Gianforte supports defunding Planned Parenthood; Quist approves of legalizing recreational marijuana

GREAT FALLS - Greg Gianforte, the Republican running to fill Montana’s empty U.S. House seat, would support taking away funding for Planned Parenthood, and his Democrat opponent Rob Quist supports the legalization of marijuana for both medicinal and recreational use.

Those issues and many others were the topics of a Great Falls debate between the men vying to be Montana’s next congressman.

Over the past week, the two faced off several times, including editorial board meetings held by the Independent Record, Montana Standard and Billings Gazette, some of which were livestreamed on Facebook. Quist and Gianforte were joined by Libertarian candidate Mark Wicks, an Inverness rancher, in a televised debate Saturday night.

On May 25, a Thursday, voters will decide who will fill a position vacated by Ryan Zinke, who left his U.S. House seat after President Donald Trump selected him to be Secretary of the Interior.

Gianforte is a wealthy former businessman who started a high-tech company in Bozeman that he later sold to Oracle for $1.5 billion. Quist, from Creston, is a musician and poet who was a part of the popular Mission Mountain Wood Band.

Quist, who kept on his trademark cowboy hat for the debate, has been criticized the last few weeks for past performances at a nudist colony and his financial history, which includes a 16-year trail of debt and a lawsuit over an unpaid loan and liens filed to collect delinquent taxes.

Gianforte has been scrutinized for financial ties to Russia; he owns shares in two index funds that include interests in Russian companies under U.S. sanctions. A gopher hunt with Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., also brought negative attention.

Ties to Russia came up at the Saturday debate, though not through a direct question.

When asked about escalating tensions with North Korea, Quist pivoted to Russia. Earlier in the day media outlets around the state ran stories about Gianforte's investment in the index funds. A financial services expert told The Billings Gazette on Saturday it was a stretch to suggest the funds linked Gianforte to the companies in any meaningful way.

Gianforte responded by saying:

“We have a broad range of investments. Anyone who invests in emerging markets around the world has investments in Russia. This is a tiny portion of our portfolio.”

He also added state and university system employees would have similar connections if the retirement money invested on their behalf included funds built around emerging markets.

Acknowledging his significant wealth, Gianforte vowed to remove himself from any direct involvement with his finances if elected.

Gianforte’s response to a debate question about whether he supports de-funding Planned Parenthood - a nonprofit that provides reproductive health care to women, as well as abortions in some clinics - mirrored the answer he gave during a joint appearance with Quist at the Independent Record’s editorial board meeting Friday.

“I don’t think that … tax dollars should be used to pay for abortion. … I don’t believe that organization has been a particularly good steward of resources, so yes I would,” he said at the editorial board meeting.

Gianforte said the only time abortion should be allowed is when a woman’s life is in jeopardy. “I don’t think the government should get in between that. But that’s the only exception I would make.”

Quist, on the other hand, said there needs to be a resistance to “the assault on women’s reproductive rights.”

“I think those decisions are between a woman and her faith and her doctor and no one else. No one else has the right to know.”

The candidates were also asked about Trump’s recent executive order to review any national monuments created since 1996 that are at least 100,000 acres. That includes the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument in north-central Montana.

Quist said he views Trump’s move as a way to make the lands available for private development.

“People have worked on these monuments and some of these wilderness areas for years at a time and they’re great economic boons for the areas that have them. I really have deep concerns about this process and I think the people of America are going to stand up against it.”

Gianforte characterized Trump’s order as an “initial review.”

“What we’re asking for is local input from the people. This review process allows local input to occur.”

Gianforte said he is a supporter of natural resource development, but said there are places where he thinks it’s not appropriate. “I think you can develop natural resources and protect the environment, but not every place is the right place for a mine.”

Wicks agreed with Gianforte in saying the monuments were created with little public input. He also criticized former President Barack Obama's action to create a new monument in Utah at the end of his presidency.

"Congress hasn't done its job keeping the president in check, keeping the judges in check."

Through the debate Saturday, Gianforte worked to align himself with Trump, as well as more conservative values. Quist tried to play up his long history in the state, referencing his childhood near the Rocky Mountain Front. Wicks said he would be a different voice for Montana, who he said for too long has sent either Republicans or Democrats to Washington, D.C., without results.

The candidates were also asked about their positions on marijuana use, both medicinal and recreational. In 2004 Montana voters legalized medical marijuana, but the 2011 Legislature imposed strict limitations on access. Last fall a ballot initiative to lift some of those restrictions was approved by voters.

Gianforte said medical marijuana should be available to people in chronic pain, under the care of a doctor. He does not support recreational marijuana, saying the state has problems with drug addiction.

“I think we have other states doing experiments with it and we should let them carry on with that.”

Quist said he supports the legalization of marijuana.

“To me the war on drugs has been an abject failure,” he said. “I think the majority of Montanans and Americans agree they would like to see the decriminalization go forward and not criminalize people for something that should not be criminal.”