Meet the candidates: House District 6 Republican primary
Ahead of Montana’s June 2 primary election, the Daily Inter Lake sent questionnaires to state Legislature candidates running in contested races in Northwest Montana.
Following are responses from House District 6 Republican candidates Jim Riley and Arthur Dunn
Name: Jim Riley
Age: 58
City/Town of Residence: Kalispell
Current Occupation: Business advisor, real estate agent and author
Professional & Community Background: I am a Kalispell–based business advisor and entrepreneur known for delivering strategic recommendations that drive growth, operational improvement and high‑pressure turnarounds. With a career built on saying yes to values‑aligned opportunities, I have advised and worked with brands and organizations including In‑N‑Out Burger, Ketel One Vodka, Galardi Group, Booth Creek Ski Holdings, Azunia Tequila and Baja United Group. I currently consult for multiple companies across marketing, sales, public relations and innovation. I am the author of the Amazon bestseller “The Freedom to Say Yes” and the host of “The Answer is Yes” podcast, featuring 350+ episodes and 90,000 downloads. My community‑minded leadership is complemented by a record of discipline and performance as a Baja 1000 class‑winning off‑road racer and an Iceland Spartan World Championship podium finisher. I am actively involved in my local church, prison ministry and the local rodeo.
What is the best approach to balance state budget needs with concerns about increasing tax rates?
Montana should focus on using its natural resources, such as logging, mining and water production, to boost state revenue. Relying on raising or lowering property and other taxes is unsustainable and should be a last resort for economic solutions. How about we consider a diversion of bed tax revenue? I also believe in budget audits and finding useless waste.
What is your vision for how the state should manage public lands, wildlife and natural resources?
Not answered.
Why are you the best Republican candidate to represent your district?
I’m running for House District 6 because I believe public service should deliver real results for our neighbors. With experience as a school board trustee and years of campaign involvement, I’m ready to represent our community and work for meaningful change in Helena. My priorities are strengthening our local economy, tax solutions, improving public safety and ensuring state government operates with transparency and accountability. I will listen closely to residents, work respectfully with stakeholders across the district and focus on practical common-sense solutions. My platform emphasizes ranching and agriculture, preserving Second Amendment rights, advancing Make America Healthy Again initiatives, supporting responsible logging and mining and working with fellow Republican elected officials to uphold and advance our platform. Early endorsements include the Flathead County Republican Central Committee, Sen. John Fuller, R-Kalispell, Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, and Rep. Amy Regier, R-Kalispell. I support the Republican platform without reserve.
Name: Arthur Dunn
Age: 29
City/Town of Residence: Kalispell
Current Occupation: Meat cutter
Professional & Community Background: I previously worked in HVAC, information technology and software development, but now I am in the meat industry as I wanted to get back to working with my hands. I grew up in the church, and I am a devout Christian and a member of Grace Church in Kalispell. I have worked in children ministries since I was in fifth grade and assisted my mother with the preschool Sunday school class. Later, I was in Awana. I am currently the Sunday school teacher for kindergarteners. I was a field guide in Oregon in my younger years, taking church, school and homeschool co-op groups out to various spots in the Pacific Northwest. In January, I began attending Kalispell City Council meetings, hoping to find ways to help my community, and then was persuaded to run for the state Legislature.
What is the best approach to balance state budget needs with concerns about increasing tax rates?
Prioritize spending restraint and efficiency over raising tax rates. The state receives about 18% of property tazes, dedicated to schools and our universities. We must ensure strong management, waste reduction and accountability audits. Broader state budget challenges should be tackled through targeted cuts and reforms, potentially including income tax reductions, to truly help Montanans.
Local governments drive most property tax growth. Kalispell’s budget has ballooned over 50% in recent years, burdening residents. The 2025 Homestead Act delivered vital relief for primary residences in House District 6 and across Montana, but threats to repeal it would unfairly increase taxes on struggling families and seniors. Instead of new or higher taxes, we should protect the homestead tax break and focus on responsible budgeting that respects taxpayers while meeting community needs. Efficiency is first, high taxes last.
What is your vision for how the state should manage public lands, wildlife and natural resources?
We must ensure we conserve our wildlife, our biodiversity and our majestic wilderness so that our grandchildren's grandchildren will have the same treasures we have and, if possible, in a better, more vibrant condition than now.
We must use our natural resources responsibly so as not to pass a problem on to future generations, but to benefit Montanans now and in the future. We should responsibly reopen more mining, on the condition that extra taxes and royalties produced go directly to cleaning up previous disasters such as the toxic Berkeley Pit that shouldn't be left to sit. How are we, as Montanans, not embarrassed by this ongoing environmental disaster? We can and will fix it by tapping into the state's rich mineral deposits while strictly managing the industry to benefit all Montanans, not just corporations, and to protect our irreplaceable natural heritage.
Why are you the best Republican candidate to represent your district?
I’m the right person to represent the people of House District 6, northwestern Kalispell and the northwest Flathead, because I’m just like them. I don’t need to be told how hard it is to afford groceries, gas, rent or a mortgage and other essentials. I work a normal blue-collar job, just like most of the voters here. As a meat cutter at Lower Valley Processing, I don’t make a lot, and I know most families in our district don’t either.
I'll fight for them because I live the same struggles every day. I share the same conservative values, attend church with many of you and feel the same pressures on working families. I'm a normal guy, not an entrenched politician. That's why I will always put House District 6 families first and help keep Montana the Last Best Place.
Jim Riley.
Arthur Dunn.