Ryan Zinke’s Used His Last Government Jobs to Enrich Himself – This Time Will Be No Different

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 28th, 2022

CONTACT
hadley@montanademocrats.org

Helena, MT – Zinke’s rise in politics has been marked by two main themes – self-interest and self-enrichment. He has used campaign finance rules to enrich himself, his family, and friends, and he has used them to build a national network of out-of-state and special interest donors and score cushy lobbying jobs in industries he used to “regulate.”

If you want to know what kind of Congressman he’ll be, simply look at the kind of Congressman he was. 

During his first campaign for Montana’s at-large congressional district, Ryan Zinke bragged to donors that he spent the first two months of his campaign touring every state but Montana.  Zinke said, “I spent the first two months touring around the country and talking to leaders in industry, including the railroad, and went to the top. I went to people that have an interest in Montana.” Just not Montanans. 
 
After only one year in the U.S. House of Representatives, Zinke's ambitions ran ahead of his day job. He made the bold announcement he was considering a run for House Speaker in 2015, after John Boehner announced he was stepping down. MTPR noted that it “caught just about everyone by surprise.” 

In DC, Ryan Zinke became the do-nothing politician he had campaigned against. He failed to deliver and do the people’s work, passing just one piece of legislation as Montana’s Representative. Instead, Zinke focused on climbing the political ladder and his own self-enrichment. It’s paid off for him at taxpayers expense. 

Zinke’s increased his net worth by 16.5 times since he dove into the swamp, making roughly $4.2 million per year, or 75 times the median Montana family income of $56,500 per year. The Zinke’s own a multi-million mansion and a 41-ft yacht with its own slip in Santa Barbara, California. 

“Zinke looks at every government job as an opportunity for a bigger stage and a bigger payout,” says Sheila Hogan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. “If you want to know what kind of Congressman he would make this time around, just look at his record of self-serving schemes during his last job in Congress.” 

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