ABOUT ZACH BROWN
Zach has served Gallatin County in public office since 2014. He served for six years as a member of the Montana House of Representatives, and for the last six as a Gallatin County Commissioner. In between these elected duties, he has also worked for multiple organizations in the local nonprofit sector; actively referees high school basketball as a “master” MOA official; previously served as a CAP mentor and currently as a BBBS “big brother”; and now teaches as an Adjunct Professor at Montana State University.
He was born and raised in the Gallatin Valley, attended the University of Montana, and now loves to hunt, hike and fish in his home country with his dog pack, Beans and Wanda.
In 2026, Zach is running for re-election to the County Commission, and he hopes to earn your support!
Accountability
Transparency
People-First Approach
Fiscal Responsibility
Passion for Service
Candor and Honesty
Consensus Building
Accountability Transparency People-First Approach Fiscal Responsibility Passion for Service Candor and Honesty Consensus Building
Issues
-
Fiscal Responsibility
Gallatin County has a AA+ bond rating, good fiscal health, and a conservative approach to budgeting and taxation. These are essential attributes to protect and enhance moving forward. The organization has struggled over the last decade-plus with timely audits, Annual Financial Reports, and cash reconciliation processes; however, we are in the midst of dramatic progress and reforms under new leadership.
If re-elected as Commissioner, Zach will continue to provide steady and experienced leadership as the organization steadily works to improve its fiscal health. This is essential work, because healthy financial systems support the employees and services that County residents and visitors rely upon!
-
Agriculture
Zach has spent much of his career working with farmers and ranchers across Montana. As a legislator, he worked side-by-side as a partner and ally to all our agricultural industry associations to promote policies that invest in rural communities and support production agriculture. During his last term in the legislature, he served as the Chair of the Water Policy Interim Committee, where he championed the best interests of agricultural water users.
As Commissioner, he has developed a deep appreciation for the open lands program, which invests millions of dollars every year in preserving agricultural land in Gallatin County. He also championed an effort to invest millions of dollars in the local irrigation canal infrastructure during the pandemic, utilizing federal stimulus funding. Zach is also a member of the County Noxious Weed Board, and works with landowners and concerned citizens to support the management and treatment of noxious weeds.
-
Public Safety
As County Commissioner, Zach led the successful campaign to pass a bond in support of the new County courts building in 2021, solving a facility space and safety issue that had plagued the organization for nearly two decades. He has also worked with the Sheriff to implement a body camera system for Deputies, and has championed strategic investments in law enforcement staffing, wages, facilties and equipment. He has also supported efforts in increase staffing and wages in the County Attorney’s office after years of neglect, and helped to stabilize funding for victim services despite uneven and deteriorating funding from the state and feds.
Fundamentally, Zach is a champion for public safety services, and works hard to support first responders and their families in his role as Commissioner.
-
Growth Planning
Zach believes that if we do not take an active role in planning for our future, we will end up leaving our kids with a place that has lost its way, where development sprawls mindlessly and our communities have lost their character. To avoid this future, the County Commission MUST be an active player in planning for our future. The Commission can be a change agent that brings together cities and towns, developers and conservationists, agricultural producers and business leaders. Under his leadership, the county has initiated a significant zoning reform effort, aimed at modernizing zoning in the high-growth area between Bozeman, Belgrade, Four Corners and Gallatin Gateway. If elected to a second term, Zach will see this significant project through, across the finish line.
Integrity, transparency, and empathy shape the way he works. These aren't just words—they’re the foundation of everything Zach does. He has built a career and life defined by meaningful work, purpose and accountability, building real relationships, and working with his colleagues and neighbors to help make Gallatin County the best it can be.
What Sets Zach Brown Apart
“I support Zach Brown, candidate for Gallatin County commissioner. This position requires skill, energy, integrity and a determination to deal effectively with complex and often competing priorities that affect individuals, cities and towns, and rural communities throughout Gallatin County. Zach possesses these qualities and is innovative and committed to public service.”
- David Steinmuller, Bozeman
ZACH BROWN’S STATEMENT OF CANDIDACY
I am running for a second term on the Gallatin County Commission because I have the experience, heart for service, and calm demeanor that is needed to suceed in this difficult position.
The communities of Gallatin County are growing and changing, and those changes bring both revitalizing opportunities and massive challenges. In many ways, the pace of growth here outpaces our collective ability to emotionally process and grieve what is lost with change. I know personally that change can be really difficult, as someone who was born and raised here. The pace is challenging our ability to cognitively recognize the revitalizing opportunities that also come with growth. To meet this moment, Gallatin County needs balanced leadership from its elected officials - folks who work to minimize the pain, while also remaining open to the benefits and opportunities. I strive to bring this balance forward in my life every day.
As a life-long public servant, I bring the perspective of a consensus-building lawmaker who dealt in bipartisanship and moderation during my years in the State Legislature. As a lover of this place and its people, I will continue to show up to work in the County Courthouse with a spirit of responsibility, honesty, transparency, and kindness. I am not a booster for growth, nor am I an obstructionist. I work every day in search of balance - to ensure that we follow the law, work to minimize the hardships and maximize the opportunities. I do not promote development, nor do I philosophically oppose it. My job, as I see it, is to guide community development at a high level, and also to make sure that developers follow the law.
I also work hard in this position to hold other levels of government accountable. When the state was failing our nursing homes and senior citizens, I worked with the community to save our nursing home and helped convince the Montana legislature to increase their funding share. Similarly, the State is failing to sustain our mental health system, so I am working tirelessly with many across the County and State to right the ship and rebuild what has been lost in mental health services.
That is what I bring to community leadership in Gallatin County, and I seek one more term on the Commission.
The citizens of Gallatin County expect me to govern with fairness and accountability, and to follow the law. I have done all of that in spades over my career, and the voters can trust me to continue to be the person I have always been in elected office – kind, calm, curious, and accountable.
As an organizational leader, I am proud of the progress Gallatin County has made during my first term. We have made generational investments in our facilities, and most importantly, in our employees. We secured support from the voters to build a new courts building, and we did so by combining many layers of financing and funding sources, thereby keeping the tax impact on our residents reasonable and respectful. We built new facilities for the Sheriff, Search and Rescue, and have reinvested in old facilities that needed modern upgrades. I have prioritized the well-being of our employees, through deliberate investments in wages, new benefits, and organizational leadership and culture. And we have secured outside funds to invest in our road and bridge infrastructure, as well as our social services. Many of these investments are unfinished and ongoing, and I seek one more term to finish the job.
Community leadership is hard. But it is also joyful and rewarding. It is an honor to hold this position in service to my community, and I ask for your support as I seek my re-election in 2026.
Zach Brown
