State Rep. Jon Knokey on Friday officially withdrew from his re-election bid, spurring local Republicans to find a replacement for the race. Knokey served as a representative for House District 65, which includes the northern part of Bozeman from East Valley Center Road to Huffine Lane and from Gooch Hill Road to North Rouse Avenue. Read More…

On Friday, the Montana Shooting Sports Association moved to intervene in the City of Missoula’s lawsuit against Montana Attorney General Tim Fox over the ‘Bloomberg Ordinance’. Missoula’s gun ordinance was ruled as unenforceable by the Attorney General as it conflicts with state law. MSSA President Gary Marbut said the intervention is to protect the rights Read More…

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, directly targeted by a presidential visit Thursday, spent the Fourth of July in Butte and East Helena – and said he’s not that worried about President Trump campaigning against him. In fact, he said he hopes the president sees more of Montana than just the walls of a campaign rally. “I Read More…

Montana Representative Greg Gianforte is trying to win support in Congress for more roadbuilding on public lands. Conservationists say he’s trying to turn back the clock to policies that proved unsustainable. On Tuesday, Gianforte chaired a House subcommittee hearing focused on road closures and access on U.S. Forest Service lands. “Unfortunately the Forest Service seems Read More…

The two Republicans in Montana’s congressional delegation – Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte – told MTN News this week they were mostly standing behind President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants crossing the Mexican border. “He announced a zero-tolerance policy; it’s taking a strong stance to secure our borders,” Daines told MTN News Tuesday. Read More…

HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s GOP nominee for U.S. Senate is turning down a debate with incumbent Sen. Jon Tester. The planned debate between Matt Rosendale and Tester would have been hosted this Sunday in Whitefish by the Montana Broadcasters Association. Monday morning the association told us Rosendale declined to appear. READ THE FULL STORY.

Sen. Jon Tester of Montana was already facing a tough re-election battle in a state that Donald Trump won by a landslide — and then the Green Party made the Democrat’s job that much tougher by qualifying for the ballot. Now the Montana Democratic Party is scrambling to oust the Greens. It has asked a Read More…

Millions of dollars are flowing into Montana’s US Senate race before voters go to the polls on Tuesday — and that’s just for the Republican primary. GOP candidates and conservative outside groups have already poured about $5.7 million into the primary for Montana’s US Senate race on Tuesday. That’s about $5.60 per resident and about Read More…

A U-S Supreme court decision expected in the coming weeks could deal a big blow to Montana’s public sector unions. The decision could make Montana a so-called ‘Right-to-Work’ state in the public sector, costing the state’s biggest union membership, revenue, and bargaining power. “A union only works or only works well when the majority, if Read More…

In Montana’s crowded U.S. House Democratic primary, former land-trust director Grant Kier of Missoula and Billings attorney John Heenan are raising the most money – but their fundraising profiles are much different. Through mid-May, Kier had raised the most money from donors, at almost $760,000, with nearly two-thirds of that amount from Montanans. But he Read More…

The next big Republican Senate primary is in Montana, where voters will choose Democratic Sen. Jon Tester’s opponent on Tuesday. The GOP contest in Big Sky Country was a sleepy affair for much of this year, lacking the verbal ax throwing that animated similar contests in Indiana and West Virginia this spring. “It kinda starts Read More…

HELENA – One of the most hotly contested local races in the June 5 primary election will be for the Democratic nomination in Montana House District 81, covering parts of Helena and the Helena Valley. State Sen. Mary Caferro and Helena city commissioner Rob Farris-Olsen are running for the open seat. The primary will likely Read More…

Matt Bell, a Democrat challenging three-term Montana House incumbent Kimberly Dudik is apologizing for making false statements in a mailer voters received last week. “I’m really sorry, I’m really embarrassed that I let this happen,” Matt Bell says. Matt Bell’s mailer claimed endorsements from Montana Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood and the state’s largest labor union. Read More…

The big primary election day for Montana this year is June 5th, but with a week to go, turnout in Missoula looks sparse. According to Missoula County Elections administrator Dayna Causby, Missoula County usually has around a 60 percent turnout, but that is not the way this election is trending. “So far, out of the Read More…

BUTTE – A bipartisan group of state lawmakers are in Butte this week to tour the Mining City and address a policy issue in the Legislature: the development of a clear sexual harassment policy. “It’s kind of a tough issue because it’s all about sex. So nobody wants to talk about it or deal with Read More…

Montana’s GOP Senate primary is ramping up in the final stretch, as candidates jockey to face Sen. Jon Tester (D) in November. State Auditor Matt Rosendale, who was recruited by the GOP after several top-tier contenders passed on the race, is still seen as the front-runner, with national outside groups putting up more than $1.8 Read More…

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals released an opinion this week in a longstanding debate over Montana Political Practices law. Montana Attorney General’s office spokesman Eric Sell explains. “The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion yesterday [May 22] upholding Montana’s campaign disclosure laws, these were laws passed by the 2015 legislative session called Read More…

When U.S. House candidate Jared Pettinato spoke to area residents during his time in Richland County last week, the Democrat’s message was different than what is usually heard in eastern Montana. While other candidates talk about the importance of oil in eastern Montana, Pettinato pointed to wind and trees as being vital to Montana’s economic Read More…

BILLINGS – With two weeks to go to Montana’s June 5 primary, 18,184 voters in Yellowstone County have already made their choice. County Elections Administrator Bret Rutherford said Tuesday the returns have been strong and he’s expecting around 36,000 to be returned before election day. Absentee ballots were mailed to 66,000 addresses on May 11, Read More…

HELENA – Montana Attorney General Tim Fox, along with the attorneys general of Ohio and Washington, led a bipartisan coalition of 39 state and territory attorneys general calling on congressional leaders to promptly pass measures to help hold opioid manufacturers accountable for their role in the opioid epidemic and stem diversion. The coalition sent a Read More…

HELENA – Another outside group is making significant ad buys in Montana’s U.S. Senate Republican primary – this time to support state Auditor Matt Rosendale and go after one of his opponents, former state District Judge Russell Fagg of Billings. Club for Growth Action, whose affiliated political action committee has endorsed Rosendale in the four-way Read More…

Budgets within Montana’s state health department and office of public defender are busted. Lawmakers in the Legislative Finance Committee Wednesday debated a proposal from Governor Steve Bullock to borrow more than $23 million from next year’s budget to pay for the state’s current financial troubles. Most of the money in the proposal would go to Read More…

HELENA – Republican U.S. Senate candidate Russ Fagg says he has an advantage over two of his competitors in the upcoming GOP primary, that he had nothing to do with: He was born in Montana. Fagg, a former state district judge, says his status as a Montana native takes away a point of attack he Read More…

(CNN)President Donald Trump’s recent attacks on Sen. Jon Tester will be brought directly to Montana voters through a new online ad from the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm. The National Republican Senatorial Committee released a new ad Wednesday attacking Tester for airing charges that sunk Trump’s nomination of Ronny Jackson for Veterans Affairs Secretary. The ad Read More…