Rick Hill

Rick Hill
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Montana's At-large district
In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2001
Preceded by	Pat Williams
Succeeded by	Denny Rehberg
Personal details
Born	(1946-12-30) December 30, 1946 Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	St. Cloud State University Concord University

Richard "Rick" Hill (born December 30, 1946) is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Montana.^[1] He was the Republican candidate for Governor of Montana in 2012.^[2]

Early life, education, and business career

Hill was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was one of four children and grew up in a one-room apartment in the back of a tire repair shop. At age four Rick was paralyzed by polio. In 1964, he graduated from Atkin High School in Atkin, Montana. In 1968, he graduated from Saint Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Hill received his Juris Doctor degree in 2005 from the Concord Law School in Los Angeles, California.^[1]

He owns a surety bonding company.^{[citation needed]}

Early political career

He served as Republican precinct committeeman and state committeeman from Lewis and Clark County, Montana; member, served on the board of directors, Montana Science and Technology Alliance; and chaired the Montana State Worker’s Compensation Board from 1993-1996.^[1]

In 1993 Governor Marc Racicot asked Hill to act as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Montana State Fund, where he worked in a volunteer, unpaid capacity for three years.^{[citation needed]}

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

In 1996, Hill ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Montana's At-large congressional district.^[1] He won the Republican primary with a plurality of 44% of the vote. In the general election, he defeated Democrat Bill Yellowtail, who had been a Regional Administrator for the United States Environmental Protection Agency,^[3] 52%-43%.^[4] In November 1998, Hill won re-election to a second term, defeating Democratic nominee Dusty Deschamps 53%-44%.^[5]

In 2000, Hill decided not to run for re-election to a third term, citing vision problems, which were subsequently corrected. The election was won by Republican nominee Denny Rehberg, who defeated Nancy Keenan,^[6] a three-term State School Superintendent.^[7]

Tenure

Between 1997 and 2000, Hill sponsored 32 bills, of which 22 did not made it out of committee and four were passed into law by Congress.^[8] He voted with the Republican party 91% of the time.^[9]

Committee assignments

Hill served on the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources.^[10]

2012 gubernatorial election

In November 2010, he announced he would run for Governor of Montana in 2012.^[11] He chose State Senator Jon Sonju as his running mate.^[12] He lost to Democrat Steve Bullock.^[13]

Personal life

In May 1976, Hill filed for divorce from his first wife, Mary Hill (née Spaulding), after having an affair with another woman. In 1980, after the couple failed to reconcile, Spaulding filed for divorce and Hill obtained custody of the three children.^[14][15][16] He married his second wife, Betti, in 1983.

References

External links

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Rick Hill for Governor

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.