Paul Fielder announces plan for state Rep. run

Wasting no time in candidacy campaigning for the 2021 to 2023 legislative term, Paul C. Fielder has recently filed with the State of Montana making it official that he will be running for House of Representative in District 13.

Filing with the state is a legality so that Fielder is now able to accept campaign donations and provides what he calls a "courtesy" to the public to foresee who will be in the running for legislature in the upcoming election.

Explaining that Fielder's father's name was also Paul, he explained that he believes the "C" in his middle name stands for "Conservative." Fittingly, Fielder is running as a Republican for HD-13, a party he has deep fondness for.

According to Fielder, "People do what they can, when they can." He feels now is the time in his life he can commit to the job duties of House Representative, a two-year term that limits out after four terms.

"I am concerned about individual freedoms," Fielder said being his top reason for running. "Everybody likes the idea of freedom, but we are losing freedom with the government. Protecting my freedoms, I am also protecting other's freedoms."

In addition to this, Fielder is concerned about taxes. "We should be keeping more of what we are making," he stated. "I support zero taxes on social security earnings in Montana."

He expressed his support of logging and mining and feels that both can be done environmentally friendly even if some restrictions put in place by mining companies themselves were relaxed. He believes there would be a benefit to Montana's economy if the mining and logging industries were able to do more with the resources.

"Our forests should be managed like a crop," Fielder stated as being the reason the Forest Service is part of the Department of Agriculture. "Manage forests like a garden...weed, thin and harvest it."

Lastly, Fielder expressed that he is a pro-lifer and stands for the national anthem. "If you are not for life, then what are you for?" he asked.

According to Fielder, current incumbent Rep. Bob Brown "asked me to run for this seat," indicating that Brown will not be running for his fourth term in the House. The Ledger reached out to Brown to inquire on his future endeavors but was unable to connect with him.

Fielder believes he will be able to "hit the ground running without having a steep learning curve" because he has background in legislation. His wife, Sen. Jennifer Fielder will term out when Paul, if elected, would become representative next legislative session.

With degrees in wildlife and fisheries biology as well as in agriculture, Fielder considers himself educated in areas to fully understand natural resource management. He said he has been chairman of Sanders County Republican Party since 2015, has represented the county at Republican conventions for many years, serves on sportsman councils such as FWP's Citizen's Advisory Council, Sanders County Forestry Collaborative, Montana Trappers Association and is an NRA member.

"I am a hunter, fisher, trapper and I cut a lot of firewood, so I am a fit for Sanders County," Fielder said with assertive confidence.

State rules read that to be eligible to serve in the Montana House of Representatives, candidates must be a resident of Montana for one year next preceding the general election and be a resident of the county for six months preceding the general election if it contains one or more districts, or of the district if it contains all or parts of more than one county.

Montana HD-13 is comprised of Sanders County from the Idaho state line to Weeksville and contains a portion of Flathead County (Kila and Marion).