Samuel Kelley Forstag

[{"question": "Ballotpedia survey responses", "answer_html": "<p>See also: <a href=\"/Ballotpedia%27s_Candidate_Connection\">Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection</a></p>\n<div class=\"row\"><div class=\"col-xs-10 col-md-6 col-xs-offset-1 col-md-offset-3\"><p><a href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia%27s_Candidate_Connection\"><img align=\"middle\" alt=\"Candidate Connection\" src=\"https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/8/88/Candidate_Connection_Logo.png\" width=\"90%\"/></a></p></div></div>\n<p>Sam Forstag completed <a href=\"/Ballotpedia%27s_Candidate_Connection\">Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection</a> survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Forstag's responses.</p>\n<p><span class=\"expand-all\">Expand all</span> | <span class=\"collapse-all\">Collapse all</span></p>\n<div aria-multiselectable=\"true\" class=\"panel-group\" id=\"accordion\" role=\"tablist\"><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-bio-398868-2026-04-22\" id=\"heading-bio-398868-2026-04-22\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse-bio-398868-2026-04-22\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-bio-398868-2026-04-22\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWho are you? Tell us about yourself.\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading-bio-398868-2026-04-22\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse-bio-398868-2026-04-22\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tSam Forstag is a smokejumper, union leader, and working Montanan running for Congress in MT-01. He was raised by a mom who picked up extra nursing shifts and a dad who relied on food stamps while he earned his certificate and became a public school teacher, and they each made just enough to get by. That taught Sam the value of hard work — and how hard it is for working people to get ahead in an economy that too often doesn't work for them. He worked his way through the University of Montana and went on to join the Forest Service, where he climbed the ranks to become a smokejumper, a firefighter who parachutes into remote areas to stop fires before they grow. As Vice President of his union's local, Sam organized against Elon Musk's cuts to our public land agencies when Congressman Ryan Zinke wouldn't.\r\n<p>Between fire seasons, Sam worked as an organizer and advocate fighting for policies that support public education and public libraries, housing and homelessness, and defending our constitutional freedoms. That work showed him that far too few of the people making those decisions know what it's like to rely on those services, and it showed him how much power working people can have when we organize and fight for ourselves.\r\n</p>\nSam's running because it shouldn't be this hard for hard-working people to afford the basics in Montana. If we want a government that works for working people, let's send a working person to Congress so we can fight for ourselves.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-key-message-398868-2026-04-22\" id=\"heading-key-message-398868-2026-04-22\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse-key-message-398868-2026-04-22\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-key-message-398868-2026-04-22\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tPlease list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading-key-message-398868-2026-04-22\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse-key-message-398868-2026-04-22\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><ul><li>Housing, Healthcare, Childcare: For too long, the cost of housing, healthcare, and childcare has soared while wages don't keep up. We deserve a government that invests in fixing these problems, not foreign wars and tax cuts for the rich. That's what Sam is fighting for. Housing: Sam will fight for large-scale federal investment in affordable housing, a ban on corporate homeownership, and to bring back the first-time homebuyer tax credit. Healthcare: Sam will fight for free, comprehensive healthcare by expanding Medicare, giving every American the choice to join, and passing expanded subsidies to make it free for most Americans. Childcare: Sam will fight to pass universal free childcare and pre-K.</li><li>Reinvesting in Public Lands and Public Service: DOGE spent the last year attacking our public lands and public services. In Congress, Sam will stop those attacks and fight to reinvest in our public lands at the scale we need to rebuild our public lands agencies stronger than they were before. We can do that. Here's how: Rebuild and expand our public land agencies — with increased investments in forest management and fuels mitigation to create good jobs and get ahead of the wildfire crisis. Legalize corner crossing — because public land should be accessible to all of us. Support responsible timber harvest with USDA grants to modernize mills and expanded investment in the processes and public servants we need to make sure it's done right.</li><li>Make Taxes Work for Working People &amp; Get Money Out of Politics: For too long, working Montanans have carried their own weight while the richest people in this country buy off politicians to cut their own taxes. Our campaign finance and tax systems are rigged for the rich, and these two problems underlie so much else. On taxes, Sam will fight for a 30% minimum income tax on all income over $1 million, eliminate capital gains and other income loopholes, raise the corporate tax rate back to 35%, and eliminate the Social Security payroll tax cap. On campaign finance, he'll work to repeal Citizens United and ban corporate election spending, ban congressional stock trading, and reduce individual contribution limits for federal elections.</li></ul></span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse1-398868-2026-04-22\" id=\"heading1-398868-2026-04-22\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse1-398868-2026-04-22\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse1-398868-2026-04-22\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWhat areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading1-398868-2026-04-22\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse1-398868-2026-04-22\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tHousing, healthcare access, public lands, and workers' rights are personal to Sam. He knows what it's like to be a kid who's worried that his mom's working too much, or to have a full fridge thanks to the food stamps that helped his dad get through. He knows what it's like to work three jobs while going to school and still come up short on rent. Our neighbors deserve so much better than that, and we deserve representatives in Congress who know what that's like and will fight like hell to make it better. Sam believes deeply that we cannot let Congress be another club for the ultra-rich. If we want a government that fights for working people, we need to send working people to Congress to fight for ourselves.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse2-398868-2026-04-22\" id=\"heading2-398868-2026-04-22\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse2-398868-2026-04-22\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse2-398868-2026-04-22\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWhat organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading2-398868-2026-04-22\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse2-398868-2026-04-22\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tSam has been endorsed by over 30 current and former Montana elected officials, including 4 Republicans and dozens of Democrats.<br/>\n<p>National endorsers include Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT), the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA), Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD), Rep. Chris DeLuzio (PA), and Rep. Robert Garcia (CA).<br/>\n</p>\nUnion endorsements include the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), Montana AFL-CIO, SEIU Local 775, the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), the Montana Alliance for Retired Americans, Missoula Firefighters IAFF Local 271, Butte Firefighters Local 96, the Montana Conference of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and the Montana Building and Construction Trades Council.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div></div>\n<div class=\"small\" data-nosnippet=\"\"><p><i><b>Note:</b> Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.</i></p></div>", "answer_text": "See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection\n\nSam Forstag completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Forstag's responses.\nExpand all | Collapse all\nWho are you? Tell us about yourself. Sam Forstag is a smokejumper, union leader, and working Montanan running for Congress in MT-01. He was raised by a mom who picked up extra nursing shifts and a dad who relied on food stamps while he earned his certificate and became a public school teacher, and they each made just enough to get by. That taught Sam the value of hard work — and how hard it is for working people to get ahead in an economy that too often doesn't work for them. He worked his way through the University of Montana and went on to join the Forest Service, where he climbed the ranks to become a smokejumper, a firefighter who parachutes into remote areas to stop fires before they grow. As Vice President of his union's local, Sam organized against Elon Musk's cuts to our public land agencies when Congressman Ryan Zinke wouldn't. Between fire seasons, Sam worked as an organizer and advocate fighting for policies that support public education and public libraries, housing and homelessness, and defending our constitutional freedoms. That work showed him that far too few of the people making those decisions know what it's like to rely on those services, and it showed him how much power working people can have when we organize and fight for ourselves. Sam's running because it shouldn't be this hard for hard-working people to afford the basics in Montana. If we want a government that works for working people, let's send a working person to Congress so we can fight for ourselves. Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office? Housing, Healthcare, Childcare: For too long, the cost of housing, healthcare, and childcare has soared while wages don't keep up. We deserve a government that invests in fixing these problems, not foreign wars and tax cuts for the rich. That's what Sam is fighting for. Housing: Sam will fight for large-scale federal investment in affordable housing, a ban on corporate homeownership, and to bring back the first-time homebuyer tax credit. Healthcare: Sam will fight for free, comprehensive healthcare by expanding Medicare, giving every American the choice to join, and passing expanded subsidies to make it free for most Americans. Childcare: Sam will fight to pass universal free childcare and pre-K. Reinvesting in Public Lands and Public Service: DOGE spent the last year attacking our public lands and public services. In Congress, Sam will stop those attacks and fight to reinvest in our public lands at the scale we need to rebuild our public lands agencies stronger than they were before. We can do that. Here's how: Rebuild and expand our public land agencies — with increased investments in forest management and fuels mitigation to create good jobs and get ahead of the wildfire crisis. Legalize corner crossing — because public land should be accessible to all of us. Support responsible timber harvest with USDA grants to modernize mills and expanded investment in the processes and public servants we need to make sure it's done right. Make Taxes Work for Working People & Get Money Out of Politics: For too long, working Montanans have carried their own weight while the richest people in this country buy off politicians to cut their own taxes. Our campaign finance and tax systems are rigged for the rich, and these two problems underlie so much else. On taxes, Sam will fight for a 30% minimum income tax on all income over $1 million, eliminate capital gains and other income loopholes, raise the corporate tax rate back to 35%, and eliminate the Social Security payroll tax cap. On campaign finance, he'll work to repeal Citizens United and ban corporate election spending, ban congressional stock trading, and reduce individual contribution limits for federal elections. What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Housing, healthcare access, public lands, and workers' rights are personal to Sam. He knows what it's like to be a kid who's worried that his mom's working too much, or to have a full fridge thanks to the food stamps that helped his dad get through. He knows what it's like to work three jobs while going to school and still come up short on rent. Our neighbors deserve so much better than that, and we deserve representatives in Congress who know what that's like and will fight like hell to make it better. Sam believes deeply that we cannot let Congress be another club for the ultra-rich. If we want a government that fights for working people, we need to send working people to Congress to fight for ourselves. What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign? Sam has been endorsed by over 30 current and former Montana elected officials, including 4 Republicans and dozens of Democrats. National endorsers include Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT), the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA), Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD), Rep. Chris DeLuzio (PA), and Rep. Robert Garcia (CA). Union endorsements include the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), Montana AFL-CIO, SEIU Local 775, the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), the Montana Alliance for Retired Americans, Missoula Firefighters IAFF Local 271, Butte Firefighters Local 96, the Montana Conference of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and the Montana Building and Construction Trades Council.\nNote: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it."}]