Incumbent Democrat Shelly Fyant is running for a second term in the House of Representatives against Charles Headley.

Both candidates reside in Arlee and are vying to represent House District 91, which extends from Evaro north to Ronan and west of Hwy. 93, and includes Arlee and the Jocko Valley, Ravalli, Charlo, Dixon, portions of Sanders County and a sliver of the Rattlesnake Valley in Missoula County.

Shelly Fyant

The former chair of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Council is 68, and lives on the property in Arlee where she was raised. The mother of four sons has seven grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.

Her family moved to the Jocko Valley in 1894 when Chief Charlo’s band of Bitterroot Salish were forcibly moved to the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Fyant earned a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Montana in 1989 and previously served on the Arlee and Two Eagle River school boards.

She has focused on food security since 2016 during her tenure on the CSKT Tribal Council from 2014-2021, and serves as Food Sovereignty Chair for the Arlee Community Development Corporation.

Fyant is also passionate about protecting the environment, in keeping with language in the Montana Constitution that urges citizens and government officials to “maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations."

She points to Indigenous cultural instructions that “teach us to think seven generations ahead” as guiding her thoughts and actions regarding environmental stewardship.  

If elected, Fyant vows to continue her efforts to enhance food safety and security. “Montana has everything we need here to be food sovereign: land, water and expertise,” she wrote in response to a Leader question about legislative priorities.

She also noted that an estimated 75% of Montanans are opposed to the construction of data centers and promises to fully engage in legislative discussions about a ban or moratorium, regulations, taxes and the use of Artificial Intelligence.

A third priority is protecting public education.

Fyant, who serves on the Interim Education Committee, noted that the School Funding Interim Commission has recommended nine avenues to improving Montana public schools. These include making inflationary adjustments, increasing Special Education programming, addressing the backlog of facilities and maintenance needs, increasing funding for at-risk students, for sixth graders as they enter middle school and for Indian Education For All. Along with supporting English language learners and providing quality educational materials and teacher professional development.

“Bottom line,” she stated, it would cost $300 million annually "to bring Montana up from 39th in the nation in current spending per student.”

When asked where state government could cut spending and where it should allocate more funding, she replied that the state spends too much on litigation. Her funding priorities are public education, veterans’ affairs, healthcare and food assistance.

As to the issue of housing affordability, Fyant noted that the average age of first-time homebuyers in Montana mirrors the national average of 38 to 40 years old.

“I think creating a statewide revolving fund for starter homes would be a good beginning,” she stated. She also advocated the creation of low-interest financing for developers who build entry-level owner-occupied homes, as well as establishing a down-payment assistance program for first-time homebuyers.

Fyant blames the influx of COVID and climate refugees into Montana and the resulting gentrification for driving the recent escalation in property taxes. She suggests that other property tax classes (there are 16 in all) “should pay their fair share and take the burden off residential taxpayers.”

As far as improving access to healthcare in Montana, Fyant stated she would work to sustain Medicaid expansion, which was reauthorized in 2025 when the governor signed House Bill 245.

However, Fyant noted that three bills that would have improved healthcare were vetoed by the governor during the last session:

• Senate Bill 394 would have added Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to the list of conditions eligible for workers’ compensation for firefighters, law enforcement and emergency medical technicians.

• SB 442 would have required insurance providers in Montana’s individual or group markets to cover the cost of any federally approved medications for terminal cancer.

• HB 585 would have set reimbursement rates for physical, speech and occupational therapists at 122% of the Medicare rates.

Charles Headley

Republican candidate Charles Headley did not respond to our questions by the deadline.

According to information on the Missoula GOP website, Headley lives in Arlee, where he serves as chief of the volunteer fire department and manager of the Arlee Water and Sewer District.

He moved to Montana with his family in 2017. According to the GOP’s candidate profile, his priorities include affordable housing and treating emergency medical services as essential so volunteer departments “can get the support they need.”