Montana Free Press (https://montanafreepress.org/author/alex-mckenzie/)
Alex McKenzie has worked with a diverse array of start-ups and nonprofit organizations. He is a former record producer and music journalist, has additional experience working in agriculture and food security, and previously operated his own dairy business. He resides in southwest Montana. Follow him on Twitter @AMcKenzieMT.
Reflecting on his third stint in the Legislature, Thomas says, “Everybody in the body was different. But the people in the hallways, the lobbyists, were very similar, and our staff, and some bureaucracy. And I thought, ‘I don’t know if this is good.’”
“The budget people don’t understand the policy people, and the policy people don’t understand the budget.”
This week, Montana Free Press is closing out 2019 by looking back at some highlights from the first year of the Montana Lowdown podcast. This 2019 review episode features host and MTFP editor-in-chief John S. Adams in a conversation with the show’s producer, Alex McKenzie.
‘I want to talk about our culture, I want to talk about the forces that drive decisions,’ says the Republican candidate for Congress.
The Republican representative from Columbus has served three terms in the Montana House, and as chair of the State Administration Committee the past two terms.
A former longtime editor of the weekly Missoula Independent, Tyer moved to Helena in August to join the growing MTFP staff full time.
“Every 10 years we have this moment where we adjust district lines for the purposes of accounting for population shifts. However, it’s also a means by which legislative majorities have a potential to lock themselves into power for the next 10 years.”
Rains says he’s running to help ensure that farming and ranching remain viable for future generations of Montanans: “We have to find a way to make sure that ranchers and farmers can prosper on the ranch, otherwise rural Montana’s going to just vanish.”