A Whitefish resident will appear on the ballot in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate as he vouches support for universal health care and touts a barber shop campaign tour.  

Lee Calhoun is running against Kurt Alme and Charles Walking Child in the June 2 primary for retiring Sen. Steve Daine’s seat. 

Calhoun said that he sees a general perception that politicians have been bought and paid for, and average citizens aren’t getting a fair shake from their elected representatives.  

“I think I can represent people,” he said. “I think I have the same sense of problems — or at least could find out what the electorate wants to be represented in Washington for.”  

Calhoun registered to run for the Senate race on March 4, several hours before Daines withdrew his bid and other Republican candidates jumped in at the last minute for a chance to nab the seat.  

After registering, the campaign kickoff wasn’t as smooth as he hoped.  

He looked for a campaign manager to help him meet regulations, as well as someone to handle social media, but he did not find anyone available and willing, prompting him to suspend his campaign. 

“I’m a mechanical engineer. I’m a problem solver. I’ve never run for elected office before. I just have life experiences,” he explained.  

Shortly thereafter, Calhoun went in for a routine hair cut at the Clip Joint in downtown Whitefish.  

Calhoun said he could “see it in people’s eyes,” talking about issues at the barber shop.  

He decided then and there to restart his campaign, team or not. It would be a “one-man show,” he said.  

“It all boils down to things cost too much nowadays,” he said. “It’s too hard to make a living. And I think there are solutions to that – but if nobody attempts to make change, change will never happen.”  

Inspired by the moment, he is embarking on a barber shop tour across the state, starting in Eureka.  

Calhoun, 75, grew up in Shinglehouse, Pennsylvania, a small town on the spine of the Appalachians. He lived in upstate New York while he worked for Kodak as a mechanical engineer for about 30 years, working on cameras, projectors and printers.  

He moved to Whitefish about 10 years ago. An avid skier, he describes himself as a climate refugee. Living in upstate New York was unbearably hot, he said.  

Calhoun founded Northstone Solar in Whitefish and has since sold the company to an employee. He was featured in the Whitefish Pilot in 2021 for his efforts to make his home on Salmon Run Road net zero. 

He has four pillars that his campaign pledges to support.   

The first is universal health care.  

“The cost of health care in America is obscene,” he said. “We pay at least 50% more than the next highest cost country per capita, and we have worse outcomes. There’s something wrong.”  

Another priority is corporate welfare rollback.  

“That’s part of hidden subsidies, that kind of thing,” he said.  

Term limits and mandatory retirement are another priority.  

“Maybe people who’ve been in Congress or in the Senate for a long, long time, maybe they’re not doing the best job that someone else might be able to do,” he said.  

The last pillar of his campaign is free market energy.  

“We did a great job in the Big Beautiful Bill for taking out subsidies for alternative energy, for solar, wind power,” he said. “Now it’s time to take out the subsidies for oil and gas and coal. Those are 150-year-old industries. If they can’t stand on their own, why are we subsidizing?”  

Calhoun acknowledges that some things in his campaign are not going to be popular.  

“But it goes back to the same thing – if somebody’s not there trying to make it happen, nothing will ever change. 

“I’m the only one who’s not taking money from anyone, and I’m the only one who’s ready to vote to end my own job.”  

A lifelong Republican, Calhoun said, “When I was younger, America was great. And one of things that was true then, was that more than half of the people were in economically in the middle class. And until we get back to that, things are going to get worse.” 

    Whitefish resident Lee Calhoun gets a trim at the Clip Joint. Calhoun says the barber shop is a good place to campaign. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish PIlot)