Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-At Large) Elected 2000, 3d term
Born:	Oct. 5, 1955, Billings
Home:	Billings
Education:	WA St. U., B.A. 1977
Religion:	Episcopalian
Marital Status:	married (Jan)
Elected  Office:	MT House of Reps., 1984-90; MT Lt. Gov., 1991-96
Professional Career:	Leg. Asst., U.S. Rep. Ron Marlenee, 1979-82; Rancher, 1982-present.
DC Office	516 CHOB20515, 202-225-3211; Fax: 202-225-5687; Web site: www.house.gov/rehberg
State Offices	Billings, 406-256-1019; Great Falls, 406-454-1066; Helena, 406-443-7878; Missoula, 406-543-9550.
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Dennis Rehberg, a Republican elected in 2000, is a rancher from Billings who raises cattle and cashmere goats on his family ranch and who has been involved in politics most of his adult life. After college, he worked in real estate and then on the Washington staff of Congressman Ron Marlenee. He returned to Montana in 1982 and was elected to the state House in 1984, at 29; he managed Marlenee's campaign in 1986 and Conrad Burns' first campaign for the Senate in 1988. He served as Burns' state director for two years, then was appointed lieutenant governor by Republican Stan Stephens, and was elected to that post on the ticket headed by Marc Racicot in 1992. In 1996, he ran against Senator Max Baucus. Rehberg backed term limits, promised to forego pay increases and attacked Baucus for backing the 1993 tax increase and the assault weapons ban. Baucus called Rehberg a "special interest" candidate backing billions in tax cuts for the rich and argued against Republican Medicare "cuts." Rehberg was outspent by $4.3 million to $1.4 million, but made it a close race: Baucus won 50%-45%.

Rehberg (pronounced REE-berg) returned to ranching. The opportunity to run for the House arose in September 1999 when incumbent Republican Rick Hill, reelected by only 53%-44% and facing vigorous opposition from Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruction Nancy Keenan, announced he would not run because of complications from eye surgery. Rehberg was unopposed for the Republican nomination. The general race against Keenan was a classic contest between a liberal Democrat and a conservative Republican. Both decried Montana's low-wage economy and how it made it difficult for young people to stay in the communities where they were raised. But it was not clear what either would do about it. Rehberg and Keenan also agreed on opposing gun control, repealing the marriage penalty and letting patients sue HMOs.

Naturally there was more discussion of their disagreements--on abortion rights, on inheritance taxes, a prescription drug benefit (Rehberg favored it for the needy, Keenan for all), and individual investment accounts in Social Security. The tone got testier, as outside groups--the AFL-CIO, the NEA, the Chamber of Commerce, the NFIB--spent over $100,000 each; something like $20 million was spent in this state with seriously contested races for Senate and House. Rehberg ran ads with strong endorsements from Governor Marc Racicot and often showing his family, especially his two-year-old daughter--an implicit contrast with Keenan, a former copper smelter worker and special education teacher who had never married. Rehberg won 51%-46%, almost precisely the same margin as in the races for governor and senator that year; all the Republicans were surely helped by George W. Bush's 58%-33% margin over Al Gore.

As a freshman, Rehberg concentrated on issues with impact in Montana. He worked with Senator Burns in 2002 to get $5 billion in drought relief for farmers in addition to the farm bill; they were frustrated by Bush's opposition, and had to settle for $752 million in farm bill funds. He sought repeal of the Clinton administration's restrictions on snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park; after a hearing Rehberg organized, the Bush administration changed the policy.

In his second term Rehberg spent much time trying to preserve mandatory country of origin labeling of meat, a provision of the 2002 farm bill set to go into effect in September 2004. In 2003 he pressed for funding for it. In a law signed in January 2004 Congress delayed implementation by two years. In July 2004 the Agriculture Committee rejected a Rehberg amendment to leave mandatory country of origin labeling intact by 32-16 and, by voice vote, to make the labeling voluntary.

Rehberg has supported the Bush administration strongly on Iraq, but has disagreed on a few other issues. He favors reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada, backed the House's $318 billion transportation bill and opposed Bush's January 2004 proposals on immigration. He has harshly criticized the Endangered Species Act and says it leads farmers and ranchers to "shoot, shovel and shut up"--to kill animals that may be labeled endangered because of onerous enforcement.

Rehberg declined a repeat run against Senator Max Baucus in 2002, though polls suggested he would be competitive. He was reelected against unknown opponents by 65%-33% in 2002 and 64%-33% in 2004. He has been mentioned as a likely Senate candidate if Burns retires in 2006, but in late 2004 Burns seemed determined to run, and Rehberg won a seat on the Appropriations Committee--a sign he may be contemplating a long House career.

Committees

• Appropriations (35th of 37 R): Energy & Water Development & Related Agencies; Foreign Operations, Export Financing & Related Programs; Military Quality of Life & Veterans Affairs & Related Agencies.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	5	5	0	0	80	61	95	96	76	100	--
2003	10	--	0	0	--	62	93	88	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	0%	--	91%		20%	--	80%
Social	37%	--	61%		9%	--	85%
Foreign	23%	--	71%		42%	--	57%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR Y 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts Y 3. Medicare/Rx Bill Y 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. N 5. DC School Vouchers Y 6. Ban Human Cloning Y		7. Restrict Gun Liability Y  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage Y 10. Fund Iraq War Y 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds N 12. Intelligence Reorg. Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Denny Rehberg (R)	286,076	64%	$608,199
	Tracy Velazquez (D)	145,606	33%	$127,716
	Other	12,548	3%
2004 primary	Denny Rehberg (R)	unopposed
2002 general	Denny Rehberg (R)	214,100	65%	$949,631
	Steve Kelly (D)	108,233	33%	$18,757
	Other	8,988	3%
Prior winning percentages: 2000 (51%)

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 266,063 (59%) Kerry (D) 173,710 (39%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 240,178 (58%) Gore (D) 137,126 (33%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the At-Large District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R +11
• District Size: 147,042 square miles
• Population in 2000: 902,195; 54.0% urban; 46.0% rural
• Median Household Income: $33,024; 14.6% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 22.0% blue collar; 58.6% white collar; 19.4% gray collar; 16.1% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 89.5% White, 0.3% Black, 0.5% Asian, 6.0% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 1.5% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 2.0% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 18.8% German, 10.3% Irish, 8.8% English
• Click here for statewide demographic data.