by Parker H. Jimison
Austin Knudsen is the newest face to enter the race to replace Attorney General Tim Fox as he finishes his term and sets his own sights on the gubernatorial election. Austin Knudsen is a fifth generation Montanan who grew up farming and raising cattle in northeastern Montana, graduating high school from Culbertson. After high school, Knudsen pursued his undergraduate degree at Montana State University before attending law school at the University of Montana. After receiving his law degree, Knudsen worked at a law firm in Plentywood before returning home to Culbertson to open his own law practice and has now been practicing law for eleven years.
In 2010, Knudsen was elected to his first of four consecutive terms as the Representative for House District 34, beating a two-term incumbent in one of the most expensive State House races in Montana history. During his second term he was elected Speaker Pro Tempore, and his third term saw him unanimously chosen by Republicans and Democrats alike to be Speaker of the House. Knudsen went on to become the first two-term Speaker since term limits were imposed on State Representatives. His proudest accomplishment as Speaker of the House came in 2015, when he had a second Montana crime lab approved to be put in Eastern Montana. Before this, the only crime lab in Montana was located in Missoula, requiring law enforcement from all corners of the state to ship evidence all the way to Western Montana. As a prosecutor Knudsen realized that this was a waste of valuable time and resources and caused many problems within the legal system, and his efforts to have a new lab placed in Billings were a resounding success.
After serving the maximum four terms as a Representative and being unhappy with the lack of prosecutions by the County Attorney for the meth related crimes shaking his home community, Knudsen launched a successful campaign in 2018 to become the Roosevelt County Attorney where he currently serves. Knudsen says that the “straw that broke the camel’s back”, in terms of his decision to seek the Republican nomination for Montana Attorney General, came when current AG Tim Fox and Deputy AG John Bennion elected not to join a lawsuit in which several Republican Attorneys General around the country were suing the federal government in an effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which Knudsen sees as unconstitutional.
Knudsen has said he believes Attorney General Fox has not done enough for the state as far as handling the meth problem and has stated that if he becomes Attorney General his solution would be to work with President Trump on building a wall along the US-Mexico border. His two other main focuses as Attorney General would be to attempt a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act in Montana and a more aggressive stance on second amendment rights. When asked for specifics on his stance on the second amendment, Knudsen pointed to a pair of bills headed to the Montana Supreme Court from Missoula that are attempting to require background checks on private gun sales and ban guns in parks, places of public assembly, and polling places, which Knudsen calls unconstitutional and says that Attorney General Fox has not been a strong enough supporter of gun rights.
As the fourth person to declare their candidacy, Austin Knudsen says that his experience, both in the legislature and as a prosecutor, is what sets him apart from his opponents. As Speaker of the House and now as a County Attorney, Knudsen points out that for years he has been a representative of farmers, ranchers, and small businesses and says that this should make him stand out above the rest.
