Christine Kaufmann is eager to hear from new voters she'll be asking to re-elect her to the Montana House of Representatives.

Kaufmann, a Democrat, is running for House District 81, which includes the downtown and Carroll College neighborhoods and was expanded into a sliver of the Helena Valley. She said she's already raised $5,000 to aid her in the legislative race.

"I think Montanans everywhere share common concerns about rising utility bills, strengthening public education and making sure the economy works for everyone," she said in a press release. "I'm eager to hear from those new voters."

Kaufmann said investing in people and communities is the best was to strengthen the economy.

"For too long, state leaders have relied on tax breaks for big corporations and wealthy individuals as the only economic strategy," she said. "It hasn't worked, and most of us have suffered the consequences with fewer public services and higher property taxes. We need to turn that around."

The two-term legislator said she's been disappointed by what she calls the Republican majority's lack of leadership to fund "critical services," especially the "inadequate funding of public education."

"We're facing an expensive and unnecessary lawsuit because Republicans have not prioritized education," Kaufmann said. "School districts cannot keep cutting corners without affecting the quality of education for the next generations."

The environment has been another big loser during the past decade, Kaufmann said, adding that those who work to protect water and wild places are wrongly blamed for economic woes.

Kaufmann is the co-director of the Montana Human Rights Network. She and co-director Ken Toole were jointly honored by the Ford Foundation last year as among only 17 winners of the 2003 Leadership for a Changing World Award.

She also received the 2003 Flemming Fellowship from the Center for Policy Alternatives, an Washington, D.C.-based, progressive think tank. The Montana Wildlife Federation named her the 2003 Conservation Legislator of the Year.

Her legislative activities are online at www.ckaufmann.com.

- Jason Mohr,

IR Staff Writer