Two Democrats are vying for a chance to unseat incumbent Republican Flathead County Commissioner Brad Abel in the June 2 primary.

Nathan Dugan, a physical therapist who has involved himself in addressing the region's housing crisis in recent years, faces Colton Little, a community activist and member of the county's Transportation Advisory Committee, on the Democratic ballot. The winner will face Abel and developer Casey Malmquist, who is running as an independent, in November.  

Dugan shared his approach to serving as a county commissioner with the Daily Inter Lake. Little did not return a completed questionnaire by press time. 

Nathan Dugan 

Age: 36 

Occupation: Physical therapist 

Family: My partner, Mallory, and our three dogs and two cats 

Background: I grew up in Warren, Ohio, and moved to the Flathead Valley after graduating from physical therapy school in 2015 

Why do you want to be county commissioner? What qualities would you bring to be effective in that position? 

I am running for Flathead County commissioner to bring a listening-first mindset to the county courthouse. Flathead County is too big and growing too fast for a commissioner to simply sit in an office in Kalispell. I will bring the energy needed to guide this growth and to meet people where they are, out in the community. No one should have to take time off of work to drive to Kalispell to feel heard by their county government.  

Over the past few years, I have been fortunate to build relationships with city staff and elected officials around the county, as well as in the state legislature through my work to improve housing affordability and availability for working class families. I look forward to continuing to build these relationships to improve collaboration between our cities, county and the state to ensure that working families don’t continue to be priced out of the valley.  

What do you think is the top issue facing the county, and how would you address it? 

Flathead County’s recent rapid growth is one of the top issues facing our county. All three of our local cities are wrapping up a multi-year process to plan for the next 20 years of growth, and Flathead County needs to go through this process as well – not to implement zoning in rural areas of the county, but to ensure that we’re able to work collaboratively with our cities to streamline services and use our tax dollars efficiently.  

Planning for the unincorporated county’s next 20 years of growth is also important to ensure that our rural areas aren’t needlessly developed into subdivisions that eliminate open spaces, agricultural lands and ultimately increase the county’s cost of providing services, thereby burdening taxpayers.  

As Flathead County continues to grow, how would you address the challenges that come with that growth? 

As we continue to grow, we face big challenges, including increasing costs, more traffic and threatened quality of life. A major challenge related to growth is that homes are simply too expensive for most working-class residents. A recent poll showed that 78% of Flathead County voters aged 18-34 don’t see a future here, which is a big problem for our county.  

We must intentionally build a robust, diverse, rear-round economy with well-paying jobs so younger families can establish themselves here instead of moving away, and we need to build more homes that local residents can afford on local wages.  

We also have an aging population, and we must ensure Flathead County has the services in place, like rides to medical appointments, that allow people to safely stay in their homes and age in place if they choose.  

County employees have long sought wage increases. How would you address that request? 

Our county employees are the people who keep things running smoothly on a day-to-day basis, and they should be compensated fairly. I am committed to ensuring that they are paid competitively with other Montana county employees and the private sector, so we can attract and retain the talent needed to keep our county government running efficiently. 

I am also committed to ensuring that our county employees’ wages increase with inflation, so that they aren’t losing buying power over time, despite earning pay increases. We can accomplish this without raising taxes.  

    Nathan Dugan, 35, is a physical therapist and affordable housing advocate in Whitefish who announced his run for Flathead County Commissioner Feb. 22.