Out Of The Election.
Not Out Of The Fight.
The race is over. The reasons for running are not. On November 3, Montanans passed the Montana Plan. Here’s what comes next, and how to bring me in.
Values And Views
The campaign ended. These didn’t.
Top versus bottom
This fight isn’t left versus right. It’s the people who make the decisions against the people who live with them.
Money out of politics
Corporate money is the root of what’s broken. That was the whole case, and on November 3 Montanans agreed.
Montana first
Montana’s people, land and values come first, in the rural towns as much as the blue cities.
On The Horizon
The things I’m actually spending time on.
Keeping The Montana Plan Intact
Passed November 3Montanans passed I-194 and banned corporate money from their elections. Now the job is making sure the Legislature and the courts respect what voters decided.
Follow along →Rebuilding The Montana Democratic Brand
Starting nowIndependent spirit, Democratic roots. Making the Democratic name mean something again in Montana, in the rural towns as much as the cities.
The Cleveland Collective
Taking clientsLeadership for hire, with Dr. Kate Cleveland. Advisory, interim and board-level work for organizations that need someone who has run something.
How we work →Skills In Play
What I’ve built, and what it turned out to be good for.
- Building from nothing Co-founded Rocky Mountain Kids and grew it to serve thousands of children across the region.
- Running an operation at scale Ran a large portion of the Denver market for U.S. Bank across nearly a decade in banking.
- Standing something up fast Built the nation’s first remote learning centers when the pandemic closed schools, and helped launch Universal Pre-K across Colorado.
- Ballot and advocacy strategy Helped spread the word, educate voters and campaign for Initiative I-194 through its win at the ballot in November 2026.
- Building in the physical world Multi-family affordable housing in Saint Regis, and a family homestead and cattle ranch built by hand.
- Saying it plainly A first-time congressional run financed entirely by individual contributions. No PACs, no dark money.
Leadership
For Hire.
Russ and Dr. Kate Cleveland take on advisory, interim and board-level work through The Cleveland Collective.
Between them: a bank market, a childcare company grown to serve thousands of families, the country’s first remote learning centers, and a statewide ballot campaign that ended in a win.
No Campaign.
Still Worth Knowing.
A note when something actually moves. The initiative, new work, where I’m speaking. Nothing weekly.
Already on the campaign list? You’re on this one. Nothing to do.
It’s Still About Us,
Not Me.
If you were part of the campaign, you’re part of what comes after it.