Smokejumper and former three-job worker Sam Forstag runs for Congress on economic empathy platform after federal wildfire crew cuts
A Montana Democrat seeking to flip a Republican district has built his campaign around the argument that economic desperation erodes community bonds and fuels political polarization.
What happened
Sam Forstag, 32, a smokejumper and Democrat, is running for Montana's first congressional district in the midterms. He has centered his campaign on a personal narrative: in 2013, while working three jobs as a college student, he drove past a car accident in a snowstorm but didn't stop, fearing job loss. After Trump's return to the White House in 2025, Forstag's smokejumping crew and other federal wildland firefighters in Montana lost their jobs and health insurance as part of sweeping federal workforce reductions overseen by Elon Musk's efficiency department. Forstag said he repeatedly reached out to retiring incumbent Ryan Zinke for help with the cuts but received no response, which he characterized as a failure of representation. Forstag is now leaving his smokejumping career and retirement account to run for office.
Context
Forstag's political identity rests on the claim that economic pressure—working multiple jobs, job insecurity, inadequate healthcare—leaves people with reduced capacity for community care and compassion, making them vulnerable to divisive political messaging. He grew up in a single-parent household where his mother, a nurse, worked overnight shifts, and views his smokejumping career as the first work that provided stability: health insurance, retirement, and steady pay. The loss of federal firefighting jobs represents a direct blow to workers from backgrounds like his own. Forstag interprets the cuts as emblematic of elected officials failing working-class constituents while accumulating personal wealth, and he frames his candidacy as an attempt to rebuild government responsiveness to those communities. The district has historically favored Republicans, making his effort to galvanize young and working-class voters a significant lift.
What's disputed
The Guardian could not independently verify Forstag's specific claim that Zinke became $20m richer while in office, though his financial disclosures showed significant wealth accumulation and he faced 18 federal investigations during his tenure as interior secretary. Zinke's office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.