In the race for House District 12, an incumbent Republican who wants to limit the scope of government is pitted against a Democratic challenger who believes public servants need to overcome partisan bickering to make positive change for the people.

Incumbent Republican and House Majority Whip Greg Hertz was first elected to the state House in 2012. He said he decided to serve in the Legislature because after a lifetime of living and doing business in Montana, he wanted to make sure that Montanans have the ability to prosper.

“One of the big issues with me is the overreach of the federal or state government,” Hertz said. “We need to continue to push back on that.”

One of the areas Hertz wants to focus on if elected is the passage of a food freedom bill. The legislation would reduce the amount of regulation put on the sale of items such as raw milk, baked goods or beef and chicken grown by small farmers and producers.

“There’s just a big overreach in the government in regards to a lot of these products,” Hertz said.

Hertz said a farm freedom bill would be beneficial to the state’s economy by allowing farmers to have additional side income.

Hertz would also like to see policies put in place that help promote business growth in other industries, and he listed the creation of high-paying jobs as one of his top priorities.

“We need to do what we can to increase high wage jobs,” Hertz said. “I know here in Western Montana the timber industry has been beaten down over the past 30 years and that’s had a tremendous impact.”

Hertz said he does believe that people in Montana, and not out-of-state government officials, should be the ones making decisions about how to manage public lands.

“I’m not in favor of selling public lands, which is what a lot of Democrats accuse Republicans of wanting to do,” Hertz said. “The state needs more input into management.”

On the issue of the state possibly mandating pre-kindergarten programs, Hertz said he is opposed to the idea because when he interviewed local school officials, they were against it.

“They don’t want it,” Hertz said. “They don’t have the room.”

Hertz pointed out that the state does have a Head Start program already that is available for socioeconomically disadvantaged families.

Hertz also is against any sort of state-mandated minimum wage hike. He noted that the state’s current minimum wage is adjusted once per year for inflation. He said he believes that very few jobs are minimum wage jobs and that most employers, like himself, offer a wage that is higher than what the government requires.

DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGER Susan Evans would like to see the minimum wage set higher, and said she’s fond of the $15 per hour rate that has been suggested by some.

“The whole economy does better when we pay our people a living wage,” Evans said.

Evans also said efforts to have more state control of federal lands should be scrutinized because they might be a “thinly disguised way to sell off public lands.”

She does think Montanans should have more say in how lands are managed.

“Montana doesn’t have the resources or the money to take over federal properties. We should however have more local and regional control, with less federal oversight,” Evans said.

Evans identified herself as “seriously an eco-nut, within reasonable bounds.”

“I’m not going to stop progress, but I think it’s important that we need to be able to breathe and drink clean water,” Evans said.

Evans said that one of her top priorities if elected is being a supporter of women’s rights. She said equal pay laws are not being properly implemented and that women should be treated as equal to men.

“That doesn’t mean we slam on men,” Evans said. “Our whole basic philosophy is to treat everybody I meet as if they were going to be my best neighbor. That really is my bottom line, just to treat everybody like a good neighbor.”

Evans said she is also a supporter of equal treatment of the gay, lesbian, transsexual and transgender community.

“I don’t believe in discriminating against anybody,” Evans said.

She believes that the government should stay out of the abortion issue.

“I personally would never choose one,” Evans said of abortion. “But I don’t think it’s my right to make that decision for anybody else. I definitely don’t think it’s our Legislature’s right to make that decision.”