Democratic U.S. Senate candidate for Montana Cora Neumann made a campaign stop in Billings Monday at Moav Coffee to share her views with voters in the Magic City.
Neumann said she is running on a platform of good accessible healthcare, good jobs with good wages and access to public lands.
Neumann entered the race earlier this month and is up against three other Democrats - Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins, Loma rancher John Mues and Bozeman resident Mike Knoles- who are seeking to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Daines in 2020.
Neumann is on a campaign trip she's calling "Wibaux to Wisdom" and listening to what issues Montanans care about. She described a meeting with the owners of the Hog N Jog restaurant in Terry who have to close due to low patronage.
"They have really serious concerns," Neumann said. "They are actually closing down the business soon. They used to get great traffic during the hunting season but as some of the land has been privatized, and being leased out to hunters they are seeing less and less business come through.”
Raised in Bozeman, Neumann said she has 20 years of experience working around domestic and international policy.
She said her studies in college focused on public health policy and working with rural and Native American communities. Neumann also spent time working at the Economic Bureau at the U.S. State Department on economic policy.
“We are also hearing a lot about access to quality health care. And issues related to retaining and recruiting health care workers, nurses and doctors in some of these more remote areas,” Neumann said.
Neumann is passionate about the topic of health care. Her father was killed on the job at a lumber mill when she was an infant.
"My family suffered directly from lack of access to good care, so these issues have driven me throughout my career," Neumann said. "I want to see good, strong, independent leadership in Washington, D.C. I think we need a good, independent, strong voice representing Montana."
She also told Q2 News that she will not take money from corporate political action groups.
“I’m going to be accountable to my constituents. I have already signed a pledge to refuse corporate PAC money," Neumann said. "When I was in D.C., I saw first hand the undue influence of corporations on our government. It’s unacceptable. Growing up in Montana, there’s a strong Montana tradition of keeping money out of politics. So that’s a priority for me.”
After her stop in Billings, Neumann is off to Bozeman, Missoula, Butte, Helena and Wisdom for more handshakes and meet and greets.
