We are gathering information from all statewide candidates as a resource for the 2024 Primary Elections. Responses were limited to 200 words per question. Political attacks may have been removed, but otherwise, the responses are published unedited.
What is your full name as it will appear on the ballot?
Ryan Busse
What is your age?
54 (Feb. 23, 1970)
Where do you live?
Kalispell, MT
What is your education background?
I graduated from Bethany College (Lindsborg, KS) in 1993 with a degree in political science and history.
Please list your current and previous occupations.
- Writer (Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry That Radicalized America, PublicAffairs/Hachette, 2021)
- Consultant
- Vice President of Sales, Kimber America, 1995-2020
What motivated you to seek the office of Governor?
Along with my running mate Raph Graybill, who’s a proven defender of Montana’s Constitution, I’m running to get your Montana back. I’ve always stood up for the things I love and believe in. I’m a former Republican. But when the Bush Administration threatened public land in Montana, I stood up to my own party to fight—successfully—to protect that land. I stood up to extremism in my own firearms industry. Now, as a moderate Democrat, I’m standing up to a Montana changing for the worse—a Montana that’s become unaffordable, less free, more divided and less accessible over the past three-and-a-half years. I’m deeply concerned about the dangerous direction of our state, and I believe now more than ever, Montanans need a governor who is one of them.
What qualifications do you have to lead Montana’s government?
I’ve spent most of my professional career as a successful businessman—as a top executive for a major firearms company. But business experience is hardly a sole qualification to serve as Montana’s governor. Stronger qualifications are my record of leadership, my straight-shooting, my lifelong love of the outdoors, and my history of standing up for what’s right for Montana. I was raised on a ranch in rural America. I grew up understanding the value of a dollar, and of a hard day’s work. I’m not afraid of speaking the truth, or of speaking truth to power.
What should be the executive branch’s top three priorities for the next legislative session?
My top three priorities:
- Making Montana affordable again. This includes fixing the current property tax mess—lowering record hikes on residential properties that have burdened homeowners and renters while unfairly benefiting the wealthy and corporations. It includes genuinely fixing Montana’s housing crisis, which has been exacerbated by the record property tax increases. It includes funding public schools and the public servants who keep them running. And it includes ensuring that law enforcement officers, public school teachers and nurses can enjoy, live in and make good livings in the communities they serve.
- Rebuilding state agencies and departments. Many of them have been severely damaged by harmful ideologies, incompetent leaders and dangerous priorities over the past three-and-a-half years. Specifically: improving service at DPHHS, restoring the Montana FWP back to the premier agency it once was for protecting public land and managing public wildlife, and restoring the government-to-government relationships the State of Montana must have with Indigenous Nations.
- Protecting freedom, especially a woman’s Constitutional right to make whatever private decisions are best for her health and her family and her future—including the right to abortion and the right to decide whether or when to have a family—without interference from any government or politician.
What changes, if any, should the state make to its tax system?
Montanans’ concerns over this year’s and last year’s record property tax hikes on Montana homeowners is the biggest and loudest concern I hear everywhere I go. I hear it from lifelong Republicans, even elected Republican leaders, who wonder aloud why the Republicans they elected raised taxes on them while giving tax breaks to corporations. As governor, I will demand the Legislature adjust the property tax rate whenever residential property values increase to prevent the burden falling squarely on homeowners, as Governors Bullock, Schweitzer, Martz and Racicot have done. I also support the wealthy and corporations paying their fair share. Billionaires and millionaires who buy up third or fourth homes here should be on the hook for ensuring that Montana’s community heroes—law enforcement officers, teachers and nurses—have an opportunity to live in safe, affordable homes in the communities they serve.
What steps, if any, should the state take to address the rise in fentanyl-related deaths in Montana?
Or course the State of Montana should take steps to address the rise in fentanyl-related cases. Throughout too many communities in Montana, law enforcement agencies are understaffed due to the housing and affordability crisis, and actionable steps have not been taken to adequately and urgently address this problem (creating “task forces” may make for positive headlines, but it’s disingenuous, slow-going and bureaucratic—it’s like putting a papercut Band-Aid on a gaping neck wound). I will also expect more from, and work more meaningfully with, the Montana Attorney General; the Attorney General has not adequately addressed the rise in fentanyl-related deaths on his watch.
What, if anything, should the state do to address climate change?
The climate crisis is not an issue Montanans can hide from. It affects every one of us, our businesses and industries, our economy, our way of life, our outdoors, and the future generations that will inherit this state. My two teenage sons were among the youth litigants in the historic Held v. Montana climate case, and successfully sued to uphold their Constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment”—which the State of Montana has failed to deliver. As Governor, my first step would be to simply honor this clause in the Montana Constitution, for all people. My administration will certainly never dismiss the climate crisis as a hoax. We will address the crisis with clarity and urgency, and by folding in stakeholders from across the political spectrum to ensure that visionary, solution-minded Montanans have a seat at the table. This will ensure economic stability, good-paying jobs and innovation that will build up communities and lead us into the future prepared.
What, if anything, should the state do to improve the affordability of housing in Montana?
Montana faces a housing crisis that has gotten far worse over the past three-and-a-half years, exacerbated by the fact that Montana has become the most expensive it’s ever been. The first thing I’ll do as Governor is to stop making the problem worse by equalizing property taxes so that the burden doesn’t unfairly fall on ordinary homeowners and renters. I certainly will not brag about Montana being “a great place to sell” until we first respect and invest in the people who already live here. We do that by ensuring adequate housing for the people who keep our public schools and health care facilities operating, and for law enforcement officers who patrol our streets, highways and Indigenous communities. We can do that by reexamining our tax system to make sure that billionaires and millionaires who drive up home prices here are on the hook for their fair share. And we can take meaningful action to encourage more smart, affordable housing, and to encourage more opportunities for builders and community planners.
What should the state Land Board prioritize as it manages state trust lands?
The members of the Land Board should return their focus to their original charge: to be stewards of the public land and water that all of us own. The Land Board should prioritize increasing public land ownership and access to those lands. It should focus on conserving our natural resources with the aim of preserving them—and their economic viability—for future generations, not on making quick money or doing favors to out-of-state developers.