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Brian Close
2025 - Present
2027
0
Brian Close (Democratic Party) is a member of the Montana House of Representatives, representing District 65. He assumed office on January 6, 2025. His current term ends on January 4, 2027.
Close (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Montana House of Representatives to represent District 65. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Close completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Brian Close was born in Highland Park, Illinois. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 1981, a graduate degree in tax law from New York University Law School in 1988, and a graduate degree in history from Montana State University in 2001. His career experience includes working as a tax attorney. Close has served on the GALAVAN Board, the Bozeman City Study Commission, and the Bozeman Park & Recreation Board. He received an Intellectual Freedom Award from the Montana Library Association.[1]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Montana House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Montana House of Representatives District 65
Brian Close defeated Esther Fishbaugh in the general election for Montana House of Representatives District 65 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Brian Close (D)  | 55.7 | 3,456 |
 | Esther Fishbaugh (R) | 44.3 | 2,746 | |
| Total votes: 6,202 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 65
Brian Close defeated Anja Wookey-Huffman in the Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 65 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brian Close | 61.3 | 860 |
 | Anja Wookey-Huffman | 38.7 | 543 | |
| Total votes: 1,403 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Montana House of Representatives District 65
Esther Fishbaugh advanced from the Republican primary for Montana House of Representatives District 65 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Esther Fishbaugh | 100.0 | 1,030 |
| Total votes: 1,030 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Close in this election.
2020
See also: Montana House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Montana House of Representatives District 61
Incumbent Jim Hamilton won election in the general election for Montana House of Representatives District 61 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jim Hamilton (D) | 100.0 | 6,200 |
| Total votes: 6,200 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 61
Incumbent Jim Hamilton defeated Brian Close in the Democratic primary for Montana House of Representatives District 61 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jim Hamilton | 56.5 | 1,670 |
| Brian Close | 43.5 | 1,286 | |
| Total votes: 2,956 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Libertarian primary election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Daniel Bennett (L)
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Brian Close completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Close's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Arriving in Bozeman in 1994 I joined the paratransit GALAVAN Board. I pushed through a senior transportation levy to ensure GALAVAN's continued service to seniors. I then was chair of Galavan from 1999 to 2003.
I then chaired a city task force that led to the creation of public transit in Bozeman.
I was a leader in the movement to make bars and restaurants smoke-free. The city commission adopted my strategy to make that happen.
In 2004 I was elected to the Bozeman City Study Commission. The result was the first successful city charter that passed in 2006. I fought for the charter provisions requiring that there be an ethics board and that everyone in city government receive annual ethics training.
As a member of the city planning board, I wrote the first light pollution ordinance adopted by a city in Montana.
I received an Intellectual Freedom Award from the Montana Library Association.
As Chairman of the Bozeman Park & Recreation Board, I led the effort to create the Bozeman Park District.
I attended the University of Chicago, received my Master in Tax Law from New York University, and a Master in History from Montana State University. I have been a practicing tax attorney 1987. I live in a union household with my lovely librarian wife, Beth Boyson, and my trusty dog, Sam.- Everyone has the right to their individual dignity. I support the LGBTQ+ community in their struggle for respect and dignity and have been serving the LGBTQ+ as an attorney since moving here in 1994. I will oppose any legislation that attacks people based on who they are, who they love, or what they believe. I support Reproductive Freedom, the Right to Privacy, and Personal Autonomy.
- I support the bill to provide home care for seniors that the governor vetoed. Seniors should have the dignity to stay in their homes. We need stronger financial protections so that Seniors will not be exploited. In particular, we need to revise our laws on Guardians and Conservators so that they are properly trained, licensed, and audited. I support the proposal of democratic leadership to give an income tax credit to seniors and other fixed-income individuals to offset property tax increases.
- Our teachers need our support, not threats or censorship! Our children are our future, and our schools should be fully funded and free from outside interference and bigotry. We need to protect the independence of our universities from any attempt to encroach on their rights.
In doing so, the elected official must never lose sight that the goal is to serve the interests of the constituents (even above that of the elected official)
Second, to communicate with constituents and to address their issues and individual concerns.
Open government laws need to be updated in Montana in recogniton of the electronic age
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2020
Brian Close did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Montana scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Montana House of Representatives District 65 |
Officeholder Montana House of Representatives District 65 |
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Montana House of Representatives District 65 2025-Present |
Succeeded by - |
