To those asking what Jefferson County voters were thinking when they voted for Rep. Greg DeVries, the answer is “partisan politics.” During the campaign, DeVries, perhaps strategically, kept a low profile. Most voters simply voted down ticket. His extreme and uninformed views weren’t on wide display until he hit the Montana Legislature.
To wit, DeVries has introduced only three bills, including one that would astonishingly eliminate compulsory public education and one, an ill-conceived “personhood amendment,” that would open any woman’s miscarriage to law enforcement investigation.
He has been asked to apologize for insensitive remarks twice by the Legislature, once to the Indian Caucus for using the term genocide for political gain and again for making outlandish claims about vaccines, calling them “untrue and immoral,” akin to eating dogs. The country is now grappling with major outbreaks of diseases easily controlled with vaccines. For instance, between Jan. 1 and Feb. 21 this year, 159 cases of measles have been reported. Not vaccinating children obviously puts a community at risk.
