MTPR is airing interviews with candidates running for federal office in 2026. MTPR's Austin Amestoy spoke with Matt Rains, who's a Democrat running for the western U.S. House seat.
Austin Amestoy: Matt, what makes you the most qualified candidate for this job?
Matt Rains: So to me, it goes back to authentic Montana. And I've got really deep roots in this state. My great, great grandmother pioneered here in the 1860s and family's been working in Montana ever since. And then I represented Montana as a West Point cadet, graduated there, and as an army officer, flew Blackhawks, and served in Iraq, which is more important now than ever given what's going on with Iran.
And then came back to the states, put my West Point engineering degree to work inspecting power plants. So I would travel the country, do about a million dollars with the repair findings, hand that over to the boilermakers, let them go fix it. And then came to Montana, got back on the family ranch. And then along with that, the last five years, I worked at Montana Farmers Union; chief of staff there. Best opportunity that I had was being head of– up in Havre, we started the first-in-the-nation USDA meat processing co-op owned by local Montana producers and it's given a bunch of local ranchers the opportunity to retail their own animals and bring revenue into the operation, which keeps them viable but also generational.
Austin Amestoy: How do you see those experiences and that background informing your work as a lawmaker in Congress?
Matt Rains: If you're going to go to Congress, you're either going to be dependent on what you read on the news or lobbyists if you don't have firsthand experience. And so what I bring to the table is– I mean, in addition to that, I've traveled over 60 countries. I've lived in about every culture and religion. So if we're talking military, we're talking international, we're talking agriculture, we're taking public lands: I have lived and breathed it my entire life. And so in Congress, that is what other lawmakers will look to and they'll lean on me for advice and guidance, instead of me having to go to the lobbyist and have them tell me what they think the right answer is.
Austin Amestoy: Last fall, the federal government shut down over an impasse between Republicans and Democrats over subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. If you were in Congress at that time, how would you have voted on that issue?
Matt Rains: Healthcare is one of my primary focuses for why I'm running. Rural health care, which was attacked in the Big, Beautiful Bill and one-in-four ranchers and farmers in Montana use the ACA. And so these subsidies are hitting hard. We're at $500 to $1,000 additional in premiums that you get nothing more for it. So we absolutely have to find solutions to get that funded.
And you talk about the shutdown — holy crap, that was embarrassing that this government– I mean, we've had shutdowns in the past with the urgency to get open as soon as possible, get people back on their salaries paid. This government was just playing a game that they wanted to keep it down. There was no effort to try to open it back up, and I'm not going to play that game. When I'm in Congress, I will do everything, every waking minute to make sure we're getting stuff done before a shutdown.
Austin Amestoy: Last year, the Trump administration also made a really big push to downsize the federal government, ostensibly through the DOGE regime. Are you happy with the results of that effort, and do you think further downsizing is necessary?
Matt Rains: No, I'm not happy. I had some personal friends just right across the road that work with the Forest Service and they were put on hold — laid off temporarily. Immediately at the farmers union and also as a rancher, I reached out to them and was, "What kind of job can we give you? What do you need to, you know, keep paying your bills" type deal. That was across the board. Nobody deserves to live a life where you don't know what's going to happen next week.
Austin Amestoy: Should President Trump have consulted Congress and received a declaration of war before striking Iran?
Matt Rains: Absolutely. There is a reason we have a checks and balance set up and it is because in an event that you have a president that tries to make decisions like sending an entire country to war, Congress is there to be the voice of the American people and you cannot supersede that as a president and make your own decisions. And so absolutely that needs to run through, and it's disgraceful that our entire delegation rolled over and just let it happen
Austin Amestoy: As you've traveled the district that you'd be representing, what's, in your opinion, the top priority of constituents in your district?
Matt Rains: We found immediately that it is the stress of the cost of living, specifically to housing. Whether you're a college kid with five roommates because that's the only way you can get into a house, if you're 20-30 year old having your first career, second career, you want to start a family, it is I think $1.1 million For a single-family home in Whitefish. Missoula here is about $500,000 to $600,000; about the same in Bozeman. It is outrageous to take on a mortgage like that.
Rent goes hand in hand with it. And if you are a multi-generational Montanan and you're sitting in a house that you got inherited down, taxes are so high right now that you're having to consider to sell your home that you own outright. We are in a really bad position based on the housing crisis right here in this district.
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