Montana governor candidate Neil

Livingstone has tapped state Sen. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, as his

running mate for the upcoming 2012 election.

Livingstone, a Republican, told the

Pilot he and Zinke are focused on the same goal — job creation —

and that they’ll make a strong team.

“Ryan is intelligent, has a ton of

energy and is a terrific state senator,” he said.

He expects Zinke will lead education

talks during the campaign, and together they will push their

pro-jobs platform.

“Ryan and I will run hard,” Livingstone

said. “We will try and shake every hand we can in Montana.”

Livingstone was raised in Helena. He 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 works in business

management and is the author of nine books. He has made more than

1,500 TV appearances commenting on homeland security, international

business and intelligence.

Zinke was raised in Whitefish and

graduated from Whitefish High School in 1980. He served with the

U.S. Navy from 1985-2008 and was a mission commander of SEAL Team

Six.

Zinke was elected to the Montana Senate

in 2008.

Livingstone says the focus of their

campaign is job creation and the state’s economy, which he says is

falling short of its potential.

He says Whitefish’s economy is an

anomaly in the state and that it hasn’t been hit as hard as other

places.

“Whitefish is still prosperous,” he

said. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t areas for improvement.”

He says Montana has a great “brand” and

that it’s being undersold.

“We don’t sell that brand effectively

enough,” he said. “Especially with Montana beef, and not enough

with tourism.”

He would like to see tourism-based

areas like Whitefish compliment their economy with more high-tech

jobs.

One of his plans, if elected, is to

make Montana the first all wi-fi state, which will help businesses

prosper, he said.

Livingstone and Zinke will be in

Whitefish today for a fundraising event. “Better Jobs, Better

Education, Better Future” is the theme for the event that starts at

6 p.m. at the Whitefish Lake Lodge.

Four other Republicans have filed to

run for governor, while only one Democrat as filed.

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.

• 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. 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 Fall 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.

Democrat 

• 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.