Exclusive — Ryan Zinke Launches Campaign Website for Montana Congressional Bid

The Honorable Ryan Zinke was born and raised in Montana, and attended the University of Oregon where he was awarded All-PAC 10 honors and numerous other awards to include the University’s most prestigious Emerald Cup Award for academic, leadership and athletic achievement. He then attended US Navy Officers Candidate School and Navy SEAL Training in 1985 and was assigned to SEAL Team ONE. Highlights of Commander Zinke’s twenty-three year career in Special Operations includes two tours of duty at SEAL Team SIX, Acting Commander of Special Forces in Iraq, Task Force Commander in Bosnia and Kosovo, Special Unit Commander in South East Asia, and served as the “Dean” of Special Warfare advanced training.    He was awarded the Bronze Star for Combat operations in Iraq and numerous other awards and citations.  He retired in 2008 and was elected to the Montana State Senator and later was twice elected as Montana’s sole member of the US House of Representatives.  He served on the House Armed Services and Natural Resources committees and was a strong Conservative voice for Montana values. In 2016, Congressman Zinke was nominated by President Donald J. Trump and later confirmed as the first Montanan ever to serve in any Presidential Cabinet. Senator Orin Hatch of Utah, called Zinke “the Best Secretary of Interior in my 41 years of public service.” As Secretary, Zinke championed restoring the voice of state and local communities in land and wildlife management decisions, was the principle architect behind of the Great American Outdoors Act, increased millions of acres for public access, recreation and hunting/fishing, established migratory wildlife corridors and fly-aways, and was credited as driving force behind America’s Energy “Dominance” policy.  Former Interior Secretary Don Hodel noted that “Zinke was able to get done what President Reagan and I talked about but were never able to accomplish.” After 31 years of public service, President Trump reluctantly accepted his resignation in 2019. The Honorable Ryan Zinke currently is the CEO of Continental Divide International (CDI) and serves on selected boards. He holds an MBA in Finance, an MS in Global Leadership, and a BS in Geology.  He is the author of American Commander and is married to the former Lolita Hand of Santa Barbara, has three children and two grandchildren.

Zinke formally announced his intention to run earlier this year, telling NBC Montana, “I think our country’s in peril.”

“I fought for this country, I continue to fight for this country, I love my country. But I also love my neighbor. I grew up in Montana, where if someone’s barn is on fire, you don’t ask whether he’s Republican or Democrat,” he said.