HELENA — Late Wednesday, family members announced that longtime U.S. Rep. Pat Williams had died, at the age of 87.
Williams, a Democrat, spent 18 years representing Montana in Congress, first for the western district and then the entire state. No one from Montana has served more consecutive terms in the U.S. House than his nine.
“His goal was to uphold the U.S. Constitution, to form a more perfect union,” said Joe Lamson, who worked for Williams for 14 years, including as his congressional state director and his campaign manager.
(Watch the video for more memories from Montanans who worked with Williams.)
Williams was working as a middle school teacher in Butte when he was elected to the Montana Legislature in 1966. After two terms in the state House, he ran for Montana’s western congressional seat, but fell short in the Democratic primary against the eventual winner, Max Baucus.
“When he was running the first time, Pat's office was right above our office when I was with AFSCME,” said Don Judge, a longtime labor leader. “And I told Pat, I said, ‘If you'll run again, I'll give you $5 out of every one of my paychecks.’ And we did, until he ran and he won.”
In 1978, Baucus gave up his House seat and successfully ran for U.S. Senate. Williams won the House seat – and was reelected to represent the western district six more times.
Baucus praised Williams in a statement to MTN Thursday.
“No one worked harder for or was a stronger advocate for working men and women than Pat Williams,” he said. “Tirelessly, relentlessly, in Montana and in Congress he proudly championed the rights and concerns of Montanans. It was in his blood. Always decent, always a gentleman, always honest, he was wonderful to work with. Pat was a good friend.”
Judge said Williams showed support for workers by advocating for raising the federal minimum wage, backing workplace safety protections, and pushing for funds to support dislocated employees after the closure of Anaconda Company mines and smelters.
“He's a guy who knew how to do things, how to get things done, when he was in Congress,” he said. “But he never lost that touch of working families and people in the communities across the state of Montana. He never gave that up.”
During his time in Congress, Williams was known for advocating for the Family and Medical Leave Act, for supporting conservation efforts and for defending the funding of the National Endowment of the Arts after it faced controversy over what opponents considered inappropriate and offensive content in art.
“I can tell you, he personally got the most satisfaction from that, as much as anything that he did,” said Lamson. “He was very proud of never wavering in keeping those principles – because as he said, politics will come and go, but art continues on, and that's the basis of our freedom in this country.”
In 1992, Williams faced his toughest race. As Montana’s population stagnated, the state lost its second seat in the House. That meant Williams had to take on eastern district Republican Rep. Ron Marlenee for the right to represent the entire state. Williams won narrowly, by three percentage points. He was reelected one more time statewide in 1994 – making him to date the last Democrat to represent Montana in the U.S. House.
Lamson said Williams was a “nuts-and-bolts congressman,” who cared deeply about serving his constituents.
“It was just basically, any Montanan that came in and had an issue or problem or something, there was a, ‘Well, let's see what we can do to figure out this.’”
Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins experienced that service. In the early 90s, he and his family came to Montana as refugees from the civil war in Liberia. He says, when he was dealing with challenges from immigration enforcement who wanted him to prove he had a place to stay in the U.S., his host family reached out to Williams’ office.
“He was the persistent one, wrote numerous letters explaining that, yes, we have a place here in Montana that will welcome us,” Collins said. “He’s been a champion for us all, a champion for Montana, a champion for the U.S., a champion for me.”
Collins didn’t know Williams at that time, but later had the opportunity to meet him in person.
“We met him, and I thanked him, and I told him what he had done for me and my family – ooh, it gets a little teary,” he said.
(Hear from Scripps News contributor and "Grounded" podcast host Maritsa Georgiou about her own – and her family's – interactions with Pat Williams.)
After leaving Congress, Williams’ career was far from over. Upon returning to Montana, he became an instructor at the University of Montana, and he served on a variety of boards and commissions. His wife Carol went on to become a successful politician in her own right, eventually serving as majority leader in the Montana State Senate.
(MORE on Williams' legacy on education and at the University of Montana.)
Williams’ family says there will be a celebration of his life in Missoula next month. He will also lie in state in the State Capitol rotunda next month – joining several other prominent Montana leaders who have received that honor, including former Gov. Judy Martz in 2017, former Gov. Tim Babcock in 2015 and former First Lady Betty Babcock in 2013.
“You know, I'll miss him,” said Judge. “A real honest, down-to-earth kind of guy.”
(Read the full obituary on Pat Williams from his family here.)
