Russ Tempel grabbed a hamburger and sat down to visit with me at The Mint Saturday morning. I wanted to talk about the race and get to know him a little bit better. I introduced him to my grandsons and their friend, "This is Russ Tempel he makes the laws we have to obey." They were so impressed! Their faces looked up at him wide-eyed and they had wow looks! He shook their hand, said he was glad to meet them. He handed them a political postcard. One took it and looked at it and ran to his mother in much excitement. Henry Merrill came back and asked him "Will I get to vote for you when I turn 18?" Tempel laughed and said, "I don't think I'll be running then, but you can tell your mom and dad to vote for me this year." Russ has been a public servant for 20 years, with 18 of them as a county commissioner. He is our incumbent Republican candidate for Senate District 14 . "I will fight for the best interests of all citizens while working with everyone."
He has four children. His daughter is a teacher in Cut Bank and has three boys playing football. Russ just returned from going to a football game. He has 11 grandchildren all together two in Washington, and five in Wyoming. His wife Judy, was a teacher from Chester. Four years ago, they leased the farm, although they still live in the farm house. Besides grandchildren he and his wife Judy like to go on motorcycle trips.
He got his high school diploma from Joplin High School and an associate degree in business from Northern Montana College. Russ served our country in the Army during the 60's while stationed in Europe. He said they were testing times.
This is his first time running for the position, because last time he was appointed five days before the legislation session started.
During the last legislation session Russ was on the Education Committee, the Energy committee and the Tax Committee. I asked him why teachers get paid so little in the state of Montana. He said we have a lot of very poor counties. "We had a bill go through that will hopefully help with new teachers especially for eastern Montana to encourage teachers to stay. They get a signing bonus of $3,000 the first year, $2,000 the second year, and $1,000 the third year. By then it is hoped they will learn that small towns are a great place to teach and raise a family if they have one. They'll have smaller class rooms and have the opportunity to build great relationships with the kids."
As part of the Energy Committee he talked about how difficult it is to get past regulations. And when asked about the Tax committee
and how to help our economy he said, "slow spending."
When I asked him what the most important issue was he said, "There is so many hard ones, it's difficult....Gas, Oil and Agriculture. Agriculture is just struggling!"
He liked serving our district, "It's just like everything else you do whether it's farming or writing for a newspaper. 10% of the stuff of you have to deal with that you would rather not. So, it's sort of the same thing. I get along with most of the people I deal with most of the time. And the staff at Helena is just phenomenal. They just great. Over the years I found it is easier to work with people rather than fight with people"
