On the steps of the Montana State Capitol, Governor Greg Gianforte was officially sworn in Monday for his second term as the 25th Governor of Montana. Accompanied by his wife, First Lady Susan Gianforte, the ceremony marked a historic milestone, as Gianforte became the first Republican governor to secure a second term since 1996. Chief Read More…
U.S. Senator Steve Daines has announced his committee assignments for the 119th Congress, taking on influential roles in the Senate Committees on Finance, Foreign Relations, Energy and Natural Resources, and Indian Affairs. These assignments place Daines at the center of critical policy discussions affecting Montana and the nation. “It’s an honor to serve Montanans in Read More…
Kenneth Britton “Britt” Cotter, 48, who was recently elected District Court Judge for Lake and Sanders counties, has been charged with one count of solicitation to commit criminal distribution of dangerous drugs and two counts of attempted criminal possession of dangerous drugs. The Montana Attorney General’s Office announced the charges following a months-long investigation led Read More…
Congressman Ryan Zinke announced that the Senate has passed the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act. The EXPLORE Act is a comprehensive, bicameral legislation package that includes Zinke’s bipartisan Gateway Communities and Recreation Enhancement Act introduced with Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola in May 2023. The bill passed the House in April and will Read More…
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A former Montana Democratic Party chairman appears to be laying the groundwork for a possible challenge to the secretary of state’s certification of the Green Party for the ballot in this year’s state elections. Jim Larson filed a public records request with Secretary of State Corey Stapleton’s office and election officials Read More…
U.S. House candidate Jared Pettinato is asking incumbent Congressman Greg Gianforte and other candidates to sign a petition ensuring everyone runs “the cleanest campaign.” Pettinato is vying for the Democratic nomination to challenge Gianforte for the U.S. House seat. The Bozeman attorney and former U.S. Department of Justice attorney said ethics is the first step Read More…
HELENA – A Libertarian candidate booted from the election for not filing all his paperwork on time said he asked the state to reconsider, but a state official said the decision stands. Ron Vandevender, 59, a Cascade resident who filed to run for House District 80, was among the seven candidates disqualified for not filing Read More…
The March 12 filing deadline has come and gone, and the 2018 races for county, state and federal offices have taken shape. The primary election takes place June 5, and will be the determining election for several races in Flathead County in which only Republicans have filed for the jobs. READ THE FULL STORY.
HELENA – Montana’s campaign regulators have disqualified seven legislative candidates from the ballot for failing to file required paperwork. Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan announced Monday that those candidates had not filed an official statement of candidacy or business disclosure statement. By state law, candidates who miss the deadline for submitting those forms cannot Read More…
Governor Steve Bullock (D-MT) is getting called out by Politifact for using false statistics when it comes to the gun control debate. Bullock, desperate to be named as a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, was recently in Milwaukee, Wisconsin raising money for Wisconsin Democrats. Politifact analyzed a line by Bullock where he argued that Read More…
A select bipartisan, bicameral committee has been asked to examine more than $1.2 million in state employee settlements since the beginning of 2017. The committee, consisting of six Republicans and four Democrats was appointed by Senate President Scott Sales and Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen. Senate Majority Leader Fred Thomas explained the genesis of Read More…
The Montana Legislative Finance Committee met on Monday and Tuesday this week with an update on the state budget. Committee Chair Nancy Balance says a group of state Democrats came to the meeting asking them to either appropriate money, declare a state of emergency or to create a supplemental budget allocation to address cuts in Read More…
Senator Steve Daines was on Dominick In The Morning today discussing the STOP School Violence Act. Danies talked about being at a press conference earlier with Orrin Hatch, Marco Rubio, Joni Ernst, Bill Nelson, Dan Sullivan and students from Florida’s Parkland High School. The press conference was to push the STOP School Violence Act which Read More…
The campaign to renew the levy contributing roughly $19 million a year to public higher education in Montana is facing allegations of campaign finance violations. Voters first passed the levy that supports public colleges and universities in the state in 1948 and then renewed it every decade since. The levy will be on the 2018 Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. – Billings Superintendent Terry Bouck may be calling it a career with School District 2 but he still has political aspirations. On Monday, Bouck formally filed as a Democrat entering the race for the Montana House District 49. Bouck is one of three people registered with the Secretary of States office. READ THE Read More…
Conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza came to Bigfork Saturday night. His talk, organized by the Last Chance Patriots and the Flathead County Republican Central Committee, nearly filled the 435-seat Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts. Audience members paid $100 per ticket to hear D’Souza’s take on politics, a topic he’s explored in 17 books Read More…
David A. Clarke Jr., the former Sheriff of Milwaukee County, spoke at the Yellowstone Valley Republicans Lincoln Reagan Day Dinner in Billings on Friday night. Clarke met supporters and signed book “Cop Under Fire” before the dinner. During his speech, he praised those running for public office, who spoke at the dinner. “Good luck to Read More…
HELENA – Former Vice President Joe Biden urged Democrats in Helena and across the state Saturday night to fight for the middle class, which he said made America the power and beacon of the modern world. “But for an aspirational middle class that is constantly rising, we would not have had the social and political Read More…
Jay Nelson announced Thursday that he will run for Lewis & Clark County Sheriff-Coroner, saying he wants to bring leadership and transparency to the office. A group of about two dozen supporters joined Nelson as he launched his campaign in front of the Lewis & Clark County Courthouse. In a brief statement for the press, Read More…
Montana Attorney General Tim Fox is urging congressional leaders to pass legislation supporting victims of child pornography. He is encouraging the House of Representatives to support and vote for the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act. “This is a very important piece of legislation,” said Fox. “As you know, child pornography is Read More…
Five Senate Democrats would lose to Republican candidates if the elections were held today and three have approval ratings under 50%, according to new Axios/SurveyMonkey polls. Why it matters: Democrats are defending 10 Senate seats in states that President Trump won in 2016. In six of those states, Trump’s approval is higher than 50% (compared to Read More…
HELENA – U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., paid his candidate filing fee Thursday to run for re-election, likely completing the filed of competitors for Montana’s only congressional seat. Gianforte won the seat last May 25, in a special election to succeed Ryan Zinke, who resigned after becoming U.S. Interior secretary. In a statement Thursday, Gianforte Read More…
On Monday, Montana Governor Steve Bullock and other governors from around the country met with President Donald Trump to discuss the issue of guns and school safety. During his brief time at the microphone, Bullock asked the president to work on adding new elements to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System or NICS. “We Read More…
HELENA – A Libertarian candidate is jumping into the race for Montana’s lone U.S. House seat, becoming the first third-party candidate to file for a statewide office this year. Elinor Swanson filed with the Montana Secretary of State’s office and the Federal Election Commission on Monday. She joins five Democratic candidates in the race against Read More…
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock will visit Iowa for events with Polk County Democrats and Attorney General Tom Miller in April. Bullock, a two-term Democrat and former attorney general from Republican-leaning Montana, has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2020. The trip will be his first to Iowa as governor. In a statement, Bullock Read More…
You could feel the excitement. You could feel the cheering. As Mike Dennison detailed the millionaire after millionaire running for office this Fall, you could just imagine how excited the success-bashing Leftists were, sitting in their living rooms as they watched his report on the Montana Television Network. And then, you can imagine how the Read More…
Montana Attorney General Tim Fox (above) joined Tom Egelhoff on Open for Business to discuss the recent court decision concerning robocalls to Montana citizens. (Interview link at the bottom of the page) Montana US District Judge Charles Lovell, 88, a Reagan appointee, did not buy the argument of Dave Deshaw, of Victory Processing LLC, of Read More…
Democratic Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) voted in support of sanctuary cities Thursday. The vote prompting one of his potential Republican challengers to tie Tester once again to the vote to shutdown the government over illegal immigrants. As The Hill reports, several other more moderate Senate Democrats voted to crackdown on sanctuary cities, while Tester voted Read More…
A documentary that emerges as a political whodunit with Montana in the spotlight is among the films featured in this year’s 15th annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, which runs Feb. 16-25 in Missoula. A free showing of director Kimberly Reed’s “Dark Money” will be 7 p.m. Friday at The Wilma theater. Gov. Steve Bullock, Read More…
BOZEMAN -Republican U.S. Senate candidate Troy Downing, charged multiple times for allegedly buying Montana resident hunting-and-fishing licenses when he was a non-resident, is going to trial – two weeks before his contested primary election. At a hearing Wednesday in Bozeman, Justice of the Peace Bryan Adams scheduled Downing’s trial for three days, from May 23-25. Read More…
HELENA – Montana may have the wealthiest member in all of Congress – Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte – but he’s far from being the only multimillionaire running for federal office this year in Montana. Three of the four Republicans running in the U.S. Senate race and one of the five Democrats vying to take Read More…
It’s hard to get treatment when you’re 65 or older and rely on a program that pays health providers less than the price of care. And surprising medical bills is a whole other issue. That’s what a small group of locals told Montana’s U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte at the Bozeman Senior Center on Monday during Read More…
Can a juror, faced with clear evidence that a defendant is guilty, still vote to acquit if he or she feels the law is unjust? Yes, say backers of “jury nullification.” This courtroom tactic was the focus of a Kalispell event organized by the Flathead County Libertarian Party. Presentations on nullification by Kirsten Tynan and Read More…
BILLINGS – Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton stopped by Billings West High School Thursday, to talk to students about the importance of getting involved. Stapleton spent over an hour with senior students at the high school answering questions. From social media to Indian Reservations and health care, Stapleton’s message to students was the importance Read More…
U.S. Representative Greg Gianforte visited a job training facility in Helena on Friday to talk about workforce development and tax reform. Gianforte toured the Montana Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Center supported by local chapters of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the National Electrical Contractors Association. The center offers an apprenticeship program that Read More…
BILLINGS – Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton stopped by Billings West High School Thursday, to talk to students about the importance of getting involved. Stapleton spent over an hour with senior students at the high school answering questions. From social media to Indian Reservations and health care, Stapleton’s message to students was the importance Read More…
HELENA – Gov. Steve Bullock says he won’t rush into a new contract with the operator of the private prison in Shelby – even though it could yield the state as much as $30 million to offset planned budget cuts of “essential services” for the poor and disabled. In an interview this week, Bullock told Read More…
Montana Wilderness advocates are launching a campaign in opposition to a bill introduced by the state’s Republican Senator Steve Daines. If passed, that bill would eliminate protections for some federal lands in Montana. A new coalition called “Our Land, Our Legacy” says it plans to fight against Daines’ bill with social media messages and an Read More…
Montana’s entire congressional delegation has endorsed the continuation of funding for Community Health Centers across the country, and specifically across Montana. At a press conference in front of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, Senator Steve Daines said the wholeheartedly supports the funding, flanked by fellow Senator Jon Tester and Representative Greg Gianforte. Read More…
Granite County Commissioner Scott Adler has been summoned to a court appearance this month on one charge of Official Misconduct and one charge of Theft by Embezzlement after the Department of Criminal Investigation looked into accusations that Adler had used county equipment and employees to install recycled asphalt on his personal driveway. In court filings, Read More…
A super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a new digital ad Tuesday attacking Montana Sen. Jon Tester. The ad, the group’s first of the cycle targeting the vulnerable Democrat in this year’s midterm elections, seeks to tie Tester to national party figures and calls him “just another Washington liberal.” It’s paid Read More…
HELENA – A leading Republican lawmaker Friday said the Bullock administration must share the blame for looming budget cuts to human services in Montana – and that the governor could help defray the cuts if he chooses. Sen. Llew Jones of Conrad, an architect of the November budget deal that closed a $227 million shortfall Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. – Senator Steve Daines was in Billings Friday to promote the positive impacts of the new tax cuts that took effect January 1st. Daines toured True North Steel, visiting with Montanans, and discussing added jobs and bigger paychecks. The senator was all smiles as he toured True North Steel and discussed the positive Read More…
Every Democratic senator from a Republican-leaning state voted Monday to reopen the government, from the liberal Sherrod Brown of Ohio to the conservative Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Every one, that is, except Jon Tester. Republicans are determined to make him pay. The plainspoken Montanan was on a glide path to a third term despite Read More…