Viewpoint: Running for Legislature to build a better Montana

Nick Kujawa

My name is Nick Kujawa, and I am running as a Democrat to represent Montana House District 93, which includes a sliver of the University area, Lewis & Clark, Pattee Canyon, Piltzville, Turah, Clinton, Carlton, and Upper Miller Creek.

I come from generations of immigrants who built their lives in Montana. My Irish family arrived in the 1890s, my Polish family in the 1910s, and my mother came from England in her twenties, met my father, and became a Montana citizen in the early 1980s. My family found opportunity in Butte, but they worked hard for every step forward.

I am a product of Montana public schools and the promise of the 1972 Constitution. I graduated from Butte High School and attended the University of Montana, and later law school, with the help of Pell grants, student loans, and the generosity of Montana taxpayers.

For the past twenty years, I have worked to build a better Montana by preserving historic buildings, building community housing, and founding Main Street Montana businesses. My wife and I have raised our family in the Lewis & Clark neighborhood, and our kids attended Lewis & Clark Elementary, Washington Middle School, and Hellgate High School.

Montana has come a long way since the days of the Anaconda Company and the “Copper Collar,” but it feels like we are slipping backward. Too many families are being priced out while our communities become less accessible to the people who built them.

I grew up sharing a bedroom with two brothers in a small trailer. My parents later bought a modest home in Butte, where they still live today, but with fixed social security and ever-increasing taxes, they are feeling the pinch. Meanwhile, my son, a recent graduate of Hellgate High School, sees housing prices in Missoula and wonders whether he will ever be able to achieve the American dream of homeownership.

That is why I am running. I’m a “Butte Democrat”, that is, a pragmatic progressive. My great-grandfathers worked deep underground with Mike Mansfield and my extended family is full of teachers like Pat Williams, and just like Mike and Pat I believe in a practical approach to solving the problems facing hard-working Montanans. My background in law, real estate, and the building trades gives me the tools to address housing and property taxes in a meaningful way. I have served under Governors

Schweitzer and Bullock on bipartisan Montana State boards focused on workforce investment, economic development, and historic preservation, and I know how to work across the aisle to get results.

Property tax reform will be one of the most important issues in the next legislative session. As I have talked with voters across the district, I hear the same concern again and again. People want to stay in their homes and communities. They want fairness and predictability. They want leadership that understands the real impact of policy decisions.

I am proud to have earned the support of local leaders who know this work matters. But what matters most to me is the next generation. I think about young people like Jack Berry, Missoula native and US Olympic Paralympian, who showed strength and resilience in the face of serious challenges. I also think about my own children and their future here.

I am running to help build a Montana where families can thrive, where hard work still pays off, and where opportunity is within reach for the next generation. You can learn more about me at kujawa4montana.com. I would appreciate your vote in the Democratic Primary election via mail-in ballot or at your polling place on June 2nd!