WASHINGTON—Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy is calling for greater congressional scrutiny of former special counsel Jack Smith as lawmakers consider changes to the rules governing secret government demands for private records. Sheehy’s comments follow disclosures from the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation of Arctic Frost, the federal inquiry that ultimately became part of Smith’s investigation of President Read More…
MISSOULA—Republican congressional nominee Aaron Flint unveiled a tax-relief proposal in Missoula this week while seeking to make Democratic opponent Sam Forstag’s past lobbying work a central issue in Montana’s 1st Congressional District race. Flint’s proposal calls for making permanent federal tax breaks on tips and overtime, eliminating federal taxes on military pensions, ending the estate Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s U.S. Senate race is entering its final stretch with millions of dollars in outside spending, a dispute over a television advertisement targeting Republican Kurt Alme and growing scrutiny of independent candidate Seth Bodnar’s record leading the University of Montana. The four-way contest to replace retiring Republican Sen. Steve Daines includes Alme, Read More…
WASHINGTON — Legislation updating the Crow Tribe’s water-rights settlement has cleared Congress and is headed to President Donald Trump’s desk. The Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Amendments Act, sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Steve Daines and backed in the House by Rep. Troy Downing, passed the Senate after clearing the House last week. The Read More…
Former state Republican Party Chair Debra Lamm announced Monday that she’s running for Montana’s U.S. House seat in 2020, becoming the fifth Republican to vie for the open seat. Lamm said the upcoming election is a battle over a future “defined by socialism or American exceptionalism,” and that as a member of Congress she would Read More…
HELENA — Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan told a legislative committee this week that lawmakers should consider updating state lobbying rules to bring them “into the 21st century” by, for instance, requiring electronic filing for lobbying reports and clarifying whether regulations apply to “grassroots” lobbying like social media campaigns. “You will find Read More…
A group opposing corporate money in elections – but that spent significantly on Montana’s 2018 U.S. Senate race – on Thursday endorsed Democrat Kathleen Williams for the state’s sole congressional seat in 2020. End Citizens United, a political-action committee formed in 2015 to oppose “big money” in politics, said Williams is a supporter of campaign-finance Read More…
With the sunset of Whitefish’s tax-increment finance district less than a year away, the Whitefish City Council is contemplating priorities for the remaining TIF revenue and potential new tax districts within the resort city. A work session from 5:30 to 7 p.m. tonight at City Hall will include a review and discussion of tax increment Read More…
A new presidential poll conducted by Mammouth University shows Gov. Steve Bullock is still at less than 1% with Democratic voters — far behind Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders who are all in a virtual tie at the top of the poll. Bullock recently took part in a CNN Town Hall , again portraying himself as Read More…
On Sunday, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock made his case for why he should be the Democratic nominee for president to a nationwide TV audience. He answered questions from Democratic primary voters at an hourlong town hall in New York City, hosted by CNN. Bullock is now the last state governor remaining in the 2020 Democratic Read More…
As Montana Gov. Steve Bullock stood on the debate stage last week and listened to his 2020 rivals bicker and criticize one another, visions of a second term for President Donald Trump kept flashing through his mind. “I saw his reelection becoming more likely with each passing minute,” Bullock said Wednesday at the National Press Read More…
HELENA — A third Democratic candidate has entered the 2020 race for Montana attorney general. Kalispell bankruptcy attorney Jim Cossitt registered with the state Commissioner of Political Practices’ office last week. He joins state Rep. Kim Dudik and Gov. Steve Bullock’s chief legal counsel, Raph Graybill, in the race for the Democratic nomination for the Read More…
A longtime former newspaper executive has been named the communications director for Montana Attorney General Tim Fox’s campaign for governor. Mike Gulledge, who was recently the regional publisher of the Missoulian, Billings Gazette and Ravalli Republic newspapers before taking a role with the University of Montana, begins the role for Fox immediately. “I’m honored to Read More…
Democratic presidential candidate and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has publicly supported a national minimum wage of $15 an hour, but his official office was advertising full-time internships earlier this summer that only paid his interns $9 an hour. Bullock took to Twitter last week to call for the minimum wage to be raised by quoting Read More…
Jon Tester said the way for Democrats to win in states President Trump won in 2016 is to “punch him in the face” during an interview on Morning Joe Thursday morning. The Montana Democratic senator notably won reelection in 2018 despite the president campaigning for the Republican challenger Montana State Auditor Matt Rosendale multiple times in the Read More…
Scott Roy McLean announced this week that he is running for the vacant seat in the Montana legislature held by Fred Thomas, who is term limited and therefore unable to run for that position again in 2020. The district extends from Corvallis to Florence. The primary election is next June. McLean is the owner of Montana Read More…
Communicating face-to-face provides an essential way for farmers and ranchers to address their concerns with government officials. During the Montana Farm Bureau Fly-In, June 10-13, in Washington, D.C. Montana Farm Bureau members had excellent opportunities to meet with lawmakers and agency personnel. The Fly-In participants—Susan Lake from Ronan, Don Steinbeisser, Jr. from Sidney and Kris Read More…
BILLINGS- The two Democrats vying to take on U.S. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana next year in the 2020 election reacted Tuesday to a recent tweet from the Republican defending President Trump. Helena mayor Wilmot Collins, who came to the United State as a refugee from the civil war in Liberia, released a video Tuesday Read More…
Montana Democrat John Mues officially launched his Senate campaign Thursday to unseat one-term Sen. Steve Daines (R). Mues, a fourth generation Montanan, is a former U.S. Navy officer and public school teacher and currently works as an engineer in the energy sector. He hammered Daines over his opposition to the Affordable Care Act and support for President Trump’s tax cuts. Read More…
President Donald Trump is pushing better forest management as a big part of his plan to stop the number of large wildfires that have caused devastation in the western United States in recent years. In a speech at the White House this past week, the president touted an executive order signed last December promoting more Read More…
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Latest on Montana statewide candidates’ quarterly reports U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte has raised over $534,000 in a month in his new bid for Montana governor. That is more than five times what Attorney General Tim Fox raised over the last three months and more than 12 times what state Sen. Read More…
A state lawmaker from Missoula has become the first Democrat to announce a run for Montana state auditor in 2020. State Rep. Shane Morigeau, an attorney who has served two terms in the Montana House, made the announcement Sunday morning. He said he is seeking the auditor’s job to work for affordable health care, which Read More…
HELENA – Montana’s lieutenant governor is expected to launch a campaign for higher office next week. Mike Cooney, a Democrat, has reportedly set a “special announcement” for Wednesday, July 3, at Butte’s Stodden Park. Cooney is widely expected to announce that he will run for governor in 2020. He has previously said he is considering Read More…
HELENA – Big Sky businessman Troy Downing, a Republican who ran for U.S. Senate last year, announced Wednesday that he’s running for state auditor in 2020. Downing’s announcement echoed many of the themes from his 2018 Senate campaign, calling himself an “outsider” and a businessman who will bring conservative leadership to state government. We need Read More…
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A third Republican has filed to run for Montana’s U.S. House seat left open by Rep. Greg Gianforte’s decision to run governor. Lewis and Clark County Republican chairman Joe Dooling filed his paperwork Monday with the Federal Election Commission. He joins State Auditor Matt Rosendale and Secretary of State Corey Stapleton Read More…
HELENA — John Mues, who survived a Canyon Ferry Lake diving accident that left another man dead during the filming of a political ad for Mues’ possible U.S. Senate run in 2020, issued a statement Thursday. Mues, from Loma, called the accident on Monday “tragic” and said he and his wife extended “our deepest condolences” Read More…
Montana State Auditor Matt Rosendale (R), who narrowly lost a Senate race last year, announced on Monday he will run for the state’s at-large House seat in 2020. Rosendale is seeking the seat being vacated by Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.), who recently announced his bid for governor. Rosendale narrowly lost against Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) during the 2018 election cycle. “I’m Read More…
HELENA – Congressman Greg Gianforte, Montana’s lone U.S. House member, has officially launched his 2020 campaign for governor. Gianforte, a Republican, made the announcement during a speech at the Montana Republican Party’s state convention in Helena. He told the group that he had heard from people around the state, asking him to consider running for governor. “They’ve Read More…
Former Speaker of the House and current Roosevelt County Attorney Austin Knudsen is seeking the Republican nomination for Attorney General now that Tim Fox has termed out and entered the gubernatorial race. Knudsen appeared on KGVO’s Talk Back show and spoke critically of the present Attorney General’s leadership especially in the area of crime control. Read More…
Gov. Steve Bullock got a boost in his bid for the White House on Sunday with the endorsement of fellow Montana Democrat Sen. Jon Tester, who, like Bullock, has managed to win several statewide elections in a deep-red, predominantly rural state. Bullock unveiled the endorsement on “Face the Nation” Sunday, saying he’s “awfully excited” about the announcement. Read More…
The first Democratic candidate for Montana governor has filed her paperwork with state regulators. Former state Rep. Reilly Neill registered Saturday with the state commissioner of political practices office. She pledges to carry on Gov. Steve Bullock’s legacy on her campaign website . The 45-year-old Neill represented Livingston in the Montana House between 2013 and Read More…
GREAT FALLS- State Rep. Casey Schreiner announced he’s running for the 25th Governor of Montana. He’s the second Democrat to announce a big for the race, after Livingston’s Reilly Neill. A native to Great Falls and a representative in Montana State Legislature House District 26, Schreiner made his announcement on Facebook this morning, June 11th, Read More…
Republican Rep. Greg Gianforte, Montana’s lone House member, is planning to announce a 2020 run for governor, according to the state’s MTN News network. Gianforte, who was first elected to the House in a 2017 special election, would be the sixth Republican to enter the race to succeed Democratic incumbent Steve Bullock, who is term-limited and running for president. Republicans last captured Read More…
State Sen. Bryce Bennett, a Democrat from Missoula, announced Wednesday he’s running in the 2020 election to be secretary of state. Bennett is the first from his party to announce a bid for the office. He joins Republican state Sen. Scott Sales, a Bozeman Republican who served as Senate president the last two sessions and announced in Read More…
Helena mayor and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Wilmot Collins admitted Tuesday to rear-ending another vehicle last week but pleaded not guilty to leaving the scene of the crash. Collins told Lewis and Clark County Justice of the Peace Mike Swingley that his foot slipped off the brake but he believed he caught it before hitting the vehicle Read More…
At least $3.8 million was spent to influence Montana lawmakers’ work during the first three months of 2019. That’s with one more month’s worth of lobbyist spending reports for the 2019 legislative session yet to be filed. The deadline for that is today. Lobbying dollars can include things like paying a lawyer to speak against Read More…
WASHINGTON – There have been multiple reports of sexual harassment and hostile work environments at national parks, including Yellowstone National Park. Eight incidents occured from January 2016 to June 2017, according to the Office of Inspector General. Wednesday, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., addressed U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, saying if more is not Read More…
From Representative Gianforte’s Office WASHINGTON — Congressman Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.) and a bipartisan group of legislators introduced Savanna’s Act, a bill to address the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women. Native American women face a murder rate 10 times higher than the national average, and 84 percent experience some form of violence in their Read More…
This week, Austin Knudsen announced his candidacy for Montana Attorney General for the 2020 election. Knudsen is a 5th generation Montanan, current Roosevelt County Attorney and former two-time Speaker of the House. He told KGVO News there are two issues he wants to vigorously pursue if elected as the state’s Attorney General. “Meth is beyond Read More…
Montanans are constantly bombarded with robocalls and Congressman Greg Gianforte is trying to help solve the problem. At a Communications and Technology subcommittee hearing, Gianforte pressed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on the issue. “Montanans have told me one of the worst things they face day to day are illegal robocalls,” Gianforte said. “They’re Read More…
Former Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen announced Monday that he is seeking the Republican nomination for Montana’s Attorney General race in 2020. Knudsen served as a representative from Culbertson in the state Legislature from 2011 to 2017, serving as Speaker of the House during his last four years. He’s the second Republican to enter the Attorney Read More…
MEQUOKETA, Iowa — When Gov. Steve Bullock hits the campaign trail as a presidential candidate, his security detail of two Montana Highway Patrol officers comes along, too — at taxpayer expense. The Montana Republican Party, in a statement earlier this week, asked why state taxpayers “should have to swallow the cost of his executive protection Read More…
Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins announced Monday that he will seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate next fall, becoming the first to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Daines. “I’ve traveled this state, from every corner of this vast, rugged state. And what remains consistent is that for far too long and far too often, we Read More…
Most kids wouldn’t dare be seen with their parents within several miles of school. Not Sen. Steve Daines, though — he was bold enough to be seen with them in his office. Gasp! It’s apparently “bring your parents to work” day for the Republican senator, who shared a picture with mom and dad on Twitter. READ Read More…