GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Although the boundary of Montana House District 23 lies mostly within Great Falls city limits, the contestants in the race both have strong connections to the community of Cascade.
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The district is located on the city’s south side, stretching from the river primarily along 10th Avenue South out near the new Walmart and going as far south as 33rd Avenue.
The Republican incumbent, Eric Tilleman, is a fourth-generation Montanan who grew up in Chinook.
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He was the longtime ag education teacher in Cascade before becoming the ag education specialist for the Montana Office of Public Instruction six years ago.
He's also a longtime volunteer firefighter and department chief for Cascade.
He says by running, he’s living what he told his students, which is that to see change, you have to be part of making the change happen.
He says he’s also working for veterans' rights.
“We have 82,000 veterans that are in Montana. And, there's some claim sharks out there that are trying to take some funding from our veterans in their disability checks. And we want to, need to put in some consumer protections for them," Tilleman said.
Democrat Rebecca Bogden-Richards has deep Montana roots, having attended Cascade Public Schools and the University of Great Falls.
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An active volunteer, her professional work includes the Girl Scouts, the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, the City of Great Falls Parks and Recreation Department and later as executive director of Montana’s federally funded parent training information center, now known as the Montana Empowerment Center.
As a parent of a child with a lifelong genetic disability, she feels her experience can make a difference for Montana families.
“Families really live in Montana because they want a certain way of life. They want to recreate. They want to, have a good quality of life. And I really want to see that for a lot of families here. I talked to a lot of families, and it's concerning when they can't have that way of life. I want my daughter to be able to come back from college and have the same quality of life that we had," said Bogden-Richards.
Remember, election day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
