After four years as the executive director of the Montana Republican Party, Chuck Denowh has decided to step down from his position, handing it over to Chris Wilcox, who is the current political director for the Montana GOP.
A Sidney native and country boy, Denowh developed an interest in politics and public service while attending Sidney High School. In high school, he realized that politics and public service, if handled right, could help people. And the idea of helping people motivated him to pursue his interest through high school and into college, where he received a bachelor's degree in political science.
 Submitted Sidney native Chuck Denowh will resign as executive director of the Montana Republican Party after four years. |
Denowh spent a few years working behind the scenes and did not mind his position. But when a void appeared in the party, and with the encouragement of a recent chairman who told Denowh he would only serve if Denowh took the executive director position, he found himself running for executive director. Denowh took over the executive director position at 22, making him the youngest executive director in the nation at the time.
Now, four years later, Denowh will step down from his position as executive director in pursuit of a master's degree in political science.
"I've always been interested in learning and education," explained Denowh. "It (master's degree) fits into the field I work in."
A four-year term is pretty average for an executive director. The job itself is a short term job. "I felt that I could do all that I could. It was times to give someone else a chance," he added.
Montana in itself is a tough state for political parties due to the funding limitations and the fact that it's a big state. During his time in office, Denowh's biggest challenges included the credibility issues that he faced because of his young age.
Despite the fact that people knew him around the state, many were still wary of his ability to lead the Republican Party. Denowh also explained that many people who are not in politics are amazed at the young age of staffers in Montana. "It's true in Washington, D.C., too," Denowh said, adding that staffers in the nation's capital range from 19 to their early 20s. "I had opportunities that I took advantage of," pointed out Denowh in reference to his leap from rancher in Sidney to the leader of the GOP.
Despite the challenges that he had to overcome, Denowh has some extremely memorable moments, which include when Judy Martz won the (governatorial) election. "I took that very personally," he explained. "She's an amazing lady who took a chance on me." Many people did not expect Martz to win, and when she did it was a great moment for her and the people she worked with.
Another great moment that Denowh is known around the state for is his creation of a database system that helped to identify the Republican voters in Montana. "We (the staff) set out with a goal to identify over half the voters," he said. And, two years later, they did. It's a big accomplishment. It helped Republican campaigners campaign smarter and more efficiently. The old campaigning mode followed the idea of spending as much money as possible on radio and television. The new one goes back to the grass roots structure of going door-to-door and making phone calls to the right people to motivate them to help.
Denowh, son of Debbie and Michael (Mick), was raised on the family ranch. The rural lifestyle that he grew up in did not hold him back from chasing after his dreams, instead, it helped.
"The work ethic is better," he said, "The sense of community is a lot stronger for small town people."
Denowh's success was strongly built on the foundation of his commitment to public service, a commitment that was fostered in the small town setting of Sidney. That same commitment can be found in other small towns. His belief in the small town work ethic is so strong that when Denowh is hiring staffers, he looks for ones from rural communities.
For his future goals, Denowh plans to stay involved in politics on some level. Thanks to the four years he spent as executive director, he has made some lifelong friendships with people who will also stay involved in politics. "That's the biggest benefit," he said. Though he doesn't know what he's going to do professionally, he does know that following his education he will stay in Helena and stay active in the Republican Party.
As for the success that he has had thus far in his political career, Denowh has a very down to earth conclusion, "(It's) mainly hard work and doing the right things in politics, which many people don't do."
jennaa@sidneyherald.com
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