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Monica Tranel is one of the most focused and driven people I have ever met. She works out at 5:30, makes breakfast and lunches for the kids, drives them to school, works for her clients (and now campaigns), and is home for our family dinner.

After putting the kids to sleep, she gets back to work. And then reads piles of books on history, economics, health policy and governing. I have no doubt that, when elected, Monica will be one of the hardest working and most effective members of Congress.

When we met, running for Congress was not on her radar. That changed when she brought our family, including our five-month old, to Helena on a freezing morning in January 2017. We went to take part in the Women’s March, a protest to voice concerns over an administration that ran on a promise to end Roe v. Wade–a devastating result that looks likely to become a reality this June.

That march transformed Monica and our family. Fighting for Montana and our country became imperative and public office was the way to do that.

I myself have been lucky to have served in public office.  From 2005 to 2009, I was a state senator and my focus was on natural resources and energy issues.  Since my term ended, I have stayed involved by supporting non-profits that protect clean water and promote a healthy environment for all Montanans.  

Monica has always been a fighter. She fights for her clients all across Montana.  She has ranch clients whose wind project, on their own land, was blocked by some of the richest people in the world. She battles for clients as they fight for access to water, walleyes, and land. She has been fighting for years against NorthWest Energy: her most recent court victory came last month, when a judge found that the legislature had given the company a sweetheart deal, at the expense of consumers and clean energy.

Monica is motivated by what is right, what is important, and what needs to be done.

The candidate who prevails in November has to make a difference in how DC operates. Every candidate in the Democratic primary is a good person with good values. But Monica is the best candidate, the one who can win and who will do something transformative when she does.

Not only can she energize the Democratic voters who align with her positions, but she connects to independents, to traditional Republicans, and those who supported President Trump. I know that because her friends and clients are in all of those categories.

Too much of our recent politics has been about dividing us into camps–seizing on differences to claim we should not trust, learn from, or love each other. Part of moving forward as a country is realizing we have more in common than what separates us. Monica knows this. Her clients come from all political parties, but they join together, knowing that what unites us is the love for our shared lands and our hope to leave our children a safe and clean world.

The path to victory in November runs through Independents and old-school Republicans. She can secure a winning coalition. She will not let democracy die.

This is why I’m voting for Monica. She will serve our interests, protect our future, and make us all so proud.

Greg Lind is a physician in Missoula, the candidate's spouse, and a former Montana state senator.

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