Montana Public Radio is gathering information on all statewide primary candidates to publish as a resource for our audience. We asked all the statewide candidates to respond to the following questions via email, limiting their answers to 300 words per question. These are their unedited responses.
State Auditor candidate Mike Winsor:
What is your full name as it will appear on ballots?
Mike Winsor
What is your age?
51.
Where do you live?
Helena, Lewis and Clark County, Montana.
What is your education background?
Grade School:
Hawthorne Elementary School, Helena, MT Grades K-6
Middle School:
C.R. Anderson, Helena, MT Grades 7-8
High School:
Capital High School, Helena, MT
Undergraduate Studies:
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Degree: B.F.A. (Bachelor of Fine Arts)
Graduate Studies:
Oklahoma City University, School of Law, Oklahoma City, OK
Degree: J.D. (Juris Doctor)
What is your current occupation?
Attorney and Counselor at Law
Consumer Advocate
Why are you running for this particular public office?
I am running for this office to protect the rights of Montana Insurance Consumers and Montana Investors, to protect them from fraud, to fight financial exploitation of senior citizens, and to regulate the integrity of the insurance and securities industries in the state of Montana.
What makes you qualified to hold this position?
I am the most qualified candidate to hold this position because I am a consumer advocate. I have been a consumer advocate for more than 22 years, first as a trial attorney, and then as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State Auditor's office. As a trial attorney, I fought for the rights of injured people in Montana.
As a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State Auditor's Office, I fought insurance fraud and investment fraud, and locked up crooks that ripped off Montana victims.
I am the only candidate with working knowledge and experience with Montana Insurance and Securities regulatory law. I am the only candidate with the kind of experience that matters as far as running the state office charged with regulating the insurance and securities (investments) industries in Montana. I am the only candidate with a proven record of consumer advocacy. I am the only candidate with a thorough understanding of the highly complex and heavily regulated industries of insurance and securities in Montana.
What are three policy issues that distinguish you from your opponent(s)?
The main issues in this election are experience, qualifications and perspective. I am the only candidate with the kind of experience that matters.
Of the five candidates in this race, none have meaningful insurance or securities regulation experience. Two candidates, both insurance industry insiders, are running on a pro-industry, anti-consumer platform; the proverbial fox in the henhouse. Neither of the two have securities (investment industry) experience. Neither have experience as regulators.
In our current technologically driven society, it is key to continually develop and enforce Montana law and regulations to protect Montana citizens.
Republican deregulation exposes our citizens, to include our vulnerable elderly, to harmful industry practices. Republicans making clams that reducing and eliminating regulatory requirements and laws will improve the marketplace are not just dumb, they show a total lack of understanding for the sworn oath of office which is to protect the citizens of our state.
Montana legislators pass laws and the State Auditor's Office develops regulations because bad things have happened to the people of this state. The State Auditor swears to protect Montana citizens and defends them from criminals, bad insurance agents, and bad stockbrokers. As your State Auditor, I will have sensible, stable, consistent, predictable, and fair enforcement of the laws to protect the interests of Montana Citizens.
What are the greatest issues facing Montana that have gone unsolved by elected officials and how would you address them?
The greatest issue involving the State Auditor's Office in Montana, is rebuilding the office itself. The current State Auditor has abandoned the mission of the office, and has hog-tied it from fulfilling its basic functions due to mismanagement, corruption, and a callous disregard for the interests of Montana people. I am the only candidate who knows how the agency works, and now that it is broken, I am the only candidate with the requisite knowledge, experience, and skill to fix it.
