Vote Schroedel

by Wayne Adair, Hamilton

By the time you read this, it will be less than a month until election day, Nov. 3.

Candidates have been making their case for why they deserve your vote. Perhaps the best question to ask is, “What can you do to make the lives of me and my family better?”

In HD 88, the candidate with the best answer is Democrat Evan Schroedel.

In May 2026, a candidate forum was organized at Ravalli County Fairgrounds to discuss the proposed Sheep Creek mine at the headwaters of the Bitterroot. The building was crowded with an approximately 700 spectators gathered to hear where candidates stood. Evan was one of the first to speak.

“I don’t have much to say about this mine other than I am dead set against it and, if elected, I will do everything I can to stop it,” he said,

His opponent Greg Overstreet didn’t show up.

Evan is a Montana native, military veteran and worked 30 years as a railroad engineer. Instead of enjoying a comfortable retirement, he has undertaken his hardest challenge: running for political office.

Reasons why Evan deserves your vote go beyond his opposing the Sheep Creek mine.

Every election, we get exhausted from negative political ads, many paid for by mystery donors.

These days, you can’t drive anywhere in Ravalli County without seeing signs urging us to vote yes on I-194, a ballot initiative to control dark money spending in Montana. It enjoys wide support.

Evan certainly backs this effort to rein in secret spending in our elections.

Overstreet does not.

He co-authored an op-ed that appeared in newspapers across Montana about I-194. He suggests that the GOP’s favorite boogeyman, unions, are not expressly prohibited in the document although trade associations are. The language of I-194 is clear that “artificial persons” would be banned from making political contributions.

By this metric, unions are clearly included in the dark money ban because they are organizations, not people.

Most disturbing, Overstreet complains that Montana newspapers can continue to publish news stories – including articles on political campaigns.

Of course they can. I-194 does not circumvent the First Amendment.

Evan has spent the past year educating voters about local water challenges. While participating in candidate forums, he has emphasized the need for hydrostatic mapping and standardized testing. He has been educating people on why empirical groundwater data must inform planners before any new large-scale housing projects get the go-ahead.

If elected, Evan Schroedel will carry his fight to preserve our water resources to the Legislature where meaningful change is possible.

This advocate for Montana’s middle class needs your vote to allow him to represent you and your family in Helena.