sharply on issues but united in painting Zinke as lacking integrity.

Montana is rich in fossil fuels and while at Interior, Zinke loosened restrictions on the industry.

“This is a follow-the-money campaign,” Tranel said. “His financial interests are definitely served by advocating for fossil fuels. I’m looking at it in terms of what’s going to serve Montana.”

It’s the first election for a newly drawn House district, created last year after Montana gained a seat following the 2020 census. The Republican-leaning seat includes liberal strongholds such as Missoula, Butte and Helena that offer Tranel a chance to become the first Montana Democrat elected to the House since 1994.

A GOP wave swept Montana in recent elections, ending years of residents splitting their votes between Republicans and Democrats.

But the June primary revealed Zinke’s lackluster support within his party: he won with 42% versus 40% for conservative Al Olszewski.

Zinke in an interview waxed nostalgic for more civil times, which he said disappeared after former President Barack Obama left office. Yet he’s bitter over a supposed “deep state” that supposedly targeted him in Washington. He dismissed as vindictive investigators’ reports that Zinke lied during a probe into a Native American casino proposal and about his involvement in a real estate project in his hometown.

His legislative…