Biography:

Brian Schweitzer was born in the north-central Montana agriculture/railroad city of Havre. He was raised on a cattle ranch in central Montana and has operated his own wheat, barley and hay farm near the northwestern Montana resort community of Whitefish since the late 1980s.

Over the years, he has owned and operated farms in four Montana counties.Schweitzer got a bachelor's degree in international agronomy from Colorado State University in 1978 and a master's degree in soil science from Montana State University in 1980.

After college, Schweitzer worked on irrigation projects in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. During seven years in Saudi Arabia during the 1980s, Schweitzer said, he developed over 28,000 acres of irrigated cropland.

In 1993, he was appointed to Montana State USDA Farm Service Agency committee and was a member for seven years. He resigned in 1999 to run for U.S. Senate.

Brian and his wife, Nancy, have three children.

Past Campaigns:

Brian Schweitzer ran for the U.S. Senate in 2000, mounting a surprisingly strong challenge to entrenched Republican incumbent Conrad Burns. Schweitzer lost 51 percent to 47 percent in a three-way race.

He began campaigning for governor in early 2003. In the June primary election, he won the Democratic nomination with 72 percent of the vote over John Vincent, a county commissioner and former legislator.

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