Latest / Pioneer Mind Podcast / Randy Pinocci - Montana Senate District 12 Candidate
Transcript
- Mark Workman: Welcome to the Pioneer Mind podcast. I ⁓ just glad you're back. We have a great guest today with Randy Pinoche. ⁓ Again, probably a true pioneer. He shared with me that he's been in seven primaries in the state of Montana, which might be a record. So he's breaking new ground, going into places maybe nobody wants to go to kind of communicate his message, excuse me, and passions for the state of Montana, our communities and. ⁓ He's just a tireless worker as I've watched him. It's pretty amazing to see how hard this guy works and how much he cares and the passion he brings to. I think one of his big, big messages is about energy because he was on the public service commission, but he knows so much. He's been in the legislator ⁓ experience. He knows so many people. He's so connected and really cares at the same time. ⁓ He's not doing this for selfish reasons. I can almost guarantee you. benefit back for ⁓ leading in these ways in the state of Montana are really challenges, ⁓ sometimes ridicule and questions and questions of you as a person, that kind of thing. But what I've seen with Randy is just a hard Tyler's worker that actually cares about the state of Montana's communities. And as he runs for Senate District 12, ⁓ in today's show, you're gonna hear. the differentiation between him and his opponent, his passions, the bills he wants to bring up. And again, not to hold it up anymore. ⁓ just want to introduce you to Randy Pinochet and thanks for coming, Randy. Well, thanks for having me. Yeah, it's awesome. You know, when I think about the state of Montana, I, you know, I, I'm, I'm, I'm a guy who came from the Midwest. I'm from Ohio moved here in the eighties and I fell in love with the place. I can remember riding a bike outside of Billings and, ⁓ I got a, One of them was called a goat head. I don't even know, a real sharp, pokey thing was on the road and I'm seven miles from town and this guy drives by me to pick up, he sees me carrying my bike on my shoulder and he turns around and grabs me and drives me back to Billings. know, and I just, that summer I was just going to stay the summer and head home but I fell in love with Montana. I met my wife here. It's some of the greatest, warmest people in the world, in my opinion, Montana is, you know. So... I come here and it's kind of this ideal environment and I see Montana as this deep red state with family values and work ethic and you're going to rugged individualism I guess. You're going to take care of yourself. I see Montana that way. But I guess I want to say in the recent trends the last maybe 10, 15 years, and you might even know more of the history of this because you're so in tune with all of it. as an outsider watching, I see us operating as a deep red state. I mean, we're not operating away, but I see us as one. know, everyone I talk to, not anecdotally, really cares about those family values and conserving them and Montana being, you know, kind on that side of the fence. And then I follow politics at the state level, and it seems like we operate on the opposite level. You know, there's this... opposite thing happening from what maybe the voters are asking for. Am I seeing that wrong? What do you think? No, I think you're correct. And most people, when you ask them about who the good guys are and the bad guys are that represent us in office, the bottom line is the people really don't know. When you say I was at a church the other day and I held up the Christian scorecard and I said there's an organization called the Montana Family Foundation that scores your Christian values. anyone in the room tell me who your top Christians are and those that really are standing against those Christian values when they vote? And no one really could answer that. And that ⁓ falls on the shoulders of the people. ⁓ This government's your government. You get the government you deserve, right? ⁓ ⁓ you really have to be looking at that voting record. and you need to be able to identify those that represent you and what their values are according to how they vote. And once we get people back involved with looking at our elected officials that way, I think we'll be in a much better situation. Yeah, so you have, you're running for Senate District 12. ⁓ I think I was sharing with you this earlier is that a lot of times they, The media tries to pull you into the national races as the most important thing to be focused on as a voter, right? We're always watching, if we're watching any kind of news at all, always be pulled into national issues or national, know, individuals that are running for offices like that within our state for the U.S. representative or U.S. Senator, that kind of thing. But I am convinced as I, you know, probably since 45 or 50 years old, as I followed the state of Montana, our local leadership and these offices, districts and senators, representatives at the House level, at the state level, are absolutely the most important things for me. I know it is. And I think that we sometimes disregard that, don't have the greatest voting, know, especially these types of elections. It's hard to get voters out. Is that true? Well, and we have the facts, folks. When I say that most of you don't vote in the primary, I'm looking at the data. Only about three out of 10 registered voters will vote in the primary. And folks, that's just not acceptable. ⁓ So you're gonna hear me encourage you to vote in the primary. The absentee ballots mail out today. People could be voting as early as tomorrow. And here's the unfortunate truth. There's a good chance only three out of 10 are gonna vote. And the... Primary elections are so important because that is where we're trying to put on a really good explanation of why primaries are important. ⁓ When you are going to run a primary against a fellow Republican or a fellow Democrat, there's probably a pretty good reason for that. And what's really tremendously important is the public understands those reasons and say, hey, that is important. We really need to vote in this. And a lot of people that just don't take the time to vote at all, ⁓ you're letting those reasons pass right by you. Right. You know, and again, I know these these off weird elections like that don't have quite the support, but boy, do we need voters, you know, to get out and and and support you specifically. So in terms of the Senate district, you have an opponent. Obviously, in primaries, can get contentious. again. ⁓ You're probably more aware that than I am. I don't necessarily know all the ins and outs of how this primary is gone for sure. But I know that when you're battling for a position, you have to differentiate yourself from your opponent. You have to set a standard for where this is where I'm at and this is where my opponent is, and you have to do that. So what would be some of the main things which would separate you from your opponent? You're absolutely correct. And anytime I speak, I'm... famous for getting right to the point. I get right up to the mic and I say, look, my job is to explain the difference between myself and my opponent in this primary so you can make the choice. Now, this is my seventh primary and subject to check, I don't know anyone in Montana that's been through seven. And it's not that I really ⁓ enjoy primaries. There are a lot of work and they're very contentious because ⁓ you've got to explain why you're running the race and somebody's feelings are going to get hurt. So usually what happens is the Republican Party comes to me and says, look, we got this Republican who's not following the Republican platform. And more importantly, he's being dishonest about it. One of my first races was Jesse O'Hare a few years back. And he just was one of the biggest tax spenders in the Republican Party. He was voting with Democrats and a group of four or five were sometimes up to 10 and the Democrats get what they wanted. And with a Democrat governor, this is really important to the governor. And he can give you special treatment. If you're a Republican that's going to vote with the Democrats, you're going to get invited to all the parties and they're going to have their arm around you and you're going to be really popular in the Capitol. But then you're unpopular with the Republicans, right? But they've crafted some good answers like, well, you have to be effective at working both sides of the aisle. Well, not if we're giving up Republican values within, you know, our party for standing against our party platform. Now, usually when you're dealing with a rhino, they're weak in one, maybe two areas, like they're a big tax spender or maybe they're anti-gun or maybe they just don't have good Christian values. This particular race, my opponent is anti-Christian, anti-gun, a big spender, and it is so bad ⁓ that the Republican party has removed him from the Republican party a couple of weeks ago. he's accepted Democrat money ⁓ it's that blatant where the Democrats say look you do so good voting with the Democrats as a Republican We're actually gonna give you money. They uncovered this group called fireweed, which was really rewarding Republicans to stand against the Republican Party platform and vote with the Democrats ⁓ They were able to you know follow money And then they had to reveal where it was coming from. But this was, you know, certainly we'll get Pinochet to run another primary. And having experience in a primary is important. I have watched primary opponents over the years and they'll, some of them will say, look, I don't want to say anything bad about you. You're not going to say anything bad about me. But this is very confusing to the public because they don't understand why you're running against each other. And if you reveal why you're running, then your opponent will say, you're attacking me, which happens to me all the time. Folks, let me explain this to you. And when I explain to you why I'm running against my opponent based on the voting record, that is not an attack. The voting record is how you should be making your decision to vote in this primary and who you should vote for. Now, my opponent wants to say, well, he's attacking me. Now in my race, My opponent is attacking me viciously. And how do you say, okay, Randy, explain to me why it's an attack? If they're gonna try to reveal something about me that has nothing to do with the voting record, nothing to do with what I or how I performed representing you in office, and they're going after me personally, that's an attack. And I'm not focused on that in any of my seven primaries over 30 years. There is nobody that could call in to this show and say, I'm holding here an attack piece. Pinochet did. ⁓ the only thing I've done is attack your voting record. And that, ⁓ is the reason why I'm trying to get people excited to understand the importance of voting in the primary. His voting record would be on your radar. Well, I've got a flyer right here in front of me and Montana shooting sports association. It's an incredible organization. The president is Gary Marbitt. Montana Shooting Sports Association has been around for like 50 years and they passed more pro-gun bills than any organization in the history of the United States on a state level. And folks, I think one of the most famous, well, there's several famous bills Montana Shooting Sports Association passed, but a lot of people just don't understand history. A few years ago, you weren't allowed to have a concealed carry. And this bill was introduced by Montana Shooting Sports Association and I happened to be the legislature arguing why we needed to have a concealed carry. There were some good arguments. A hunter might've had a ⁓ on and his ⁓ was on his belt, but when the coat covered the gun, they'd say up, concealed. ⁓ it's like, come on, my coat just covered the gun, right? ⁓ then ⁓ we had a concealed carry, ⁓ not attracting attention to yourself. ⁓ may have a gun, but nobody knows, right? And the benefits were this, you had to have a background check. if, so if you had a concealed carry, chances are you might be able to help stop a crime or defend yourself. ⁓ So we passed ⁓ a couple of great bills. The concealed carry permit passed and the self-defense bill. ⁓ so Montana Shooting Sports Association ⁓ was approached by my opponent, George Nikolaikakis, and he wanted to, well, he wanted to introduce a pro-gun bill and this would look good on his record. So Gary Marvitt said, okay, and they went through the testifying and keep in mind when you're on the house floor and you're testifying on a bill, it's like 20, $30,000 an hour because everybody is focused on you. All the house members are being paid to listen to you. All the recordings on camera are all pointed at you and you know, a thousand people, right, are working. your bill as you're introducing it. And this costs the taxpayers a lot. Well, ⁓ at the end of the several day ⁓ process, ⁓ George turned against his own bill and asked everybody to kill it. Now he claims that he didn't like how the bill was written, but he failed to explain that to Gary Marbitt, who gave him the bill to introduce upon my opponent's request. So now what ⁓ Montana Shooting Sports Association has done. says, look, you're getting an F because you're anti-gun. And while Pinochet served in the past, he has a perfect A rating, right? So here's an example where ⁓ my opponent is anti-gun and has an F rating and I'm pro-gun and have an A rating. Well, we look at the Christian scorecard, the Montana Family Foundation, and most Christians don't know this. And I'm back to this education. You know, I've been speaking to a lot of pastors and a lot of church members. Are you aware that there is a group called the Montana Family Foundation that scores your elected officials based on how they vote with Christian issues? Most people don't know. And then the next question is, could you tell me the legislators that have an F rating or maybe a C rating or those that have a perfect score? If I was talking to a thousand Christians and they were listening to this, most of them wouldn't know, right? ⁓ What we got to do, folks, is you've really got to study these score sheets because they're here. Well, George is the lowest scoring man of any Christian according to the Montana Family Foundation. And I've had people tell me I'm attacking them. Look, folks, exposing the voting record is not an attack. You need to know where his values are. And when I serve in the legislation, I have a perfect 100 % score, right? And I've had people tell me that what you're doing is wrong. Look, if I've earned a perfect 100 % score at the Family Foundation and I'm running against the lowest-scoring guy in the entire Republican Party, I think you need to know that before you make this decision. That's quite a significant Oh, it's tremendous, right? I know for me and how I make decisions, a lot of times I make decisions. based decisions how we go forward. don't just guess. I just use that convinced goes that a lot of times we're guessing about these kind of information because we don't get them. They don't find them, that kind of thing. But no, I want the evidence. I want it to make a good decision. So that makes sense. Well, so Christians, if you're listening, ⁓ let's talk about my district. It's behind Holiday Village Mall all the way through Fox Farm, all the way up to Walmart on 10th. It's pretty much that side of town. And you all know somebody that lives there and you've got to call them and say, Hey, it's really important you vote in this election because, ⁓ my opponent voted for transgender hormone shots to underage children. ⁓ my God. This, when I'm doing the doors, people say who would vote for that? Well, in this case, a Republican did and paid for by your taxpayers money. And you're not even allowed to work with the doctor knowing what your child's notes are with the decisions children are making. The parents aren't allowed to engage unless they have permission from the doctor. And if I was told that I couldn't have that access to my children, my children are, you know, moved out of the house, but I just couldn't imagine that this could even be a possibility. All right. So the family foundation is trying to expose that this vote happened in house bill one eight five. And so what I have done. with the Family Foundation, and as I speak throughout my district and around the state, is I have promised to introduce legislation that no child can have any transgender altercation, alteration until the age of 21. Okay? And I think this is something that everybody is really thinking is good policy. And keep in mind, when kids are challenged to have these choices, counseling in school becomes a lot more intense where they got to hire more counselors. If we have to hire 200 more counselors or 300 more in Montana schools and they're being paid 100,000 a year, folks, this is costing you millions of dollars. And what do we compare this to? Well, we don't let children drink until they're 21. And there's good reasons for that. And I don't think they should be challenged with giving the choice to change their sex until 21 because clearly, if they change their mind, they'll say, what was I thinking, right? And a young lady could take a hormone shot, their voice gets deeper, hair starts growing on their chest. They do this when they're 16, when they're 20, they fall in love and it's like, ⁓ no one's gonna wanna marry him and maybe they commit suicide. And we're seeing the suicide rate. So we have to really look at, was this a good decision? And then what is my opponent wanting to do? what he wants to hide the fact that he voted for that, right? So then that's when they lie. Okay, well, I think the first thing is he wrote a check to himself for $95,000, which is extremely rare. I've been doing this for 30 years. This is the first time I've ever seen someone do that. So they wrote themselves a check for $95,000. They put it in their account and then they send out a mailing saying, I'm pro-Christian. I have good Christian values. They sent on another one saying, I have saved you millions in taxpayers money, right? Well, he's lying. And he's spending his money to cover the damage. Look, no one is going to run a race saying, I voted for pro transgender ⁓ legislation. I voted against a gun bill. I'm anti-gun. I'm a big tax spender and I've been kicked out of the Republican party. ⁓ The only way he's going to win. is he has to lie. So he sends out a mailing saying he's a good Republican, yet the truth is, and I got the letter right here, ⁓ anyone can go to the Montana ⁓ GOP website and here's a letter explaining several Republicans have been removed and one is my opponent, George Nikolaikakis. When he's going to the door, putting up a sign and saying, I would like you to put up a sign, here's what he says, I'm a veteran and I'm a businessman. He left out the part that he's kicked out of the party. voted for children to have transgender hormone shots, voted against a gun bill and is one of the biggest tax spenders in the legislative session, right? So folks, you have to check this out. And what he's done is he sent out, I don't know, probably 30, $40,000 of mailings saying he's pro-Christian, pro-gun, pro-family values, and he's a great Republican. Oh, $10,000, $20,000. Oh, so he's going for it. He's going to outspend me probably by 10 times, you know, at least five times, right? Well, he has to because he has to put a bandaid on the problem. The other thing is he's desperately trying to attack me over personal issues, right? He doesn't want to talk about facts, the voting issue, because he'd lose. One of the first things we did is Ron Staley, who runs the Packardham Club. calls me and says, wow, this is an exciting race. It's exciting because there's such a difference. So right away I said, look, we got to have a debate because this is going to be a lot of fun because you've got such a difference between the two. Well, so Ron says, I can't agree more. I said, you know what? You probably charge $5 at the door and raise some money for Packender. The place will be packed because of his voting record. And he's thinking, yeah, we'll think about that. So he calls my opponent. And ⁓ George says, no, he won't do it. And then the people demand ⁓ Ron to ask that again, because the people say, look, the debate is the key to understand the difference. Well, he just won't debate me. And why? Because the first thing would just absolutely destroy his chances are the Republican party has removed him from the Republican party. So people say, how can he run as a Republican? Well, here's the laws, folks. Anybody can run for any party they want, whether you're a Democrat or you can lie. And that's the way our laws are. And maybe those laws should change, you If he's been removed from the Republican Party, maybe he should have to run as an independent. But the way our Montana law is, he can run in any party he wants. As you framed it, do you feel like when you're out there knocking doors, as people have that frame, the gun issue, the transgender surgeries, the being removed from the Montana GOP, are most people aware of that? No, and here's why. So here's a mailer that was mailed by some group explaining that George is too dangerous for the state Senate. putting our children in danger, sex changes for minors. This mailing was done and ⁓ here's what it looks like folks right here. And ⁓ the bottom line is most people throw this stuff in the garbage and they don't read it. This was kind of interesting. Somebody said, Randy, they did a horrible mailing about you and I just can't tell you how bad I feel about it. And they gave me this mailing and I read it and I said, this isn't about me, this is about my opponent. This was a senior citizen. well, ⁓ was a good example for me to bring up because here's a friend of mine who supports me and assume this mailin was against me, but they really didn't read it. Now, ⁓ should we mention that on the show? That's because people really aren't focused. And here's the other thing. You can lie about your opponent. My opponent sent out a mailer saying, I raise taxes. As a public service commissioner, I don't have the power to raise taxes. let me tell you how bad this ⁓ dishonest this mailer was that I raised taxes My opponent raised your taxes and then sent out a mailing saying I did it Now that's like the here's an example a bank was robbed My opponent robbed the bank and he sent out a mailer saying I robbed the bank. There's really two lies there ⁓ don't and and so ⁓ happened was I And they're the first. Well, here's exactly what the angle was. I'm your public service commissioner and your energy rates went up partly because the legislature raised taxes pretty substantially on the energy companies like Northwest Energy. Gotcha. And then I have to look at that and say, OK, if the legislature increased your taxes, you get a chance to increase the rates to recover your taxes. I can't say no to that. Right. And so he said, well, you approved that tax hike. I can't deny it because you raised the taxes on the utility. So, it was just dishonest, right? Folks, if you wanted to see your utility rates go down, the legislature could pass a bill that the utilities won't be taxed at all because when they are taxed, they add that to your electric bill or your gas bill. You see that folks? Now, why is that important? Watch this idea. I really look out for my retired people, right? Because they're on a fixed income. If we could say that the utilities have no taxes to pay, the utility bills would go down and the retired person would say, wow, I don't pay taxes on as much as I did when I was working. And now my utility bill's down and I'm on a fixed income. And they'd have to get that tax made up somewhere else. but that would be a great tax benefit for my retired people. Now I've just given you a real solution that we could work on. But my opponent chose to send out a mailing saying, I increased your taxes, where the public service commission doesn't have the ability to even do that. no limit on political speech in the sense of no one's monitoring whether this is accurate or not. This just goes up. ⁓ And then just, and then you gotta fight it. That's the goal, right? I've called political practices and I... I sent them the mailing that said, raised your taxes and I'm a bad guy. And I said, they lied about my voting record and they can't do that. And political practices, ⁓ you know, I said, hey, Randy, I'm sorry, but they can lie. They can say anything that they want. I asked them, yeah, Chris Gallas, and we go way back. I've been in politics in Montana for over 30 years and Chris Gallas and I knew each other before he ran political practices. Chris, I want you to look at this. And he did. He said, Randy, a judge ruled that in politics you can lie. Folks, I think you should encourage the legislature to pass bills that really improve that you can't be lied to. I think it should be against the law that elected official can have their voting record be lied about. And here's why. Retired people, when they get a postcard and they say, wow, This is pretty serious. Pinochet raised my taxes. There could be, you know, ⁓ a thousand senior citizens that are going to be outraged and they're going to vote against me. How are those seniors going to feel when they find out they were lied to? Right. And my opponent did that. Right. Yeah. What I'm saying to as we started is that we're a deep red state. And then as people living, working, I'm running a business, taking care of my grandkids and all those kind of things. It seems like it's operating against us. Like, we get something in the mail, we're like, well, what's this? know, because aren't we a conservative red state that's going to be, you know, get control of our spending, you know, all those little ideas on our head of what that means. But it seems like we get confused on our side too, is like, well, we're voting this way, but we're getting the other. And I think that's a perfect example, right, in terms of what you're talking Absolutely it is. And then you can really turn up the heat by lying in a radio ad or lying in a TV ad or a billboard. ⁓ So with my opponent spending, you know, five times or 10 times more than the typical race, there are a record amount of billboards in Cascade County for my opponent, a record amount of TV ads, a record amount of radio ads. And to counter it, I have to do things like sit down with you today. So is his response to the money he funded? Is his response is as he goes into this race, he realizes he's maybe in trouble. If that makes sense, why would you go to that effort to fund something that you could do for 10 to 20? Well, you're going to work easily. that make sense? The public should be very concerned about that. Now, he was asked about this. And here's what he said. I've decided to put this amount of my own money in the race because I care about the future of our legislature. That is dishonest. You're putting this amount of money in the race because you have to lie. It must be private. Well, yeah. And not only that, his wife serves. in the legislature. So it's rare to see a husband and wife both serve in the legislature. No, no, that was just for him. But they're spending a good amount of money on his wife because she's got the same voting record. That's very low. Now, the difference is the person running against his wife is Tony Rosales, who's never been in office before. The reason that I'm a problem is because I've served in office. I have a very good voting record, one of the most conservative in the history of Cascade County. A perfect 100 % score with the second amendment, a perfect 100 % score with the Christians. So they have to take me a lot more serious. ⁓ George's wife is running against Tony who has not been in office, but I certainly am supporting Tony because we have to look at somebody who's brand new that has no voting record to take care of somebody who has a very bad voting record. And his wife has been removed from the Republican party. know, ⁓ ⁓ know what? I don't want to comment on that because I don't want to make a mistake. yeah. Yeah. ⁓ ⁓ not, it's not in my district. And yeah. So that ⁓ I've, ⁓ right. ⁓ it, well, and here's the other thing, folks, they keep changing the boundaries. Okay. ⁓ my district was, was, and I've run in this district before, but they rewrote it. To let you know how confusing it is, as your public service commissioner, I'm required by law to live in my district. And they've changed my district three times since I've been a public service commissioner. And I believe that is, I am the first commissioner who's had his district changed three times while I served in the history of Montana. And let me tell you folks how crazy this is. I'm required by law to live in my district. And guess what? I don't live in my district. They changed my district and they wrote it so I don't even live in it. So I thought to myself, well, I got to sit down with the legislature and say, do I step down? no, no, no. You're an elected official. You have to finish out your term. I'm actually in Annie Bukacek's district. ⁓ ⁓ I ⁓ I find this, this is how ridiculous this is getting. And the other thing they did folks is My district is a public service commissioner. I represent like 20 counties. It used to be 23, right? It's bigger than some states. I go across the entire High Line all the way over to North and South Dakota and I do half a billion, right? That's right. ⁓ And this is a step down for me, right? ⁓ The job I have now as a public service commissioner, it comes with wages, but the job... for Senate District 12, I'm just really reimbursed for the short time I represent you, which is about four months out of the year. I saw a mailer that says I'm a career politician. I worked in Great Falls in the printing industry for 32 years, folks. So I've got over 30 years of printing experience and I volunteered time towards all kinds of Republicans. was US Senator, Conrad Burns is statewide director. I've worked for two US congressmen. Worked for two of our Montana governors, ⁓ Governor Mark Roscoe, and got nice letters from him. And I worked for Judy Martz. And ⁓ yeah. And to this day, she came to our youth events we do at the church. She would show up and greet and she talked to every kid. She was great. I don't want to get off, but I just. Well, something interesting with that, Ray, she was outspent like three to one, four to one, and she wasn't expected to win. And on election night, you know, we believed, you know, we were going to lose and she won. And her campaign manager really said something very derogatory that night, which everybody was happy he said, and she had to apologize for him the next day. But this is a race where nobody believed she was going to win. And she did. She was the first female governor in the history of Montana. A Republican from Butte, no less, right? And a lot of people don't realize that she was able to compete in the Winter Olympics, you know, years and years ago. An interesting gal, right? But sometimes these races that are outspent by a lot can win, and it's possible I will. But folks, this is so important. And I want to tell Christians that I'm told only about one in nine Christians vote in a primary where there's not a presidential election. And those Christians in Cascade County, really should make sure 100 % of the people vote based on this trans gender issue alone, right? ⁓ But if they even realize that it's going on. The Family Foundation came here and spoke to a church. They spoke publicly just a few weeks ago to try to get people to understand how important this election is and that the scorecard really does exist. You can find it on Facebook. I'm going to hold it up right here. This is what it looks like. And it says at the top, Christians, this is a call to action, right? Trying to get Christians to understand the importance of this race, right? And then of course, my opponent's sending out these mailings trying to, well, he's got a lie. Well, you've a wonderful job, in my opinion, kind of showing the difference, you know, just with some of the stuff, the information you brought. you know, again, in terms of just. So you really covered the basics to be truthful. But one thing I do want to cover is two things is you just said 30 year public service commission. Like you don't realize this, I've called you about blue gas projects and gotten your aid, call me back, give me information. And like very good. know what mean? I've had contact with you on the industry side, which I'm in oil and gas and had some questions from something you had presented at an event I attended, you had spoke to, spoke at. Again, we've kind of crossed paths over the years, but we don't really know each other per se. Right? This would be true. But, ⁓ you know, the, the amount of experience you have and the amount of knowledge in your head that you have on that subject alone, the energy subject from the PSC and then your time in the legislature, legislature, excuse my language. ⁓ that's, that's so valuable that you know, the system, you know, the names. You know the contact, you know the networks, you know the teams that are working together at the sessions. You have information that most people will never have. again, as a resource, that makes you very viable to go down there and lead in the Senate district. You have so much experience. And I know you're passionate about energy, right? I'm waiting for you to stop so I can take off on a tangent here. Yeah. I don't mind you tangenting on that because I think, you know, I think Energy is absolutely being... see what's data centers, got AI, they're screaming for energy, they're screaming for natural gas, and we're almost putting the brakes off. It's really odd to see that we're stopping something when we need more of it, you know? And so energy is a very controversial thing, but I would say that's your expertise. And again, we need that at this time more than ever in leadership, in my view, and I'm sure you can go in there. ⁓ Public, want you to listen to this really closely. This will have some great value and ⁓ everybody listening to this, listen to this close. So we don't produce enough electricity in Montana to supply Montana. Right down the road from Cascade County is Augusta, Montana. And there's a reservoir there called Gibson Reservoir. And we built it 60 years ago. It really was supposed to generate electricity, but they never put the turbine in. So what I'm trying to do is get greenfield irrigation set up to put a turbine there so we can generate electricity. If I generate more electricity, I have a better chance of bringing the price down for everybody. But there's something else. Gibson Reservoir floods about every 11 years, causing millions of dollars of damage. One of the reasons it fails and allows flooding is because it isn't operating correctly because it doesn't have the turbine in it. So Earline Jewell, who manages the reservoir through greenfield irrigation and I have been speaking for the past few years. If we could put the turbine in, we could reduce flooding. I believe it would never flood again. And we'd produce electricity. I'd save millions of dollars of flood damage and I would be able to produce more electricity that would be able to bring the price down. So he needs about $30 million. and what I want to do. It is. So I want the legislature to give him the money. You know, it might be 30 to 50 million and he will pay it back with interest and I will be able to get you a situation where I can help ensure our prices not go up or perhaps they could go down a little bit. And I would stop the flooding between Augusta and Great Falls. Now, keep in mind folks, some of these people can't build on their land because it's in a floodplain. I don't like people being told what they can and can't do with their land. If I could end the flooding, then the floodplain law might change, it should, and you'd be able to do something with that land. You know, people can't build a home along that river, and I think they should be able to. Could you imagine what the land value would be if they could start building homes between Great Falls and Augusta on the river? It would be worth billions of dollars, right? Folks, this is just... one idea I have and I want you to think about this. I have more experience on energy than anyone running in the entire legislature during this campaign right now where you start voting tomorrow because I served on energy in the legislation and I've been a public service commissioner for eight years. So what I would like them to do with me if you allow me to win is I would like to serve on Senate energy And then I want to introduce legislation that gets Greenfield Irrigation the money to put the turbine in. The Greenfield Irrigation District has a perfect record of paying every loan that they've ever had since the beginning over a hundred years ago. A perfect track record on paying loans back with interest. Now think about this folks, people will be able to build on the river. There'll be, will stop the flooding and I'll bring the price of electricity and I will be producing more energy, right? Now, these are real answers and real reasons why you should be voting for me. Now, if you were to call Earlene Jewell at the Greenfield Irrigation, you'll find I have conducted more tours of Gibson Reservoir than all other. public service commissioners combined. I have been working on this for years. Is there an article anywhere? Is there a mailer saying that Pinoch is trying to do this and has done this? It doesn't exist, right? I agree. You know, run by some of my family. You know what I mean in terms of so words and yeah, and I don't think I I think I knew about the turbine, but I I don't think I did know. ⁓ take when when I give the tour people say you explain to me how you're gonna prevent the flood if this turbines in and Folks, I don't want to spoil it I want you to go on the tour with me and and and ⁓ and Jul and I lay it all out I've done it, you know a dozen times, right? ⁓ Think that that the year I think you're exactly right I think at the time we built the dam we had a surplus of electricity ⁓ they thought you know If we put the turbine in and no one's gonna buy it ⁓ I think they were stuck with, well, I'm not gonna spend the money, are you? And that's so they didn't put the turbine in. Today, oh my goodness. Here's something else, folks, I want you to know that I'll do. You elect me and keep in mind, this is really a volunteer position. They reimburse me four months every two years, but you don't get an income for this. It's really a kind of a volunteer thing. There are other dams that don't have turbines in it in Montana. my goodness, we have got to get turbines put in. And here's another thing. Some of these turbines are pretty outdated. And if I put an updated turbine in, it could easily produce 40 % more power because the new turbines are more energy efficient. ⁓ the way, I want to thank Northwest Energy. They are taking some of these older dams and upgrading them with more modern turbines that are producing ⁓ far more energy than the old one was. And boy, I can't thank Northwestern enough for that. ⁓ And I gotta tell you something else that happened. Northwestern took over a gas company that went out of business outside of Lewistown. And ⁓ if it wasn't for them, everybody would have had to probably go back to propane, which would have cost twice as much, right? Northwestern's done some great things out there. And I certainly wanna guide them in the future to try to represent you. ⁓ They got a greater share of coal strip and they've promised ⁓ the energy to a data center. And I don't think this is a good idea because Joe Briggs in Cascade County says, we have so much new construction in Cascade County. He doesn't think that Northwestern's met the demand of natural gas and electric to meet the needs of what's happening in Cascade County. By the way, folks, Joe Briggs put that in writing. I've delivered that ⁓ letter to my office and I'm requesting a hearing. Before I would like to see any energy go to a data center from out of state, we've got to meet our energy needs to our public. The other thing that I'm concerned about is the data center was promised energy cheaper than what you're paying for electricity for your home. And I've got real concerns about that. So if you're wondering, know, is Pinochet going to say why we should vote for him? I just did. And I think ⁓ for anyone to run against me would have to be able to explain just what do they think they'll do better than I will representing you. And that's what this comes down to. Yeah. Yeah. Listen to your talk. was just sitting here thinking about it as I listened to your talk and you're doing a lot of good teaching here. But it's fascinating. It's almost as if you're already operating as a servant to the state and our communities as a legislator, as a senator. even though you haven't been voted. I'm having talks with Briggs. I'm having this. I talked to Northwest Energy. You're operating in what you already do as a lifestyle. This is your lifestyle, isn't it, to lead this way and to really kind of try to solve problems. Well, you know, we have the Public Service Commission Association, if you will. So we go all over and they give us training. By the way, folks, you've probably spent $100,000 on my education to be a public service commissioner. And so I'm in Washington, DC and they say, look, these fires started by utilities are a real problem and we got to put our heads together and see what we can do about it. And when you take classes to be a public service commissioner, they offer like 20 classes. You can't go to all of them. You have to pick the ones you want to go to because there's so much going on. But I wanted to go to that one and I'll tell you why I picked it folks, because a lot of area in Montana is forested area. We're a high fire risk area. So I thought, you know what, I better sit in on that one. And they said, we are putting together a team of public service commissioners that would like to volunteer to come up with ideas to reduce fire risk. So about eight years ago, I volunteered for that. And I came up with some really good answers. And as I presented my ideas to reduce fire risk, I gained some attention. so then, some of these high fire risk areas said, know that Pinochee's really come up with some great ideas as a volunteer to lower fire risk. So one of the ideas is this, our power lines that are overhead have a steel core conductor. In other words, ⁓ what gives the power line strength is this inner core that's steel, but steel stretches and it sags. Well, Boeing is building more and more of their aircraft out of carbon fiber, which is really a of fiber that's really put together with resin and carbon fiber is stronger than any metal and weighs less than any metal. So a company decided to put carbon fiber inside of the power line instead of the steel cable. And as a result, it's twice the strength and can carry twice the load of electricity. And I thought to myself, if we didn't have sag anymore, carbon fiber won't sag, won't steel stretches. and it stretches and stretches and stretches and pretty soon it breaks. Well, I think that it would be a great idea that if we are gonna install any power lines or conductors overhead, that it should have the carbon fiber core technology. So I got ⁓ really studying this and I started getting involved with these companies that make carbon fiber power lines. And then I started proposing that in the high fire risk areas, that we use this new technology, these high-performance conductors, and that we reduce fire risk. Well, over the years, it's been installed all over the world, not a single carbon fiber core conductor has started a fire anywhere in the world yet. So I came up with a bill with Daniel Zolnikoff to say in our high fire risk areas, or perhaps in all of our areas, if we install a new power line, it should have and should be required to have this carbon fiber core. Today, I speak all over the country as the keynote speaker, and I've sent you a couple articles ahead of time. Yeah, so San Francisco, Florida. Now, Florida likes it for different reasons. Florida put in this carbon fiber stuff, and when the hurricane came, no line broke. The hurricane couldn't break it because it's twice the strength. The other thing Florida's doing, I'm working with them on, is ⁓ a wood structure. You know, we see a wood pole that holds up power lines. Forget that folks. We got to take the log out of the forest. We got to treat it with all kinds of weird chemicals so it doesn't rot. And then if you're leaning up against it, it stains your clothes. And if it catches on fire, the petroleum distillants and that power pole goes up like a Roman candle. What we're doing in Florida, concrete power poles. and they don't have to go out in the jungle and find it. They just make it. The concrete company makes it to the size you want. You have the mold. We can use a steel pole or concrete. Now we put up carbon fiber core power lines using concrete poles. The hurricane comes in. Everything's fine. It's hurricane proof, right? Now if a building lands on it, you know, that's different. But the bottom line is now Florida is installed a billion dollars of this. When the hurricane comes, carbon fiber stuff is fine. And we're hardening the grid. ⁓ no, I got it. it. I didn't want to get too far in the weeds, folks, but I got to tell you this. Power lines leak electricity like a garden hose with holes in it. Okay. When you send electricity down these power lines, electricity just leaks out of them right into the air. Right? The carbon fiber conductor with the carbon fiber core cuts line loss by up to 40%. It pays for itself and usually three to five years. So I am explaining it like this. If we were to build a car, you and I together to sell it to the public, we'd have to have anti-lock brakes and airbags and we'd have to have all the new technologies that make the car safer. So when I say that we need to pass a law that says we have to embrace these new technologies with a conductor, it's no different than if you're in a car accident today. in a car with airbags and anti-lock brakes. The chances of you surviving are better. And think of this, when you go off the edge of the road and down the canyon and no one saw it, they don't know where you're at, but the new car transmits a signal to a satellite and the ambulance says, hey, the airbags deployed and it gives them directions to the car that went off the side of the cliff. Now, if you're going to buy a car for your wife or daughter, which car you want her to have? A 1969 Camaro? Or the brand new Camaro that has the tracking and the anti-lock brakes and the airbags? Folks, I'm doing the same thing. I want to up the standards of what these power lines and conductors have to do because it'll meet my three goals, which are this safe, reliable, and affordable. Now there is no one running in this legislative session right now in this election that can speak this language. I'm the only there's no flyer to explain this to anyone ⁓ honestly folks I don't have the money to pay for it. ⁓ So this broadcast, this ⁓ we're doing, I hope everybody listens to very carefully. ⁓ this afternoon, but just listening to you talk, like I said, this has become your lifestyle. That's right. And I raised my hand as a volunteer, and that's how I got in this. I it's fascinating to think of it that way. It's just like, ⁓ and I imagine, and I'm not saying, you But the point of it is you're probably not stopping for this energy you have and drive for solving problems, right? You keep right on going, but at the same time we need you to win this race. Well, that's up to you the voters. So, ⁓ and we're back to this. Folks, most of you don't vote in the primary and it's one of the most important elections. And this particularly, this particular primary in Cascade County, we have probably five or six races that are super important, right? And ⁓ when the Republican party said, look, Randy, we think that you need to run this primary, I said, okay, but they really don't have the money to send out a mailing to explain what makes me different. What they did do is send out a letter saying my opponent no longer is a Republican. And so we're back to this. It's my job to explain the difference between myself and my opponent so you can make a choice. Those of you that have heard this show, you've got to call your friends. And if they're not registered to vote, get them registered to vote and explain the importance of voting in this primary. And then work with me. My phone number, folks, 406-231-3649. Any one of you can call me. You can go to my Facebook page. You can see my family, been married 32 years, and I have got a lot of work to do for you. Well, I'm so glad you came on as a guest. It's been a great conversation and I'm so glad that we were able to do this. And again, I hope this helps, because there needs to be information to help people make decisions. And I'm not going to play dumb that I know anything other than I try to do my best to understand, but we don't get to the right information all the time. So I'm hoping this helps. Well, thank you very much. Thanks for coming. You bet. All right,