Rob Quist, the Democratic nominee for Montana’s at-large U.S. House seat, met with members of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce on Monday afternoon to talk policy with local business leaders as he campaigns ahead of the state’s special May 25 election.

He faces Republican Greg Gianforte and Libertarian candidate Mark Wicks in the contest to replace former Rep. Ryan Zinke, who vacated the state’s lone House seat to take up the post as secretary of the Interior under the administration of President Donald Trump.

Quist, a Creston musician, focused Monday on his opposition to the GOP health-care proposal and his support for protecting public lands. He also responded to questions on topics ranging from regulation of small banks to Trump’s executive order banning travel into the U.S. from a handful of predominantly Muslim counties.

On the latter issue, Quist opposed the president’s policy, saying, “I don’t think we can demonize a whole culture just because of the actions of a few.”

His comments were in response to Diane Medler, director of the Kalispell Convention and Visitor Bureau, who said she was concerned about the impact the travel ban might have on would-be visitors from Canada, in addition to those from other countries interested in taking trips to Glacier National Park via Waterton Lakes, which sits just across the border.

“We’ve heard some comments … that just because there is a perception that there will be problems at the border, they’ve canceled their visits,” Medler said after the roundtable discussion.

Quist also told business leaders he would support growing Montana’s mostly rural economy by voting for small-business tax cuts while incentivizing manufacturing and the development of alternative fuels in the state, and voting for increased federal investment in infrastructure.

Many of his answers returned to familiar ground from his campaign appearances in recent months, contrasting his history of celebrating public lands with that of Gianforte, who he derided for past donations to organizations that support transferring federal lands to the states.

“All those other states have lost their public lands, and that’s something that continues to make Montana special,” he said in response to a question of how to keep young people from moving out of state.

Asked how he would pay for small-business tax cuts while simultaneously retaining and possibly expanding health-care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, he indicated support for cutting back Trump’s proposed defense-budget increases while raising taxes on the top income brackets.

“To me, trickle-down economics has been a bad thing,” Quist said. “… Especially if we’re increasing our defense budget, it doesn’t take a mathematician to know that’s not going to work.”

Glacier Bank retirement loan manager Michael Smith said banks like his have suffered under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act reforms — enacted after the failure of national banks and mortgage companies that in part led to the Great Recession — saying he would like to see the law amended to ease the regulatory burden on those that weren’t responsible for the financial crisis.

“I think there’s some good things that came … but I think there’s some things that could be amended,” Smith said at the end of the event.

Quist offered few policy specifics on bank regulations, but said he would be supportive toward changes to the Dodd-Frank Act that help smaller banks while retaining stricter controls on larger ones.

After briefly milling with chamber members following the discussion, Quist declined to answer follow-up questions from the press before leaving the event.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at [email protected].