This story was originally published by Daily Montanan: URL: https://dailymontanan.com This story has not been altered or edited. (C) Daily Montanan. Licensed for re-distribution through Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. ------------ Boyette looks to unseat Rosendale in GOP primary by being more traditional Montana Republican – Daily Montanan ['Darrell Ehrlick', 'More From Author', '- May'] Date: 2022-05-24 00:00:00 James Boyette considers himself a more traditional Republican, with values that, at one time, seemed synonymous with Montana government – a focus on public lands, agriculture, building strong schools and remaining focus on good governing. His run for Congress against an already established Republican congressman was spurred on because of his wife. She had heard him listening to news and fuming about the state of politics. She told him he had a choice: Either quit griping or be willing to do something about it. So, Boyette, a medical device representative on the far western side of what is now Montana’s second Congressional district, decided to run for the United States House of Representatives. “To be completely honest, this is the last thing I even do in my life,” Boyette said. However, he’s seen first hand the acrimony, distrust and dysfunction that happened after COVID-19 was politicized. He’s seen the way it’s upended the medical community, and he’s also watched as more regulation and insurance companies have come between doctors and patient care. When he took a look at Congressman Matt Rosendale’s record, he called it an “eye-opening experience,” where the votes the freshman Republican congressman was making didn’t seem in line with a conservative, yet more moderate Montana represented. Boyette is running against Matt Rosendale and two other Republicans, Kyle Austin of Billings and Charles Walking Child of Helena. “Leadership is about showing you care, but backing it up with action, not just complaining about things that you can’t fix,” Boyette said. He said that the issues facing Montana, key to his campaign, aren’t aligning with the national political stage. He said addressing public lands access, a worker shortage and protecting the farming and ranching community get lost in a lot of the conversation about other topics. He said that having lived in the Boise area before relocating to Montana made him appreciate the state’s strong public lands access laws, which he said are being eroded by wealthy private land owners. He said that more than 10,000 acres in and around the Boise National Forest have been essentially privatized, and worries Montana may suffer a similar fate without stronger national leadership. “Matt Rosendale will tell you he’s all for protecting public lands, but he votes against constitutional rights for a clean and healthful environment,” Boyette said. He said that after listening to Rosendale speak at a Lincoln-Reagan dinner (a fundraiser for the GOP), Rosendale talked about transferring federal land to the state and private ownership, which Boyette said raised red flags about the congressman’s commitment to public lands. Part of what inspired Boyette to run was frustration with a long-running line of “no” votes from Rosendale. He said the Congressman seems incapable of voting on anything supported by Democrats. “He seems disconnected from reality. He’s very selfish and centered around his wants and needs,” Boyette said. He said at a recent Lincoln-Reagan dinner, Rosendale talked about how he’s sitting around, waiting to get involved with legislation that helps provide solutions, but Rosendale’s phone doesn’t ring. “And the point hits me that as a representative, he shouldn’t be waiting around waiting to make it happen. You have to have initiative,” Boyette said. Farming and ranching Boyette said stronger protections are necessary for farmers and ranchers, including more support of country-of-origin labeling. “We have the best beef in the world. Why wouldn’t we want to keep that label as we’re exporting?” Boyette said. “There’s a lack of support when dealing with meat packing, processes, and procedures. We’re stuck in a situation where we’re forced to sell cattle to multi-national corporations.” He said COVID-19 has demonstrated the problem – ranchers are getting paid 30% less for their beef while consumers are paying 20% more, leading to an artificially high profit margin for the large packing houses. Boyette said that puts Montana in a strong position because we have the capacity and ability to raise and even produce our own food, but more federal support is needed. But Boyette sees a Montana with much more potential than it has capitalized upon – for example biofuels and hemp could be increasingly important agricultural opportunities for the state. “So diesel is sky-rocketing, and we can address that by using a niche, right now biofuels and hemp seeds, and not only will that help our economy, but we can add higher paying jobs,” Boyette said. “All options should be on the table because it’s a matter of creating incentives, not in California, or Massachusetts, but here locally.” Healthcare system Boyette believes that more needs to be done to let doctors practice medicine without the constant interference of insurance companies. Moreover, the cozy relationship that government institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have with pharmaceuticals and health care disadvantages citizens. For example, Boyette said that things like mask recommendations and additional booster shots are examples of where the government should be more independent. He said at first there was no recommendation for masks during COVID, but then warnings from the government turned personal protective equipment, like masks, into big business. He also said that drug companies have an advantage because the government has allowed it so that pharmaceutical companies can slightly change a drug formulation and continue to charge exorbitant money for treatments that are nearly identical to those offered decades ago. “There’s nothing regulating how much they can mark up the price,” he said. Education Boyette believes that education must be returned to an emphasis on core subjects, like math and science, without social distractions like gender or sexuality. “There needs to be more of an emphasis on academic excellence,” Boyette said. “We need to bring back the work ethic. Gender identity doesn’t belong in school.” He said that teaching additional trades or working with technical education can help prepare students better for the workforce. “We need to prepare for what happens when they actually graduate. We’re pushing kids to get by without actually teaching them,” Boyette said. And while there’s been a lot of debate about the efficacy of standardized testing or large federal programs like No Child Left Behind, he said that moving away from testing may be a mistake. “For me, it helped. Testing gains insight and lets people know your level,” he said. Style and substance Boyette said that having a person who hasn’t considered politics a dream would be beneficial because it means he’ll have to listen more. “People with the ideas aren’t being given the opportunity to be heard,” Boyette said. “There are great ideas, but you have to be collaborative, and you need to be honest, even when the answer is not good.” He said that America needs to quit outsourcing its best ideas and start figuring out a way to incubate our best ideas in the country to produce industries that create better jobs. Foreign policy Boyette said that foreign policy starts with a strong military and that the Biden administration’s tenure so far has been a lot of weakness. He said that America’s exit from Afghanistan was “reactive” and the U.S. let the Taliban retake control. He also believes that the U.S. needs to do more to protect Ukraine and guard against China. “We need to bring back tariff protections to shore up the trade agreement and hold China accountable,” he said. “We need to start focusing on the humanity side of things, too. As great as money is, it doesn’t make the world go around.” He said China’s treatment of the Uyghars is a good example of how America puts its economic interests ahead of human rights. “No one wants to step on China’s toes and we ignore them,” he said. “But part of being America is standing up and don’t let countries walk all over. If we do, it will lead to our downfall.” He said that leadership in foreign policy has come closer to home as the Biden administration refuses to address immigration issues at the border, including drug and human trafficking. 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