Rob Quist

On January 4, 2017, Quist announced he would seek the Democratic nomination for the special election that was anticipated to fill the U.S. House seat held by Ryan Zinke, as Zinke was expected to be nominated to be Secretary of the Interior. Quist was endorsed early on by former Governor Brian Schweitzer, and was selected as the Party's nominee on March 5. Quist stated, "I was approached by people who I really respect and they asked me to run. And my first thought was 'Wait a minute, I'm not a politician.' Their response was, 'exactly.'" Quist cited as qualifications his work with the state government, lifelong experience traveling in and around Montana, and his upbringing in a ranching family. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders as well as the organization Our Revolution endorsed Quist in the race and campaigned for him.

Quist thinks the country should eventually move to a single-payer healthcare system. Quist opposed efforts to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), stating in 2017 that doing so would "raise healthcare costs for working Montanans", which is consistent with an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, and be a "tax cut for millionaires".

The Mission Mountain Wood Band was a bluegrass and country rock band that played their first public performance opening for the band Rare Earth in 1971. The group went on to tour nationally and opened for many notable acts of the era, but were also popular headliners in their local region for events such as the University of Montana's Aber Day kegger. They performed on national television on shows such as Hee Haw and the ABC Cheryl Ladd Special. After the band broke up in 1982, Quist joined with fellow members Terry Robinson and Kurt Bergeron to form the Montana Band, which continued to tour extensively and took first prize in the Willie Nelson country challenge. Quist had left the Montana band prior to a tragic plane crash that killed Robinson, Bergeron and the other members of the band.

Robert Ernest Quist (born January 5, 1948) is an American singer, instrumentalist (playing guitar and banjo), songwriter, and politician. Originally a founding member of the Mission Mountain Wood Band, his songs have also been recorded by artists Michael Martin Murphey and Loretta Lynn among others. He is known as a musical and cultural ambassador for the state of Montana and was appointed to the Montana Arts Council by Governor Brian Schweitzer. He has toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and Japan. He was the Democratic nominee for Montana's sole congressional seat in the 2017 special election.

Born January 5, 1948 in Cut Bank, Montana, Quist began singing at a young age and learned to play multiple instruments, including trombone and cello. As a high school senior he led the Cut Bank Wolves to the 1966 Class B Boys State basketball championship under coach Willie Degroot before playing basketball at the University of Montana. While at UM, he also successfully auditioned to join the Jubileers singing group. While in the Jubileers he met Steve Riddle, and the two decided to form a band which eventually evolved into the Mission Mountain Wood Band.