A vote for Sam Forstag

by Casey Ribaudo, Lakewood, WA

My name is Casey Ribaudo and I strongly urge a vote for Sam Forstag for Montana’s First Congressional District.

I am from Ulm, MT and am a member of Little Shell tribe. I left Montana in 2016 after graduating from the University of Montana for work, eventually landing in western Washington state. I now have a family, and we have been trying to move back to western Montana to raise our daughter and be closer to my family. However, housing costs in western Montana, especially Missoula, Bozeman, and the Flathead have now equaled or exceeded those in the Seattle/Tacoma region! That, combined with a lack of good, high-paying jobs, has left us thus far unable to return home to the state that I love. 

I have known Sam well since college, and can vouch for his dedication to public service. Sam, unlike any other candidate in Montana in recent memory, is a union leader and a true member of the working class. Whenever he gets a break from fighting fires, he has worked tirelessly at the state and local level for Montanans. His ambitious platform is focused on affordable housing, education, healthcare and childcare, to name a few, and I know he will make huge progress for working Montanans when elected. He is materially invested in making Montana a place where we can raise our kids and not have to break our backs to do so.