Taxes were top of mind at a legislative candidate forum Tuesday hosted by the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce.

Nine candidates from House Districts 6, 7, 8 and 10 and Senate Districts 4 and 6, took to a temporary stage in the Red Lion Hotel’s conference room to stump on an overstuffed agenda of questions related to tax reforms, workforce development and local infrastructure improvements.  

The chamber initially asked participants to prepare two-minute answers to six questions but changed the rules mid-forum as it became clear the event would run overtime. In light of the time constraints, some candidates were asked to choose four questions to answer, and three Democratic candidates whose opponents declined to attend the event were prompted to give a seven-minute speech. 

The need for creative economic problem-solving to combat Kalispell’s rapid growth and rising cost of living provided a throughline. 

“We have been the smallest big town in Montana forever, and we are now the fastest growing town,” Senate District 4 Democratic candidate and sitting Kalispell City Councilor Kyle Waterman said. “We have to make sure that these high property taxes that we are paying are being invested back into Kalispell, literally underneath Kalispell, so that we have pipes underneath Main Street.” 

Nearly all the candidates present voiced support for the idea behind a suite of state property tax reforms passed during the 2025 Montana Legislature, while also advocating for further tweaks to ensure the most benefit for the most residents, including small business owners that saw a spike in property taxes last year.  

A proposal from Gov. Greg Gianforte to implement a flat state income tax of 4.7% received more mixed reviews. All six Democratic candidates said they opposed the initiative. 

“We're lowering the tax rates for the people that can afford to live here, and we're leaving the tax rates the same for the people who are struggling every day,” House District 6 Democratic candidate Darren Fix said, adding that his own salary put him in an income tax bracket with a higher rate. 

“I mean, look, I make big city money too,” House District 6 Republican candidate Jim Riley responded. “I’ve been very blessed my entire life. I’ve worked hard since I was 12 years old... And I don't think that I should be punished because I make a little bit more than others." 

Both of the other Republican candidates present, Rep. Courtenay Sprunger for House District 7 and Rep. Lukas Schubert for House District 8, declined to answer the question on the flat income tax proposal. 

Looking to other ways to fund infrastructure projects and government services, candidates espoused a variety of options.  

Both House District 7 Democratic candidate Madison Evans and House District 10 Democratic candidate Catherine Allen said a local option sales tax was worth consideration if the resultant funds were specifically dedicated to local infrastructure projects.  

Sprunger, meanwhile, rejected the notion of a local option sales tax and instead suggested existing surplus dollars be used as a match for federal grants. 

Schubert advocated for a city bed tax while his opponent for House District 8, Democrat Calvin Lime, proposed an increased tax rate for foreign companies operating in Montana.  Senate District 6 Democratic candidate Patrick Fitzpatrick threw his weight behind a more targeted homestead property tax exemption. Waterman suggested that an increase in car registration fees could fund critical infrastructure projects. 

House District 10 Republican candidate Rep. Terry Falk, Senate District 4 Republican candidate Rep. Amy Regier and Senate District 6 Republican candidate Sen. Mark Noland did not attend the event. 

THE TWO candidates running for the Montana Supreme Court agreed Tuesday that judges’ rulings must remain free from bias and partisanship, although they offered differing rationale for reaching that conclusion.  

Flathead County District Court Judges Amy Eddy and Dan Wilson are both vying to replace retiring Justice Beth Baker on the state’s high court in a nonpartisan race appearing on the November ballot. Though neither judge’s name will appear with a party’s affiliation next to it on the ballot, recent changes to state law allow political parties to contribute financially to candidates. 

Eddy reiterated a pledge to turn away money from political parties and eschew their events. Montanans, she said, do not want judges to worry whether their rulings will hurt their electoral viability.  

"Before they make a decision, we do not want them asking whether or not that decision is going to jeopardize a party endorsement” or campaign contributions, Eddy said.  

Wilson, who spoke at a state GOP event in Great Falls over the winter, said he has yet to meet a judge who has placed loyalty to an organization above their allegiance to the constitution and the law.  

Later in the forum, he pointed to the groups that have endorsed him, including the Montana Chamber of Commerce and the Montana Mining Association. His track record on the bench has earned him his supporters, Wilson said. 

“I believe I've attracted the support that I have ... because of my record of consistent rulings according to the plain language of the constitution and the law,” Wilson said.  

Wilson said his judicial philosophy is following the constitution, which he described as the will of the people, and applying it as intended by its authors.  

“The purpose of the judge is to find the people's will and impose it on a case” without bias, agenda or favor, he said. 

Answering the same question about judicial philosophy, Eddy pointed to the separation of powers in government. While the judiciary must recognize the authority of the legislative and executive branches, she said it is charged with ensuring those branches operate within the bounds of their authority.  

The state constitution, she said, is alterable. Voters decide every 20 years whether to call a convention, with the next vote coming in 2030. 

“In that way each generation pulls the law forward with us,” Eddy said.  

In his closing statement, Wilson lamented what he described as judges taking a legislative role in government. 

“Our judiciary was never intended to be on the leading edge of social issues,” he said. “These are for the people to decide.” 

If laws need changing or modernizing, then that is up to the voters, Wilson said.  

Eddy, who has earned the support of several past and present state Supreme Court justices, including Katherine Bidegaray, Ingrid Gustafson and Dick Sandefur, used her closing remarks to urge attendees to keep their faith in the judiciary.  

“I don't want anything that happens in this campaign ... to undermine your faith in the judicial branch,” she said.  

Eddy was first appointed to the bench in 2015. This is her first campaign for state Supreme Court. Wilson was elected as a district court judge in 2016 after serving as a justice of the peace. He mounted an unsuccessful bid for the state Supreme Court in 2024. 

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at 406-758-4433 or [email protected]. News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 406-758-4430 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.

    Rep. Lukas Schubert, right, Republican incumbent in House District 8, answers a question during a candidate forum with Democratic candidate Calvin Lime at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell on Tuesday, Sept. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider  

    Darren Fix, left, a Democratic candidate running in House District 6, answers a question during a candidate forum with Republican candidate Jim Riley at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell on Tuesday, Sept. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Catherine Allen, Democratic candidate running in House District 10, answers a question during a candidate forum at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell on Tuesday, Sept. 15. Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Kyle Waterman, Democratic candidate running in Senate District 4, answers a question during a candidate forum at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell on Tuesday, Sept. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Pat Fitzpatrick, Democratic candidate running in Senate District 6, answers a question during a candidate forum at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell on Tuesday, Sept. 15. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider