« Panel 2: People and Place
Panel 3: Housing »
Steve Bullock has served as the Governor of Montana since 2013, having previously been the state’s attorney general. At the conference’s keynote lunch, Gov. Bullock spoke of the importance of rural populations in a large and sparsely populated state, saying, “Absent a huge population in a state like ours, we have to work a little bit harder.” The governor addressed issues like economic development, climate change, health care and medicaid expansion, and tribal sovereignty. He also fielded questions from the audience.
Held March 18, 2016 at the University of Montana in Missoula, MT
Video

Poll Data
From the Rural West Conference Montana Survey: Opinions on Elected Officials
Analysis by Christopher Muste, University of Montana
Elected officials receive positive evaluations overall among survey respondents who expressed an opinion about their performance. Governor Steve Bullock’s job performance rating is 75% positive, with 27% “strongly approve” and 48% “somewhat approve. Rural residents rate Bullock 12% to 15% lower than their urban and small town counterparts, likely a reflection of greater Republican identification in rural areas, but still are overwhelmingly positive (65% approve). Democratic Senator Jon Tester, in his second term, has a 61% positive rating, and only a 50-50 rating among rural residents. Republican first-term Senator Steve Daines has a 67% approval rating, only slightly lower in urban areas. First-term Republican U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke has a 65% approval rating, uniformly spread across the state, although this is only among the 70% of respondents who had an opinion of his job performance. The Montana Legislature was rated positively by 64% of Montanans, slightly lower in rural areas than in towns and cities.
Results and analysis from the Rural West Conference Montana Survey Read More »
« Panel 2: People and Place
Panel 3: Housing »
« Panel 2: People and Place
Panel 3: Housing »
Steve Bullock has served as the Governor of Montana since 2013, having previously been the state’s attorney general. At the conference’s keynote lunch, Gov. Bullock spoke of the importance of rural populations in a large and sparsely populated state, saying, “Absent a huge population in a state like ours, we have to work a little bit harder.” The governor addressed issues like economic development, climate change, health care and medicaid expansion, and tribal sovereignty. He also fielded questions from the audience.
Held March 18, 2016 at the University of Montana in Missoula, MT
Video

Poll Data
From the Rural West Conference Montana Survey: Opinions on Elected Officials
Analysis by Christopher Muste, University of Montana
Elected officials receive positive evaluations overall among survey respondents who expressed an opinion about their performance. Governor Steve Bullock’s job performance rating is 75% positive, with 27% “strongly approve” and 48% “somewhat approve. Rural residents rate Bullock 12% to 15% lower than their urban and small town counterparts, likely a reflection of greater Republican identification in rural areas, but still are overwhelmingly positive (65% approve). Democratic Senator Jon Tester, in his second term, has a 61% positive rating, and only a 50-50 rating among rural residents. Republican first-term Senator Steve Daines has a 67% approval rating, only slightly lower in urban areas. First-term Republican U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke has a 65% approval rating, uniformly spread across the state, although this is only among the 70% of respondents who had an opinion of his job performance. The Montana Legislature was rated positively by 64% of Montanans, slightly lower in rural areas than in towns and cities.
Results and analysis from the Rural West Conference Montana Survey Read More »