Jason Gunderson
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Jason Gunderson (Republican Party) ran for election to the Montana House of Representatives to represent District 58. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Gunderson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Jason Gunderson was born in Libby, Montana. Gunderson's career experience includes working as a police sergeant. He earned a bachelor's degree from American Public University in 2021.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Montana House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Montana House of Representatives District 58
Jamie Isaly defeated Jason Gunderson in the general election for Montana House of Representatives District 58 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Jamie Isaly (D) | 53.6 | 3,690 | |
| Jason Gunderson (R) | 46.4 | 3,196 | ||
| Total votes: 6,886 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 58
Jamie Isaly defeated Dean Williamson in the Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 58 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Jamie Isaly | 91.1 | 1,374 | |
| Dean Williamson | 8.9 | 134 | ||
| Total votes: 1,508 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Montana House of Representatives District 58
Jason Gunderson advanced from the Republican primary for Montana House of Representatives District 58 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Jason Gunderson | 100.0 | 1,284 | |
| Total votes: 1,284 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Gunderson in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jason Gunderson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Gunderson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I was born and raised in Montana and I have twenty years of public service experience. I have served a number of communities as a firefighter, EMT, and police officer. Currently I am a Patrol Sergeant for my local police department and President for the Livingston Police Protective Association. The LPPA is a non-profit organization tasked with improving the quality of life for our officers and funding benevolent acts in our community. I grew up in the Scouts where I have earned the rank of Eagle Scout and I have earned six commendations, a life saving award, and a fire unit citation during my career. I am running for House District 58 because I was tired of sitting back and complaining about politics and the direction my home is headed. Serving is in my blood and I believe my First Responder experience gives me a unique perspective to the representation of House District 58 that will be influential in Helena.
- I am the common sense candidate for House District 58. We all have been suffering at the hands of extreme agendas and ideology simply not rooted in reality and I aim to restore common sense and reasonableness in Helena. Radical agendas such as Critical Race Theory and Extreme Environmentalism have no place in our schools. Are children need to be taught HOW to think, not WHAT to think.
- I will continue to honor the oath to the Constitution I swore as a Police Officer and ensure that legislation in Montana is legally sound. Many of the issues we face in this State can simply be resolved by honoring the laws we have, by following the Constitution. We are also a nation of laws and our society can only function with respect to the laws. I believe this respect starts in the Legislature.
- Part of my common sense approach is ensuring that we are conducting business in a financially sound manner. My constituents have expressed a number of conflicting desires and at the end of the day, we simply cannot continue to slash revenue sources while increasing State spending. Our State is in a good financial position and I aim to keep it that way by not going on a shopping spree with taxpayer money.
I want to lower our Property Taxes. The tax burden has been forced onto property owners and it is just not sustainable. This can be fixed and I am open to all solutions.
I want to tackle the drug and mental health crises. As a Police Officer, I have witnessed first hand the impact of cutting mental health resources. I have also seen the impact that preventative services can have on this issue and to me, it is money well spent.
I would recommend "Are We Good Enough for Liberty" and " A Bear Walks Into a Libertarian". The first book is a simple read that gets right to the point and speaks of the character of man and government. The second is an entertaining story that appeals to the Libertarian in me and makes, what I believe to be, an argument for balance in freedom and governance.
For anyone suffering from insomnia, I would suggest the audio book version of Democracy in America. It has been an enlightening read but also is pure acoustic Ambien, that will render even the most dedicated listener unconscious in a matter of minutes. In all seriousness, it is a tougher read but is rich with political education gold.
For anyone suffering from insomnia, I would suggest the audio book version of Democracy in America. It has been an enlightening read but also is pure acoustic Ambien, that will render even the most dedicated listener unconscious in a matter of minutes. In all seriousness, it is a tougher read but is rich with political education gold.
Their ability to be educated and collaborate with others is key. Being a House Representative is a complicated endeavor and no one person has all the answers. We need representatives who are willing to hear subject matter experts, gather the facts, and make informed decisions. Representatives also need the ability to balance out their head and their heart when making decisions. Logic and reason is important, but we also need compassion to make humane decisions. Not every decision made by a representative can only revolve around money. A representative also needs to be of strong moral and ethical character. Any person in power needs to be trust worthy and accountable. I believe with my two decades of public service experience I posses the above character traits to best represent House District 58.
Representatives create laws and appropriate money for the State. More importantly than creating new or better laws, a representative's more important responsibility is to prevent bad laws from coming into effect.
I think politicians shouldn't get a legacy, its not why I am here. I am here to work on behalf of others who cannot or will not do the work themselves.
My first job was working for my parents. From the time I was old enough to pick up a shovel, I dug water and sewer lines and lots of fence post holes. I bucked hay bales and stacked firewood. At the time I hated it but it was a valuable life lesson in work ethic that I believe has contributed to my success in life thus far.
The relationship between Governor and State Legislature should be one of respect and cooperation. The Governor is not our CEO and I have been critical of our Governor on this issue. However, having a conversation with the Governor, I am aware of many good things that he has done for our State. He has made really wise, critical decisions that has greatly impacted our State. It goes to show that we do not always agree with one another but we need to keep cooperating and working on behalf of our citizens.
Taxes and Natural Resource and Energy production. In decades past, we did not take care of the environment which caused a lot of damage. We are smarter, more mindful, and technologically advanced than we ever have yet we have slashed our Natural Resource utilization. That deficits created by out of state extremists and legal loopholes has destroyed our economy and forced our State to resort to higher and higher taxes to make ends meet. Property ownership is no longer ownership, its renting from the government. We are breaking the backs of property owners and it needs to stop. We need common sense solutions and cooperation to create profitable, environmentally sound projects to fund the needs of the People. More taxes is not the solution, we are sounded by the solution, we just need to put it to use.
I think that Legislators should come from all walks of life and do not have a preference over one field to another. Strength through diversity as they say, because creating laws and appropriating money for our State is a complicated endeavor that requires knowledge.
I believe that campaigning, is like a trial run or preparation for legislating. As candidates we have to seek people out, demonstrate exceptional communication skills, and create a following to get a certain objective or agenda complete. It takes a community and without cooperation with our communities and our legislators, nothing would get done in Helena. Relationships are critical to success and this fact cannot be understated.
Most of the Legislators that I have had contact with are good examples of what I do not want to be. There are a few good ones that I look up to and have the utmost respect for those but I think change is a good thing regarding politicians.
At the moment, House District 58 is my focus and I have no idea what the future will bring. I want to have an impact for the greater good and will continue to pursue politics in whatever capacity I can.
I spoke to an elderly female who was in tears concerning taxes and her living situation. Given the number of taxes that have been forced upon her in the past year, she was forced to move out of her home in Livingston and seek housing in a neighboring community with a lower cost of living. She is on a fixed income and could not keep up with State and local government taxes being levied against her. It made me angry to hear her story. Our community was sold on an overpriced luxury rec center using misleading advertisements to sway voters. I later spoke to the head of the marketing campaign for that project who was very proud of their work to get the rec center passed. I shared that elderly lady's tragic story with the marketer and was able to put a real face on the damage they had caused. Taxing the fixed income out of homes they have lived in their whole lives should be a serious consideration when making frivolous purchases with tax payer money.
I would like to learn more about this topic as it have not been brought to me by constituents as a primary concern.
Correcting the Marijuana Tax which in my opinion is a complete dumpster fire. Appropriations is the purview of the House of Representatives and how that money is dispersed does not work. In my bill, a significant portion of the Marijuana Tax money would be going back to Cities and Counties for the purposes of road maintenance, fire/EMS, and police services. Specifically, there would be a lottery system to divvy up funds in a way that would not allow local governments play the Shell Game with these funds. They would be required to use the funds to improve the above mentioned services only, with one time expenditures, and above and beyond what has already been budgeted.
Having a law enforcement background, I am interested in law and justice or natural resources.
Financial transparency and government accountability is high on my list of priorities. Specifically, we are struggling right now with our Judicial Branch. I believe they have too much power and that they are wielding that power inappropriately. We are supposed to be a system of checks and balances, yet the relationship seems a bit one sided at the moment.
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Campaign finance summary
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 11, 2024
Current members of the Montana House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Brandon Ler
Majority Leader:Steve Fitzpatrick
Minority Leader:Katie Sullivan
Representatives
District 1
Neil Duram (R)
District 2
Tom Millett (R)
District 3
Debo Powers (D)
District 4
Lyn Bennett (R)
District 5
Braxton Mitchell (R)
District 6
Amy Regier (R)
District 7
District 8
Lukas Schubert (R)
District 9
Steven Kelly (R)
District 10
Terry Falk (R)
District 11
Ed Byrne (R)
District 12
Tracy Sharp (R)
District 13
Linda Reksten (R)
District 14
Paul Fielder (R)
District 15
Thedis Crowe (D)
District 16
District 17
Zachary Wirth (R)
District 18
Llew Jones (R)
District 19
Jane Weber (D)
District 20
District 21
Edward Buttrey (R)
District 22
District 23
Eric Tilleman (R)
District 24
District 25
Steve Gist (R)
District 26
Russ Miner (R)
District 27
Paul Tuss (D)
District 28
Eric Albus (R)
District 29
Valerie Moore (R)
District 30
Morgan Thiel (R)
District 31
Frank Smith (D)
District 32
Mike Fox (D)
District 33
Brandon Ler (R)
District 34
District 35
Gary Parry (R)
District 36
Greg Kmetz (R)
District 37
Shane Klakken (R)
District 38
Greg Oblander (R)
District 39
District 40
Mike Vinton (R)
District 41
Jade Sooktis (D)
District 42
District 43
Larry Brewster (R)
District 44
Katie Zolnikov (R)
District 45
Denise Baum (D)
District 46
Denise Joy (D)
District 47
James Reavis (D)
District 48
Curtis Schomer (R)
District 49
Sherry Essmann (R)
District 50
Anthony Nicastro (R)
District 51
Jodee Etchart (R)
District 52
Bill Mercer (R)
District 53
Nelly Nicol (R)
District 54
Lee Deming (R)
District 55
Brad Barker (R)
District 56
Fiona Nave (R)
District 57
Scott Rosenzweig (D)
District 58
Jamie Isaly (D)
District 59
Ed Stafman (D)
District 60
Alanah Griffith (D)
District 61
Becky Edwards (D)
District 62
Josh Seckinger (D)
District 63
Peter Strand (D)
District 64
Kelly Kortum (D)
District 65
Brian Close (D)
District 66
Eric Matthews (D)
District 67
Jedediah Hinkle (R)
District 68
Caleb Hinkle (R)
District 69
Kenneth Walsh (R)
District 70
Shannon Maness (R)
District 71
Scott DeMarois (D)
District 72
Donavon Hawk (D)
District 73
Jennifer Lynch (D)
District 74
Marc Lee (D)
District 75
Marta Bertoglio (R)
District 76
John Fitzpatrick (R)
District 77
Jane Gillette (R)
District 78
Randyn Gregg (R)
District 79
Luke Muszkiewicz (D)
District 80
Melissa Romano (D)
District 81
Mary Caferro (D)
District 82
Pete Elverum (D)
District 83
Jill Cohenour (D)
District 84
Julie Darling (R)
District 85
Kathy Love (R)
District 86
David Bedey (R)
District 87
Terry Nelson (R)
District 88
Greg Overstreet (R)
District 89
Mark Thane (D)
District 90
Curtis Cochran (R)
District 91
Shelly Fyant (D)
District 92
Connie Keogh (D)
District 93
Katie Sullivan (D)
District 94
Marilyn Marler (D)
District 95
Zooey Zephyr (D)
District 96
Bob Carter (D)
District 97
District 98
Jonathan Karlen (D)
District 99
Tom France (D)
District 100
SJ Howell (D)
Republican Party (58)
Democratic Party (42)
