Meet HD5 candidate John Michael Myers

John Michael Myers is a self-described history buff. He studied history in college and is currently writing a historical fiction novel set in 1920s Butte.

“I’m a history nerd and a bit of a romantic as well,” Myers said. “I’ve always loved the story of the founding of this country. We began as an experiment that has survived and flourished and transformed the globe.”

His interest in history is what originally piqued his interest in politics and ultimately led to him campaigning as a Republican for House District 5 in the state legislature.

Myers, 31, will face off with Doug Adams in the Republican primary election June 3. Incumbent Democrat Ed Lieser is running unopposed.

A fifth generation Montana, Myers is a 2001 graduate of Flathead High School where he was a state champion in legislative debate. He received his bachelors from Gonzaga University in Washington and went on to study law at Washington & Lee University in Virginia.

“At the beginning of high school I was interested in law as a career, but truthfully I was always interested more in politics,” Myers said.

Myers likes the idea of representing the Whitefish constituents at a “citizen-statesman.”

“Our state legislatures are citizen-statesmen, they’re not professional politicians,” he said. “They’re people who are members of the community — teachers, doctors, lawyers, businessmen, farmers — I love that about our state.”

Myers says he is a fiscal conservative and a social libertarian.

“I don’t believe in taking a strict party line,” he said.

“I’ve already received criticism for a couple of the issues I stand on. I think my politics are in line with the community of Whitefish.”

Myers served as a member of the Board of Trustees for School District 5 in Kalispell before moving to Whitefish.

“Being on the school board was great for me,” he said. “It made me realize how much I love the field of education and how important it is to the future of our state.”

He said tax reform might be one way to help better fund the public school system.

“We do need significant tax reform in the state,” he said.

“We need to continue supporting education. We need to make sure our schools and teachers have the proper resources.”

“We are very fortunate in Whitefish where we have private donors giving huge amounts of money to provide for arts and humanities, but a lot of other communities aren’t as fortunate.”

He’s interested in revamping the state’s technology infrastructure, which would lure new businesses to Montana, he said.

“By laying that infrastructure we can make our area more marketable,” he said. “It would invite new companies and invite expansion by companies that are here.”