MISSOULA - The primary election for the Missoula Mayor race occurred on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, and Homeward Executive Director Andrea Davis and current Missoula City Council member Mike Nugent have advanced to the general election.
Both Nugent and Davis recall what their thoughts were on election night as the election results were released.
“I was delightfully amazed seeing where the numbers came in preliminarily the very first call. It’s quite a dramatic number of Missoulians that voted for me and it's humbling. This is my first run at public office and even if your first run or not, I would imagine that it's nerve-racking leading up to knowing election results will roll in," Davis said. "I was so pleased that the energy and enthusiasm and momentum that we were feeling all throughout the campaign resulted in Missoula voters answering with their ballots."
“It was great, we’ve been working hard for the last year, talking to people of Missoula and trying to be present as much as we can and hearing from a wide variety of Missoulians and it was rewarding to see that work pay and take this message onto the general election and take a couple hours and celebrate with some our supporters and my friends and family and kind of enjoy the moment,” said Nugent.
With eight weeks left before the general election that will take place on November 7, Davis says she is continuing to spread her message and working hard for her supporters and the people of Missoula.
“The platform will not change. I will be working on issues that are important to Missoulians. And I'm hearing from people every day that they are concerned about their cost of living, so that's obviously an area I will continue to stay focused on. You know that's in the area of obtaining an affordable rental home or home for purchase, what the city can do in terms of a strategy in terms of help — provide for solutions alongside our private market partners. That includes other costs that the city can manage, that includes our budget and looking at property tax reform. My platform has also included going after federal funds that are available to us as a municipality to help bring in more green jobs and green sectors to Missoula and also helping the city deliver its services well to the community and that’s through a high-functioning city government."
Nugent explained that he wants to fight for the most vulnerable groups in Missoula and help those in a city that is starting to become more and more expensive to live in.
“You know our message doesn't change. we are very focused on helping the working men and women and working families of Missoula have a little bit better life. There's a lot of challenges people are facing we need to tackle head-on. It's some of the basics, it's kind of figuring out how to set our priorities in the city and make sure the things that the Missoulians rely on every day are funded and upfront. That focuses on public safety and our roads and our important infrastructure and trying to balance that with the realities that Missoula is getting to be a more and more expensive place to live and we need to do what we can to try and help some of our most vulnerable out there which includes seniors on fixed incomes and people living paycheck to paycheck and I think that group is worth fighting for,” Nugent said.
