Hertz vying for state Senate seat

State Rep. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, is asking Lake County voters to send him back to Helena to serve in the Montana Legislature for a fifth consecutive session, but this time as a senator.

The longtime Polson business owner officially filed last week as a candidate for Senate District 6. Hertz served four terms in the state House of Representatives and has reached his term limits for that seat.

Republican state Sen. Albert Olszewski, of Kalispell, currently represents Senate District 6, which encompasses a vast area including Polson, most of Flathead Lake and the south end of Kalispell. Olszewski is campaigning to be Montana governor, so he can’t run for re-election unless he withdraws from the governor’s race by March 9.

Hertz said he spoke with Olszewski before filing.

“Since he’s running for governor, it’s an open seat,” Hertz said.

Hertz served in the Montana House during the 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 legislative sessions. He was Speaker of the House in the 2019 session.

“I worked with the senators directly on a lot of legislation,” Hertz said about his role as Speaker.

Following the 2019 session, Hertz touted the Republicans’ success in keeping taxes low, trimming “waste in state government,” and addressing infrastructure needs. He also highlighted pro-life and pro-gun bills Republicans sent to the governor.

Hertz said that if he’s elected he’d like to continue working on property tax issues.

He said he plans to work alongside whoever wins the Republican gubernatorial primary, which is a three-way race between Olszewski, U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte and Montana Attorney General Tim Fox.

“One of my major goals is to get a Republican elected as governor of Montana,” Hertz said.

A Democrat has occupied the Governor’s Office for the last 16 years.

“There is so much more that we can do for the people of Montana,” Hertz said. “I’ll be working hard with whoever is the gubernatorial candidate coming out of the primary.”

Hertz has strong ties to Lake County. According to his campaign website, he attended schools in Polson and graduated from Ronan High School in 1976.

He later attended the University of Montana and funded his tuition by working at Plum Creek Lumber in Pablo during the summers.

Following college he worked for accounting firms in Kalispell and Billings before coming back to Polson to start his own accounting practice in 1983. In 1989 he became involved in the grocery business as the controller of Moodys Market Inc in Polson. He became the majority owner and the President/CEO in 1998. Moodys Market currently operates six grocery stores, including Super 1 Foods in Polson; Harvest Foods in Ronan, Lolo, Thompson Falls and St. Maries, ID; and Blacktail Grocery in Lakeside. The company employs approximately 225 employees.

Hertz has been married to his wife, Kate, for 42 years, and together they have three grown children and three grandchildren.

Also filing with the state election office last week, Gerald J. Cuvillier is challenging Bob Brown for the Senate District 7 seat. Cuvillier is a Republican from Trout Creek.

A Thompson Falls resident, Brown served three terms representing House District 13.

The deadline for candidates to file for office is March 9. The primary election takes place June 2 with the general election Nov. 3.