HELENA — Former Secretary of the Interior and Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke has filed once again to represent Montana in Congress.
The Republican was elected twice, 2014 and 2016, to serve as Montana’s lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was the first Navy SEAL to serve in the chamber.
In 2016, Zinke was selected by former President Trump to lead the Department of the Interior. He was the first Montanan to serve on the presidential cabinet.
Zinke’s time as Secretary of the Interior was met with controversy, including being investigated for using private planes to travel to events and raise funds for Republican causes. He called the investigations “false allegations,” but the investigations ultimately lead to his departure from Trump’s Cabinet in 2018.
The filing with the Federal Election Commission indicates Zinke plans to run for Montana’s 2nd Congressional District which was recently awarded to Montana. This week,the Census Bureausaid Montana had grown by population to qualify for the second district.
The boundaries for the second Montana Congressional District have yet to be finalized.
