Rehberg still runs, works hard in race against unknown opponent

By Mike Dennison - 09/21/2008

Mike Dennison photo / Standard State Bureau U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., second from left, listens to Montana State University civil engineering professor Al Cunningham explain the workings of a coal-sequestration experimental site on campus property in Bozeman. Also pictured is the site manager, Laura Dobeck, and Rehberg's state director, Dustin Frost, at left.

BOZEMAN — Over lunch at Bozeman restaurant with U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, high-tech business adviser John O'Donnell has a confession to make, as he talks of helping Rehberg get re-elected this year.

"You know, I consider myself to be a pretty informed guy," he says to Rehberg, "but when I talked earlier to (your staff), I had to ask: ‘Who's he running against?"‘ O'Donnell and most Montana voters can be forgiven if they can't instantly name Rehberg's 2008 opponents, for neither is mounting much of a visible campaign.

Democrat John Driscoll, a former state public service commissioner and retired National Guard colonel, isn't raising or spending any money for his campaign. Libertarian Mike Fellows, a perennial candidate, is running his usual low-budget, low-key campaign.

Barring a huge upset, it's likely that Rehberg, a Republican, will be returning to Washington, D.C., for his fifth consecutive term as Montana's only representative in the U.S. House.

He's already transferred $100,000 of his $600,000-plus campaign fund to the state Republican Party to help elect other Republican candidates in Montana, and his own campaign isn't exactly on overdrive.

Yet that doesn't mean Rehberg, whose political career crosses four decades, is taking it easy.

In Bozeman last weekend, he put in a typical 14-hour day, combining campaign work with congressional duties as he met with small business owners, went door-to-door with a legislative candidate, and checked up on projects for which he secured federal "earmark" funding.

Rehberg, 52, says a favorite part of the job is hearing new, creative ideas from business people and helping them if he can. While he espouses a conservative, pro-business philosophy — "Government should just get out of the way," he often says — Rehberg says it can be a tool to help economic development, such as by funding promising ideas and research or keeping taxes and regulations minimal.

One of the projects for which Rehberg has secured funding is the TechRanch, a business-development center in Bozeman directed by O'Donnell.

It received $1 million in federal funds the past two years, to help its mission of assisting small, technology-related businesses find and develop commercial markets for research coming primarily out of Montana State University.

Rehberg says it was one of the first earmark projects he helped obtain after he became a congressman in 2001.

"I get $845 million in earmark requests a year," says Rehberg. "I have to prioritize. I have limited opportunity to travel around Montana and see what's proposed, if it fits into my vision for the state.

"I said to John, ‘Prove to me what you do is (worthwhile).' He met that test." Energy policy Rehberg and fellow Republicans have been pushing hard to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and offshore areas to oil drilling, saying it's part of their "all of the above" energy policy, which also includes renewable energy, nuclear power and conservation incentives.

Two of his stops Saturday are with a company that installs solar-power systems for homes and businesses and another one preparing computer-assisted aids for consumers to measure their energy consumption and find new, energy-saving appliances.

As he meets with business owners, Rehberg sometimes tells them about upcoming international trade missions that can introduce them to overseas markets.

These are missions that Rehberg helps lead, usually under the auspices of the World Trade Center at the University of Montana. He's traveled on Trade Center missions to South America, South Korea, China and Europe.

Arnie Sherman, director of the center, says Rehberg's presence is very effective in lending credibility to Montana businesses trying to develop international markets.

"He goes to as many meetings as the companies want him to attend, to show that the U.S. government and the Montana congressman want these companies to work," Sherman says. "That means a lot in the international community.

Rehberg has helped run his family's cattle and goat ranch for much of his political career, which extends back to the late 1970s. He and his wife, Janice, also have subdivided part of the property into a residential development just north of the Billings rimrocks.

The subdivision, known as Rehberg Ranch, has helped make Rehberg one of the wealthiest members of Congress. His 2007 financial disclosure form listed assets with a net worth from $11 million to $55 million.

Rehberg began his political career as an aide to former U.S. Rep. Ron Marlenee in 1979 and ran for the Legislature when he was 28 years old, defeating a well-known Republican legislator in the primary election.

Rehberg's political stock rose dramatically in 1988 when he stepped in to manage the campaign of U.S. Senate candidate Conrad Burns, helping Burns to an upset victory over Democratic incumbent John Melcher.

Rehberg later worked as Burns' state director and then became lieutenant governor under Govs. Stan Stephens and Marc Racicot. He left that job to run for the U.S. Senate in 1996, losing to Sen. Max Baucus, but returned in 2000 to win the congressional seat, defeating Democrat Nancy Keenan.

Rehberg has a conservative voting record in Congress, although recently he's sometimes distanced himself from President Bush. He has voted several times to override Bush vetoes, including supporting Democrats on a proposal to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Jack Ramirez, a longtime family friend and Montana House Republican leader when Rehberg was in the Legislature, says Rehberg always had "some real, strong feelings about participating in government and making a difference," and loved the competition of politics.

While Rehberg had the reputation of being a budget hawk and partisan warrior during his legislative days, Ramirez says Rehberg saw the benefits of working with those who might disagree with his politics.

"He certainly has conservative beliefs on the size and scope of government, and he's a man of principle, so he tried to live that," Ramirez says. "But I always felt that he got along well with people on the other side of the aisle and reached out to find common ground." Rehberg has a conservative voting record in Congress, although recently he's sometimes distanced himself from President Bush. He has voted several times to override Bush vetoes, including supporting Democrats on a proposal to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Yet at the Gallatin County Republican Roundup, an annual political dinner with hundreds of GOP faithful in a horse barn south of Bozeman, Rehberg serves up his share of political red meat, castigating Democratic congressional leaders for refusing to allow a vote on offshore oil drilling.

"Why have the polls changed in our favor?" he asks the crowd. "Because we have continued to debate the No. 1 issue: Energy That kind of attitude (by Democrats) is gong to cost them the majority in the Congress. That kind of attitude is going to cost them the presidency." The overtly political talk this day, however, is a rarity. As Rehberg and TechRanch director O'Donnell exchange stories over beers and ribs at Famous Dave's, they're discussing the prospects for earmark funding in the current and next Congress, and how the outcome of the presidential election might change things.

Rehberg's campaign hardly comes up, and as the two men head for their vehicles in the parking, O'Donnell offers tongue-in-cheek well wishes: "Hey, good luck beating whatever-his-name-is." -30- Tomorrow: Democratic candidate John Driscoll.

Denny Rehberg Political party: Republican.

Office sought: U.S. House.

Office salary: $169,300.

Age: 52.

Birth date and place: Oct. 5, 1955, Billings.

Home: Billings.

Occupation: U.S. congressman.

Family: Wife Janice, two daughters and one son.

Education: Graduate of Billings West High School, 1973, bachelor's degree in public administration from Washington State University, 1977.

Past employment: 2001-present, congressman representing Montana; 1997-2000, operated family cattle/goat ranch near Billings; 1991-1997, lieutenant governor of Montana; 1989-1991, state director for Republican U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns; 1982-1988, operated family ranch; 1979-1982, aide to U.S. Rep. Ron Marlenee, R-Mont.; 1977-1979, Realtor in Billings and lobbyist for Montana Realtors Association.

Political experience: 2001-present, congressman representing Montana's at-large district; 1996, ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate; 1991-1997, Montana lieutenant governor; 1988, ran Republican Conrad Burns' successful U.S. Senate race; 1985-1991, state representative from Billings.

Military: None Campaign Web site: www.dennyrehberg.com