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Jon Sonju
| Jon Sonju | ||
 | ||
| Montana State Senate District 4 | ||
| Incumbent | ||
| In office | ||
| 2011-Present | ||
| Term ends | ||
| January 5, 2015 | ||
| Years in position | 2 | |
| Party | Republican | |
| Compensation | ||
| Base salary | $82.64/day | |
| Per diem | $105.31/day | |
| Elections and appointments | ||
| First elected | November 2, 2010 | |
| Next election | November 4, 2014 | |
| Term limits | 8 years in any 16-year period | |
| Prior offices | ||
| Montana House of Representatives | ||
| 2004-2010 | ||
| Personal | ||
| Birthday | 1975 | |
| Websites | ||
| Office website | ||
 | ||
Contents |
Jon Sonju (b. 1975) is a Republican member of the Montana State Senate and was a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Montana in the 2012 elections. In the Senate, he has represented District 4 since 2011. He previously served as a member of the Montana House of Representatives from 2005-2011.
Committee assignments
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Sonju served on the following committees:
| Montana Committee Assignments, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| • Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs, Chair | ||||
| • Highways and Transportation | ||||
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Sonju served on these committees:
| Montana Committee Assignments, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| • Finance and Claims | ||||
| • Highways and Transportation, Vice Chair | ||||
| • Local Government, Chair | ||||
| • Long-Range Planning | ||||
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Sonju served on these committees:
| Montana Committee Assignments, 2009 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| • Rules | ||||
| • Taxation | ||||
| • Transportation, Chair | ||||
Elections
2012
Sonju was the Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Montana. He ran on a ticket with Rick Hill. They defeated 6 other pairs of candidates in the June 5th primary election.[1]
Hill and Sonju lost in the general election on November 6, 2012.
| Governor/Lieutenant Governor of Montana General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Steve Bullock and John E. Walsh |
48.9% | 236,450 | |
| Republican | Rick Hill and Jon Sonju | 47.3% | 228,879 | |
| Libertarian | Ron Vandevender and Marc Mulcahy | 3.8% | 18,160 | |
| Total Votes | 483,489 | |||
| Election Results via Montana Secretary of State. | ||||
| Governor/Lt. Governor of Montana, Republican Primary, 2012 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Rick Hill & Jon Sonju |
34.4% | 46,802 |
| Corey Stapleton & Bob Keenan | 18.1% | 24,661 |
| Ken Miller & Bill Gallagher | 18% | 24,496 |
| Jim O'Hara & Scott Swingley | 12.2% | 16,653 |
| Neil Livingstone & Ryan Zinke | 8.8% | 12,038 |
| Jim Lynch & Al Olszewski | 6.1% | 8,323 |
| Bob Fanning & Joel Boniek | 2.3% | 3,087 |
| Total Votes | 136,060 | |
| Election Results Via: Montana Secretary of State | ||
Issues
On their campaign website, Hill and Sonju highlighted the following areas:
- Jobs & the economy
- Agriculture
- Responsible government
- Energy & natural resources
- Conservative values
- Education
2010
- See also: Montana State Senate elections, 2010
On November 2, 2010, Sonju won election to the Montana State Senate, defeating Mary Reckin. He defeated Dan Pickar in the June 8 primary by a margin of 1,924-456.
| Montana State Senate, District 4 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Jon Sonju |
67.8% | 4,007 | |
| Democratic | Mary Reckin | 32.2% | 1,902 | |
| Total Votes | 5,909 | |||
2008
On November 4, 2008 Jon Sonju won re-election to the Montana House of Representatives for District 7, receiving 2,937 votes.
Sonju raised $5,202 for his campaign.[2]
| Montana House of Representatives, District 7 General Election, 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Jon Sonju Incumbent |
68.4% | 2,937 | |
| Democratic | Shannon Hanson | 31.6% | 1,356 | |
| Total Votes | 4,293 | |||
Campaign donors
2012
Campaign donor information is not yet available for this year.
2010
In 2010, a year in which Sonju was up for re-election, he collected $13,106 in donations.[3]
No contributions to his campaign were over $1,000.
Issues
Government efficiency
Sonju chaired the Select Committee on Efficiency in Government, a joint committee of six senators and six representatives created by the Montana State Legislature in 2011. In its final report in September 2012, the committee made eight legislative recommendations. The report included proposals to institute and measure the outcomes of a pay-for-performance pilot program for children's Medicaid mental health services. The most financially significant proposal was to reduce the annual funding for pre-authorization reviews for certain Medicaid services from $1.7 million to $185,000. This savings would be obtained by only requiring these reviews, for which Montana contracts with a private company, to be done only as required by federal law, not for additional mental health services. The committee submitted its recommendations to the 63rd Legislature (2013-14) for consideration.[4] The The Montana Policy Institute suggested that, if the legislature finds that the committee found valuable savings, a similar committee should be formed to continue its work.[5]
Recent news
This section displays the most recent stories in a google news search for the term Jon + Sonju + Montana + Senate
- All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.
Jon Sonju News Feed
- Blasdel reflects on legislative session - Flathead Publishing Group
- Flathead Legislators on the good, the bad, and the OK of the latest session - mtprnews.wordpress
Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found
Personal
Sonju and his wife, Tania, have one child.
External links
- Montana State Senate Website
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign Contributions: 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004
- Official campaign website (Rick Hill for Governor)
- Hill and Sonju's campaign page on Facebook
- Hill and Sonju's campaign on Twitter
- Hill and Sonju's campaign channel on YouTube
References
- ↑ Associated Press, "Montana primary election, unofficial results," accessed June 6, 2012
- ↑ 2008 Follow the Money's report on Jon's 2008 campaign contributions
- ↑ 2010 campaign contributions
- ↑ Final Report of the Select Committee on Efficiency in Government, September 2012
- ↑ Montana Policy Institute, Montana Pig Book, p. 37-38
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Gregory Barkus |
Montana Senate District 4 2011–present |
Succeeded by NA |
| Preceded by ' |
Montana State House District 7 2005–2011 |
Succeeded by Randy Brodehl |
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State of Montana Helena (capital) |
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- State legislative article missing donor information
- Former member, Montana House of Representatives
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- State Senate running for SEO, 2012
