Margaret "Margie" MacDonald (born August 31, 1951)"Margie MacDonald's biography"
Just Facts, Vote Smart, retrieved October 13, 2020. is an American politician who served as a member of the

Montana Senate The Montana Senate is the upper house of the Montana Legislature, the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Montana. The body is composed of 50 senators elected for four years. Composition of the Senate :''67th Legislature – 2021–202 ...

for the 26th district from 2017 to 2021. She previously served four terms in the

Montana House of Representatives The Montana House of Representatives is, with the Montana Senate, one of the two houses of the Montana Legislature. Composed of 100 members, the House elects its leadership every two years. Composition of the House :''67th Legislature – 2021� ...

, representing the 54th and 51st district. She also served as Democratic

minority whip The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding t ...

in both chambers of the legislature.

Early life and education

Born in

Glendive, Montana Glendive is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Montana, United States, and home to Dawson Community College. Glendive was established by the Northern Pacific Railway when they built the transcontinental railroad across the northe ...

, MacDonald earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

.Jim Gransbery
"Activist Democrat to challenge Brown"
''Billings Gazette'', March 23, 2006.
''Billings Gazette'', October 9, 2016.

Career

For 14 years, she was director of the Montana Association of Churches, among other actions organizing the "Not in Our Town" campaign against racism and white supremacy. She also served as a staff director of the

Northern Plains Resource Council The Northern Plains Resource Council (NPRC) is an American grassroots conservation and family agriculture group. The organization was established in 1972 by ranchers in Montana who united in opposition to coal industry efforts to strip mine in th ...

. She then worked for a year as head of the Office of Community Service under Democratic Governor

Brian Schweitzer Brian David Schweitzer (born September 4, 1955) is an American farmer and politician who served as the 23rd Governor of Montana from 2005 to 2013. Schweitzer served for a time as chair of the Western Governors Association as well as the Democrat ...

, before resigning in 2006 to run for office. , when she was a candidate for the state senate, she was a regional organizer for the Western Organization of Resource Councils. In 2006, MacDonald ran unsuccessfully for the Montana Senate to succeed Brent Cromley in District 26; she was narrowly defeated by

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Roy Brown, who had termed out of the state House. In 2008 MacDonald was elected to the Montana House of Representatives from District 54, south Billings, defeating Republican Debra Bonogofsky. She was re-elected three times;Tom Lutey
"MacDonald retains win in Senate District 26 by 19 votes after recount"
''Billings Gazette'', December 5, 2016. from 2013, as a result of redistricting, she represented House District 51. She served as minority whip. She was elected to the State Senate from district 26 in 2016, defeating Republican Don Roberts. She ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for reelection in the 2020 general election, but was defeated by Republican Chris Friedel.Montana Secretary of State
"2020 Legislative General Election Canvass
p. 21, retrieved December 25, 2020.

Personal life

MacDonald is married to John Smillie and has two children.

References

External links

Sen. Margaret (Margie) MacDonald
Montana State Legislature
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonald, Margaret Living people 1951 births Democratic Party members of the Montana House of Representatives University of Montana alumni Women state legislators in Montana People from Glendive, Montana 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Politicians from Billings, Montana