Kyle Waterman

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Kyle Waterman

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Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

Evergreen State College

Personal

Birthplace

Helena, Mont.

Religion

United Methodist

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Kyle Waterman (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Montana State Senate to represent District 4. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Biography

Kyle Waterman obtained a bachelor's degree from Evergreen State College.

Elections

2022

See also: Montana State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Montana State Senate District 4

John Fuller defeated Kyle Waterman in the general election for Montana State Senate District 4 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Fuller (R)	62.2	5,180
	Submit photo	Kyle Waterman (D)	37.8	3,149

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,329
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Montana State Senate District 4

Kyle Waterman advanced from the Democratic primary for Montana State Senate District 4 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Kyle Waterman	100.0	844

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 844
= 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 State Senate District 4

John Fuller defeated Lee Huestis in the Republican primary for Montana State Senate District 4 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Fuller	56.7	2,082
	Submit photo	Lee Huestis	43.3	1,590

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,672
= 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.
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2020

See also: Montana State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Montana State Senate District 2

Carl Glimm defeated Kyle Waterman in the general election for Montana State Senate District 2 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Carl Glimm (R)	68.3	8,760
	Submit photo	Kyle Waterman (D)	31.7	4,066

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,826
= 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 State Senate District 2

Kyle Waterman advanced from the Democratic primary for Montana State Senate District 2 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Kyle Waterman	100.0	1,849

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,849
= 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 State Senate District 2

Carl Glimm defeated Paul Longfield and Norm Nunnally in the Republican primary for Montana State Senate District 2 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Carl Glimm	55.0	2,644
	Submit photo	Paul Longfield	28.8	1,384
	Submit photo	Norm Nunnally	16.3	782

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,810
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jerry O'Neil (R)

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Kyle Waterman did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Kyle Waterman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Waterman's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Kyle Waterman was born and raised in Montana and is a decisive and strong local leader with a focus on serving all communities in the Flathead Valley. He was elected to the Kalispell City Council in 2018 and serves on the Flathead County Health Board and the Transportation Committee where he ensures that everyone benefits from the growth in the region. In the past he worked at the Intermountain Children's Services as their Senior Development Officer in the Flathead. Prior to this he was a founding Executive Director at Friends of Ebey's, a nonprofit that works to preserve historic buildings and land for all to enjoy. Overall, he more than 20 years of non-profit management experience. He received his undergraduate education at Evergreen State College.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Defend public lands and access
• Invest in public health for youth and families
• Invest in small buisness by expanding broadband and improving transportation to create better jobs and housing options

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Three of the causes that Kyle cares most about are: protecting our public lands, addressing mental health issues, and public transportation.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I aspire to follow the example of my mother Mignon, and grandmother Mable both of whom were passionate civil servants and advocates of community in Montana. One of my earliest memories is helping my mother put up signs around Helena for her re-election to the school board. She then went on to serve 3 terms in the Montana State Senate and is remembered to this day for her work for betterment of the health of all Montanans and her ability to work across party lines.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

I think the ability to listen and advocate for their community is the most important characteristic for an elected official. Listening is key in this. We were given two ears and one mouth for a reason, so that we take twice the time to listen before we talk. I think more politicians need to remember this. I have discovered that there are plenty of great ideas and plans already in the community that need to be supported and raised up. Being able to find these, in addition to proposing new solutions, is a more efficient and productive way for an elected official to work.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Ronald Regan being shot in 1981, I was 5 at the time.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked at an animal shelter in Helena when I was in 7th grade and held it for two years.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

I think it is beneficial to have experience outside of politics so that a legislator understand how government affects business and people. My experience running a small business has helped me see ways that our taxation, licensing and infrastructure can be improved. My work in nonprofits has taught me about the importance of private-public partnerships and that the government does have to solve everything but through grant funding and capacity building can work with communities to become self sufficient. All this experience has also taught me to understand the importance budgeting and planning.



That said, I think my experience of serving on City Council and local County Boards has is very valuable experience for the state legislature. I have seen firsthand how unfunded mandates from the legislature require local municipalities to raise property taxes or service fees. I see how the State misses out on funding opportunities and short sheet local communities. So I think that my experience in the private and public sector are valuable ways that I am prepared to serve in the Montana Senate.

What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?

I think our greatest challenge is going to be how to manage and benefit from population growth. We have seen a significant uptick in growth from families that want to retire in Montana. We need to make sure that we also grow our manufacturing and main street business so that we don't just have a senior service jobs. We need to have career paths and healthy communities that work for young families and professionals too.



While managing our growth, we have to also defend our public lands and access. These lands are what make us proud to be Montanans and we need to make sure we grow in ways that protect them. We need to consider how we can grow in our cities so that our main streets can stay vibrant and active. We need to make sure that we grow in a way that our communities support everyone.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

I think it is very beneficial to build relationships with other legislators. Especially relationships with other local representatives so that the local delegation can work together to benefit the Flathead. I am committed to working with my local delegation, regardless of party lines, to best represent our community and support local projects.

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.

See also

2022 Elections

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Candidate

Montana State Senate District 4

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Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the Montana State Senate

Leadership

Senate President:Matt Regier

Majority Leader:Tom McGillvray

Senators

District 1

Mike Cuffe (R)

District 2

Dave Fern (D)

District 3

Carl Glimm (R)

District 4

John Fuller (R)

District 5

Matt Regier (R)

District 6

Mark Noland (R)

District 7

Greg Hertz (R)

District 8

Susan Webber (D)

District 9

Bruce Gillespie (R)

District 10

Jeremy Trebas (R)

District 11

Daniel Emrich (R)

District 12

Wendy McKamey (R)

District 13

Joshua Kassmier (R)

District 14

Russel Tempel (R)

District 15

Gregg Hunter (R)

District 16

Jonathan Windy Boy (D)

District 17

Bob Phalen (R)

District 18

Kenneth Bogner (R)

District 19

Barry Usher (R)

District 20

Sue Vinton (R)

District 21

Gayle Lammers (R)

District 22

Daniel Zolnikov (R)

District 23

Emma Kerr-Carpenter (D)

District 24

Mike Yakawich (R)

District 25

Dennis Lenz (R)

District 26

Tom McGillvray (R)

District 27

Vince Ricci (R)

District 28

Forrest Mandeville (R)

District 29

John Esp (R)

District 30

Cora Neumann (D)

District 31

Pat Flowers (D)

District 32

Denise Hayman (D)

District 33

Christopher Pope (D)

District 34

Shelley Vance (R)

District 35

Tony Tezak (R)

District 36

Sara Novak (D)

District 37

Derek Harvey (D)

District 38

Becky Beard (R)

District 39

Wylie Galt (R)

District 40

Laura Smith (D)

District 41

Janet Ellis (D)

District 42

Mary Dunwell (D)

District 43

Jason Ellsworth (R)

District 44

Theresa Manzella (R)

District 45

Denley Loge (R)

District 46

Jacinda Morigeau (D)

District 47

Ellie Boldman (D)

District 48

Andrea Olsen (D)

District 49

Willis Curdy (D)

District 50

Shane Morigeau (D)

Republican Party (32)

Democratic Party (18)