Three prominent Republicans have joined forces in opposition to fellow Republican Ryan Zinke’s bid for Congress.

A news release from Ken Miller states. "Former State Senator and former State Republican Chairman, Ken Miller of Laurel, joined two other former state chairmen in opposition of Ryan Zinke’s bid to be Montana Republicans’ nominee for the lone U.S. Representative seat being vacated by Steve Daines.  Congressman Daines is now running for the U.S. Senate. All three former chairmen commend Zinke on his service in the military, but feel his views are not right for Montana."

One of those Republican leaders is current State Senator John Brendan of Scobey, while the other is former Congressman Rick Hill, who said Zinke is actually pro-choice, rather than pro-life.

"In an interview with a Havre Daily News reporter, Ryan identified himself as being pro-choice, as opposed to being a pro-life Republican, although he's trying to change his stripes a bit on this point," Hill said. "Today, he tries to present himself as an advocate for natural resource development, but as a legislator, he was opposed to that and sided with the environmentalists. Frankly, if he's elected, Ryan would be the most liberal congressman we've had since Pat Williams."

Former Congressman Rick Hill

KGVO News reached out to Zinke, who chose to take the high road and not return the criticisms leveled against him.

"I'm not sure why they're doing this,"Zinke said. "But, I'm following the example of Ronald Reagan with what he called the 11th commandment, ' Thou shalt not criticize thy fellow Republican.' I have a 100% voting record on pro-life and I have a zero rating with pro-choice groups."

Republican Congressional Candidate Ryan Zinke

Zinke leads all the Republican candidates in the polls and in fundraising, with the primary just a few weeks away on June 3.

State Republican Party Chairman Will Deschamps told KGVO News, "I don't understand why they're doing this, and it can't be good for the Republican party."

 

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