Senate District 6 sprawls across Flathead Lake to encompass the communities of Bigfork, Woods Bay, Finley Point, Elmo, Creston and Swan Lake.

Incumbent Rep. Mark Noland, R-Bigfork, did not respond to the Daily Inter Lake’s questionnaire.

PATRICK FITZPATRICK 

Political affiliation: Democrat 

Age: 63 

Town of residence: Bigfork 

Occupation: U.S. Navy (retired) 

 Background: Staff registered nurse at St. Patrick Hospital; U.S. Navy Reserves and active-duty U.S. Navy Commanding Officer and Director of Naval Hospital Bremerton; member of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps Association Board of Directors, Swan Lakers, Bigfork Chamber of Commerce; life member of Veterans of Foreign Wars 

Do you support Gov. Greg Gianforte’s initiative to implement a 4.7% flat state income tax? Why or why not? 

I do not support a flat income tax for Montana. Although this scheme purports to reduce income taxes for Montanans, it shifts a greater share of the tax burden onto middle- and working-class Montanans while delivering the largest benefit to the highest earners. Independent analysis from the Montana Budget and Policy Center shows a flat rate favors high earners over working families. Montana’s current graduated system already has the top rate falling to 5.4% by 2027. 

The 2025 Montana Legislature implemented a number of property tax reforms. Do you support these efforts? What other steps should the 2027 Legislature take to address property taxes? 

Yes, I support the 2025 reforms. Home valuations skyrocketed, and Montanans needed protection from being taxed out of their homes. For 2027, I support a circuit breaker to stop runaway valuation spikes and a true, more surgical homestead exemption; many “second homes” belong to full-time Montana residents who own short-term or long-term rentals, not out-of-staters. Lawmakers worked under real time pressure to get something passed. The job now is to refine it, not attack them for trying. 

How will you balance your legislative priorities with local jurisdictional independence and control? 

Nearly all of Senate District 6 is unincorporated. Bigfork, for example, is governed from Kalispell (25 miles away), by commissioners who don’t live here. When a Bigfork park’s owner stopped funding its upkeep, one commissioner’s response was “Bigfork is resilient,” now a local joke that captures the out-of-sight, out-of-mind treatment we get. My approach cuts both ways: more autonomy for unincorporated areas, equal funding for services cities already get and a real voice in how we’re governed, not Helena control.