Thousands of Montanans gathered Saturday in cities across the state to participate in the national “No Kings” rally. Reporters from Montana Public Radio and Yellowstone Public Radio spoke with protestors in several cities.
The “No Kings” protest has taken place since President Donald Trump took office last year. Saturday’s was the fourth one and called for Montanans to vote and vote early.
Andy was one of about 200 people at the rally in Kalispell. She has been trying to immigrate to the U.S. from Canada for the past few years and said it has not been easy.
“I think if more people understood the challenges within the United States immigration system, I think they would be probably a little bit more compassionate to their neighbors and the people who are going through the struggles of navigating that and the expense, because it is just getting worse by the day," she said.
For Jana Pursell of Kalispell this protest was especially important because it’s close to election day, and even though she doesn’t think the rallies will change minds too much at the polls. She is hopeful for the outcome.
“I’m hopeful that we'll have some change. We need new blood. We need new people in our Congress that will stand up to things that aren't right.”
The rally in Billings was smaller with just a handful of people. Temp worker Sonja Tafelmeyer’s goal here was to encourage voting.
“I don’t care if they vote Republican, Democrat, Green, independent, we just need people to get out and vote. Keep your voice.”
The biggest issue for her this midterm is health care.
“I am a Medicaid recipient. It’s made it very hard to know if I can even get care, because I don’t know every day if my coverage is there or not," Tafelmeyer said.
Jill Daine, a farmer from Sidney who grows soybeans, wheat and corn, has seen firsthand the impacts of tariffs and rising fuel costs. She said farming is always a gamble but it’s been harder this year.
“The tariffs have messed with the farmers markets, and farmers and ranchers have built decades of markets and ...countries go elsewhere when they can’t get their products from the United States. So that has definitely affected the price of crops and also the price of gas and diesel. That’s what we run on, and that cuts into all our profit. So farmers are really hurting – and ranchers."
In Missoula, where the crowd was much larger, resident Anna Caprez with the rally safety team, like many of the protesters across the state, said affordability for all essentials, and the war in Iran, are top of mind.
“I like that people over party is finally in the forefront in Montana. I think that's the stumbling block we need to get over ... I think our both parties have underserved us, and now we have some candidates that are really willing to work with anyone that will work for the benefit of the people.”
Stevensville resident Kent Burkhardsmeier, said he came out to stress the importance of voting for healthy democracy.
“We all need to be a participant of our democracy, and part of that right is to vote and our option to vote and put in place people that respect and honor democracy.”
