A Helena writer and business owner has joined the race for the open House District 79 seat.

Shawn White Wolf, a 34-year-old Republican running his first race for public office, said he would work to boost economic development, ease taxes on small business owners, cut health-care costs, streamline worker’s compensation, and give a voice to conservatives and independents in a district that traditionally has gone to Democrats.

Rep. Dave Gallik, D-Helena, has won the seat in the past four elections but is barred from this year’s HD 79 race due to term limits. Democrat Chuck Hunter has filed for the race, and so far he and White Wolf face no competition for the June primary elections.

“I’ve always wanted to (run for office),” White Wolf said in an interview Monday. With an open seat, the timing seemed right, he added. He views himself as an independent thinker and said he hopes to reach voters who traditionally haven’t gone to the polls in the district, which covers the east side of Helena.

A Northern Cheyenne tribal member, he is a longtime supporter of the Leo Pocha Clinic and plans to find ways to support clinics like it that serve American Indians living in urban areas.

“We’ve got to find alternative ways to assist the clinics,” White Wolf said. “We can’t just shut them down. It’s an important part of the community.”

Another priority is to ease the business-equipment tax burden on small entrepreneurs. Businesses are now exempt from taxes on their first $20,000 worth of equipment. He wants to increase the exemption to $100,000.

“The whole thing is to try to help small business owners,” White Wolf said. “It’s one of the number one concerns of business owners.”

Another issue he said he learned about through the National Federation of Independent Business is the increasing cost of worker’s compensation claims. He said injured workers sometimes use the claims to address other health issues, rather than only visiting a physician for their specific work-related injury.

While he acknowledges people should seek solutions to all health problems, he wants to increase restrictions to ensure worker’s compensation payments only go toward addressing on-the-job injuries.

White Wolf also wants to work to improve programs to get employees back on the job more quickly.

While Hunter has said he’s raised nearly $18,000 in campaign contributions, White Wolf said he will wait until the May campaign-report deadline to make his fundraising public.

He said he’s focused on getting to know the people and the issues in the district, and he wants to run his campaign without much focus on fundraising.

“As an independent thinker, I hope to reach (voters),” White Wolf said.

He owns White Wolf Media Productions and co-produces a show on Helena Civic Television called Native View. He’s also a member of the national planning team for the American Indian Television Corp. and serves as regional coordinator for the Montana United Indian Association.

White Wolf formerly worked as a staff writer for the Independent Record. He also published a newsletter called Native Journal of Montana and worked as a restaurant manager for Hardee’s.

He chairs an economic development committee for the Midtown/Sixth Ward Neighborhood Association, works on a committee with Youth Connections and holds memberships with the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce and the Montana Indian Business Alliance.

White Wolf has lived in Helena for eight years. He is single with one daughter and has two stepdaughters from a former marriage.

Reporter Larry Kline: 447-4075 or larry.kline@helenair.com