Two Bigfork residents, Incumbent Republican Mark Noland and Democrat Patrick Fitzpatrick, will compete for Senate District 6, which encompasses much of the east and west shores of Flathead Lake. 

Mark Noland

Noland did not respond to the Lake County Leader’s election questionnaire. 

According to Noland's website, he's a Montana-born businessman, community leader and devoted family man who has spent decades serving the Flathead Valley. He graduated from Whitefish High School, and he and his wife have been married for over 45 years. 

For over 40 years, he's owned and operated a business in the Flathead Valley while remaining actively involved in his church and other local organizations. He's served four terms in the Montana House. 

Patrick Fitzpatrick

Fitzpatrick is 63 years old, a retired U.S. Navy Captain, and a registered nurse. He currently lives in Bigfork with his wife, Janet. His Montana roots go back to 1974. 

He worked as a cabinetmaker and yacht trim carpenter before joining the U.S. Navy Reserves as an enlisted Seabee in 1992. He earned his nursing degree from Montana State University and his master’s in emergency and trauma nursing from the University of Texas Health Science Center. 

Over his 32-year career, he worked in emergency rooms, served as a trauma coordinator at a combat hospital and commanded a Navy hospital system with about 1,000 staff. He also served on the board of directors of the Navy Nurse Corps Association. 

When asked what voters might not learn about him from political ads, Fitzpatrick explained that he started at the bottom, where the American dream was always just out of reach for our young family. In the Navy, he also oversaw the move of an entire hospital to a new building in Guam; he deployed to Cuba, Afghanistan and Central America and was stationed in Italy. 

He added that he’s seen both the good and the bad of how government policy affects vulnerable people, and that experience has shaped how he’d legislate. 

Fitzpatrick’s top priorities if elected are affordable housing, rural health care, fair property taxes and long-term infrastructure funding. He stated that affordable housing is his top priority because teachers, nurses and tradespeople are being priced out of the communities they serve. 

He supports a housing trust fund with steady, ongoing revenue, along with state support for the water and sewer infrastructure new homes require. He added that local governments need planning tools that fit their communities. 

“Our homestead tax protections should be surgical, protecting year-round Montanans, including those who own long-term rentals,” he stated.  

Regarding health care, Fitzpatrick stated that rural hospitals depend on Medicaid to keep their doors open and that he’ll protect it. He added that, second, he wants to grow the workforce by expanding nursing and allied health training in Montana. He also added that loan repayment should be strengthened and that other incentives should be available to people who commit to rural practice. 

He explained that he’ll also push for local clinics, telehealth and crisis care over “administrative overhead.” 

Regarding property taxes, he stated that homeowners need circuit breakers to protect against runaway valuations. He added that roads, bridges and school buildings all need dedicated funding instead of “one-time patches that cost more later.” 

When asked how the state should address property taxes, he stated that he supports 2025 reforms as a necessary first step and, in 2027, will support circuit breakers that limit how quickly a bill can spike in a single cycle.

On where he believes the state is spending too much money, he stated Montana just found millions to fund an effort that will place more burdens on Medicaid. On where it should spend more, he stated more should go toward infrastructure, bridges, roads and school buildings that have fallen behind for decades. 

In response to the Leader’s questions about what changes, if any, the Legislature should make to public school funding, Fitzpatrick stated that public funds should remain in public schools. 

“I oppose vouchers and tax-credit programs that send public dollars to private schools, because every dollar diverted comes out of districts like Bigfork, Somers and Polson,” he stated. 

He added that he supports dedicated state funding for school facilities.