Taking it to the House
Three Great Falls Women Aiming to Serve Montana
written by David M. J. Saslav
Left to right: Melissa Smith, Jasmine Taylor, and Helena Lovick at their billboard on Smelter Ave in Great Falls, Montana.
Even a century after women secured the right to vote in our country, running for political office for the first time takes courage, discipline, persistence, and an abundance of passion.
Now, add in a global pandemic— and a solid helping of gender bias to boot.
“I’ve been told I’m too young, too attractive to be running for office,” says one.
Another one was asked, “What’s a nice girl like you doing in politics?”
This year, Montanans in Great Falls have the opportunity to vote for three up-and-coming Democratic candidates— Melissa Smith, Jasmine Taylor, and Helena Lovick— for House Districts 20, 22, and 26, respectively. If elected, the three women would join Democrats Barbara Bessette and Jasmine Krotkov (elected in 2018 to first terms of their own, representing Great Falls’ House Districts 24 and 25) in the Montana Legislature, forming the largest contingent of female legislators to represent any Montana city in its history.
All three of the first-time candidates convey very different paths when discussing their journeys to public service. But, according to Taylor, there are certain similarities too. “All three of us come from modest backgrounds,” she says. “And we each received outstanding Montana public educations of such high quality that they propelled us to these places of greater substance. That’s why all three of us are actively advocating for quality public education for all Montanans.”
Smith and Lovick met one another at a gathering of Great Falls Rising, a non-partisan organization formed by Great Falls’ Gerry Jennings in response to the outcomes of the 2016 election. Its mission is to empower Great Falls citizens with knowledge, connect its subcommunities, and foster equality, diversity, human rights, civil liberties, and a sustainable future through respectful dialogue, education, and advocacy. One of the recent gatherings featured a group of locals who are pushing the Great Falls City Commissioners to pass a Non-Discrimination Ordinance, or NDO, to safeguard local members of the LGBTQ+ community. Taylor heads up this group.
“... Hearing the words, ‘these workers knew what they were getting into when they took the jobs’ reminded me of what my family experienced— cancer wiping out our entire life savings. That was the moment I said to myself, ‘OK, I have to enter local politics.”
All three now find themselves running on platforms that advocate for Public Education, Medicaid Expansion, Public Safety, and stewardship of Public Lands and the Environment.
Lovick overcame poverty to become a scientist. Taylor’s family went bankrupt trying to fund cancer treatments for a sibling, when the family’s health insurance proved insufficient to the cause. Smith realized that she was on the “wrong side of the table” after a City Resolution she’d worked on to conserve energy and prepare for climate change was “postponed indefinitely,” and she realized that her decades of community activism “were just not going to cut it anymore.”
Since graduating from college, Taylor went on to work for the Department of Human Services as a case manager and became the President of the LGBTQ+ Center of Great Falls. Lovick, who serves on the Board of Great Falls Rising and leads the Great Falls Community Action Team, has used her scientific background to provide data-driven research to spur sensible legislative action. Smith is a professional pianist and teacher who has served on numerous non-profit Boards for several decades. All three share a passion and a purpose to help the most vulnerable so that all Montanans can thrive. They refer to their political niche as the “Compassionate Middle.”
“All three of us have been community activists— for years, we’ve all turned out for protests for education, human rights, and more,” says Taylor. “The reason I decided to run— and specifically in my District— was a bill that was going to give presumptive health care coverage for people who were frontline workers, including a fireman who had gotten cancer.” The House representative from Taylor’s district voted against the bill to provide medical insurance to cover their treatments. For Taylor, “hearing the words, ‘these workers knew what they were getting into when they took the jobs’ reminded me of what my family experienced— cancer wiping out our entire life savings. That was the moment I said to myself, ‘OK, I have to enter local politics.’”
“We’re looking for ways that we can lift up an entire community and do a better job of taking care of each other.”
Lovick moved to Montana during the seventh grade, graduated from CMR High School, and went on to earn her Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from MSU Bozeman and her Ph.D. from the University of Washington. Her family struggled with poverty, relying at times on food stamps and food pantries to get by. But through education, hard work, and a little good fortune, she was able to break the cycle of poverty.
As a scientific researcher, she now “considers all aspects of complex issues to find solutions to problems. As a mother and wife, I understand the decisions legislators make have a real impact on families. I hope to use my education, professional, and personal experiences to support our community and provide more opportunity. My platform is based on compassion and thoughtfulness.”
Smith graduated from the University of Montana, came to politics by way of community activism, the performing arts, and local entrepreneurial endeavors. As a professional pianist, she’s delved deeply into Montana history, researching the way that Great Falls’ music halls were segregated— even in the days of traveling musicians like Lionel Hampton, who was only able to perform in racially integrated clubs like the former Ozark Club in Great Falls.
“Once we understand the community we share, we can begin to address the inequities and seek justice for all.”
Connecting the dots between historical and current events, Smith recently performed a piece of Lionel Hampton’s at a virtual campaign event, noting as she did so, “We have a continuing crisis of racial inequality, which leads to a great deal of strife. When I engage people about the Black Lives Matter movement, income inequality, and institutionalized racism, it quickly gets really overwhelming, and people start to close their minds down. And when our minds close down, our hearts follow— making it even more difficult to imagine how to make a difference here. But music like Hampton’s re-opens hearts, and speaks to our shared humanity without even using words. That sparks renewed empathy and compassion. When we hear his music, we hear a bit of his soul. We feel we understand this person as a human being. And once we understand the community we share, we can begin to address the inequities and seek justice for all.”
All three women have encountered significant gender bias in their campaigns, being told they were “too outspoken” and “too vocal about controversial issues.”
Says Taylor, “We are all about equal rights— and even some of our allies would prefer us to be quiet. Even some of the women in Great Falls regard us as ‘bold.’ I don’t know if that is the right way to put it— but we have definitely had pushback for being so vocal. We’re just willing to say things in a really blunt manner, and some of those things aren’t typically discussed. For example, we all talk about keeping public land in public hands, but Melissa will talk about Environmentalism, which is kind of taboo in Great Falls. But Melissa is an Environmental steward.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic resurgence in late 2020, Lovick’s background as a scientist enables her to talk about the debate over public health measures from a more mathematical standpoint. Taylor’s human rights activism, particularly her work on the NDO with the LGBTQ+ Center, have sparked controversy amongst the more conservative elements of Great Falls. She notes, “Melissa and Helena are the only other candidates who have turned up, physically and vocally, to offer their support” around the NDO. “And, in speaking out, they have become allies.”
Smith adds, “What we are all talking about are compassionate viewpoints that are very middle of the road— at least to us. It’s just that the goalposts have shifted so far to the right that we appear more progressive, more radical, when we speak out on racial equity, LGBTQ+ issues, or women’s reproductive rights.”
Says Lovick, “We’re looking for ways that we can lift up an entire community and do a better job of taking care of each other. All of this is included in our mission of compassion and thoughtfulness; we are saying, ‘I see your humanity.’”
Left to right: Melissa Smith (HD-20), Helena Lovick (HD-26), and Jasmine Taylor (HD-22)
In early October, the three candidates assembled at the base of a new billboard sign on Smelter Avenue, near Great Falls’ huge refinery. They pooled their campaign resources to display the sign to passing traffic for the final month before Election Day. Atop their pictures, it reads, in bold block letters, “Women belong in the House.” At the unveiling event, several supporters cheered as Taylor, Lovick, and Smith reviewed their platforms in brief “stump speech” format, further cementing their determination to bring heightened compassion to their city through legislative action.
On November 3, Great Falls voters will have a chance to send all three women— outspoken, courageous, and ready to rock boats— to the Montana Legislature’s 2021 Session.