Jill Cohenour has represented one East Helena-area district or another since 2015, so when the time came to register to re-run for her current seat, House District 83, she didn’t hesitate.
But soon after her late February filing, her father, who had recently moved into an assisted living facility, experienced health trouble, forcing the 20-year legislative veteran into a rethink. Cohenour made her decision and sent a thoughtful note to her Democratic colleagues.
“I withdrew my candidacy for HD 83,” she wrote on March 4, explaining that she’d begun regularly caring for her dad and taking him to appointments. “It showed me how important it is for me to be very present at this stage of his life. My husband is stepping in to run for the seat. I really apologize for the last minute decision.”
Family took precedence over career plans and Cohenour was able to adapt. “This was a very tough decision,” the 59-year-old told The Monitor. “I really thought I could serve in the legislature just like last session but things have gotten more complicated.”
Fortunately, her replacement is no stranger to public service or to Montana elections. Joe Cohenour, who registered his candidacy less than five minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline on March 4, served for two decades with the Montana Highway Patrol as a state trooper.
He spent 15 years on school boards in Helena and East Helena, including five years as board chair. In 2012, he ran for House District 78 – a seat that his wife, as now, was vacating – and lost by fewer than two hundred votes. Now, with more experience, he sees his chance.
“With Jill stepping aside to care for her Dad in his final years, it was a great opportunity to fulfill this dream,” he said.
Few retired folks are as engaged and involved as the 63-year-old Cohenour. He chairs the local chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, which has raised $2.2 million to protect habitat and hunting access in the tri-county area. He also chairs the Elkhorn Working Group, an independent organization that helps coordinate Elkhorn Mountains initiatives and activities between local, state, and federal bodies and officials.
It hardly needs saying that Cohenour cares deeply about protecting public lands. “Access to public lands is a Montana heritage meant to be protected for future generations,” he said. “I have always worked for access to public lands and proper forest management to improve habitat.”
Another key issue is supporting good jobs. He sits on the board of directors of the state’s largest labor union, the Montana Federation of Public Employees, providing a first-hand view of some crucial local issues.
“HD 83 has some of the largest density of public workers,” he said. “I will work hard in the legislature to maintain their wages, benefits, and working conditions so they in turn can provide the important services that Montanans expect.”
Joe considers his top priority ensuring that HD 83 constituents are able to afford quality housing and reliable health and child care. “Affordability is the top concern I’m hearing in my community,” he said. “I will work to keep property taxes low for Montana families while making corporations and wealthy individuals pay their fair share.”
Cohenour also vows to be inclusive when it comes to public education, a subject he knows well thanks to his years of board service. “We need to invest in public school funding at the state level to increase teacher pay and maintain quality educational programs for our kids,” he said. “We need to fight private school bills that seek to drain resources from public schools.”
That platform is likely to be a stark contrast with that of his lone opponent, Republican Aaron J. Leas, a Montana Oath Keeper and combat veteran, according to his Gab social media bio. In 2022 he called for the cancellation of a Gay Pride-related book reading and described LGBTQ people as “bottom dwellers, the scum of society,” according to Montana Free Press and Daily Montanan reporting.
Joe has yet to serve as a legislator, but he does have a quarter-century of legislative experience. He has testified to the state legislature on education, wildlife issues, law enforcement, and more and last year worked with his wife, and ranchers and agricultural groups, to develop House Bill 354. Seeking to expand criminal trespass to include shed hunters, the bill passed and went into effect last year, as The Monitor reported in October.
His partner, meanwhile, has embarked on a different path. “I am privileged to be with my dad through this part of his life journey,” said Jill, whose father turns 86 later this month. “I couldn’t see myself not being there for him.”
Not expecting to run for office again, Jill took a moment to review her record. Her legislative career began with an election victory in 2002 against the incumbent in HD 78, where she served until 2011. After a move, she ran for Senate District 42, covering Helena and East Helena, and served there for eight years, including as Senate Minority leader in the 2021 COVID session. Finally, she has served as HD 83 rep for the last two legislative sessions.
Over the years, Jill worked on an array of tax, natural resources, transportation, and local government bills. She may be most proud of playing a key role helping “craft the bill that allowed for East Helena to ask our community to have its own high school.”
She highlighted working with a Republican colleague to establish a $25 million fund to support the logging industry, and recalled carrying bills to boost union security, housing, healthcare privacy, law enforcement officer protection, retirement security, school bus seatbelts, private property protections, and more.
“I have had a very eclectic legislative career that kept me engaged on the issues,” she said, adding that she felt proud to solve an array of problems for constituents. “We are all there to make our communities better, children successful, and families more secure. I feel like I made a real difference for Montana and I thank everyone who has been a part of my journey.”
Joe recalled working with his wife on some piece of legislation in every term she had served, and made a point to salute her two decades of legislative achievements.
“There is no way that I can live up to that legacy, but I will work hard to earn the trust and vote of my constituents,” Joe said, adding that he had built a collection of solid bipartisan legislative relationships over the years. “I hope that experience will help me hit the ground running.”
