U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) has introduced the “Unborn Child Support Act”, a bill aimed at recognizing the humanity of unborn children and allowing expectant mothers to receive child support payments during pregnancy. “Caring for a child starts long before birth, and Montana moms need access to critical child support while they’re pregnant,” Daines said. Read More…
Governor Greg Gianforte has been named chair of the Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus (GSC), a bipartisan coalition of governors committed to protecting and advancing the interests of sportsmen and women across the United States. “It’s an honor to serve as chair of the Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus,” said Gov. Gianforte. “As we’ve demonstrated in Montana, governors have Read More…
U.S. Senator Steve Daines praised former President Donald Trump after he issued pardons for 23 pro-life protesters who had been incarcerated under President Joe Biden’s administration. In a statement released today, Daines expressed his approval of the pardons, describing them as a long-overdue act of justice. “Finally, justice is served,” Daines said. “Under President Biden’s Read More…
Western Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke has reintroduced a series of conservation bills aimed at protecting public lands, ensuring water levels in Flathead Lake, and preserving wildlife migration corridors. The bills, originally introduced in the 118th Congress (2023-2024), were resubmitted for consideration at the start of the 119th Congress, which began on January 3, 2025. “When Read More…
The Flathead County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to rescind their prior declaration of a COVID-19 emergency, saying none of the county’s emergency funds have been used to mitigate the coronavirus as county departments have relied instead on state and federal relief. The commissioners unanimously approved the emergency declaration in March, freeing up money that the Flathead City-County Read More…
A federal judge dismissed an environmental law firm’s attempt to block three timber projects around Bozeman and Hebgen Lake Thursday, but the firm isn’t giving up on the case. In an order Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris dismissed Cottonwood Environmental Law Center’s lawsuit over the projects altogether, writing the firm’s claims against Read More…
MISSOULA — There is another legal salvo in the fight over protections for the wolverine in the Northern Rockies, with conservation organizations filing a federal lawsuit challenging the latest decision to not treat the rare mammals as “threatened.” Some scientists believe there are fewer than 300 wolverines left and are being hurt genetically because they Read More…
Tensions are high over the fate of more than 3 million acres of public and private land in northeast Montana. Two groups have very different views on the future of this vast area. Alison Fox is head of an effort to turn it into the largest nature reserve in the nation. She’s the CEO of Read More…
HELENA – On Wednesday, 17 states asked the U.S. Supreme Court to accept a new lawsuit that is attempting to invalidate Democrat Joe Biden’s electoral victory in the 2020 Presidential race in four key states. Montana is one of them. Montana Attorney General Tim Fox says the odds of the high court accepting the late Read More…
The city of Helena is looking at modifying its firearm ordinance, after Montana voters approved a measure that limits how local governments can regulate guns. During an administrative meeting Wednesday, city attorney Thomas Jodoin told the Helena City Commission that the existing ordinance will have to be narrowed to bring it in line with Legislative Read More…
Let me tell you about the chatter I am increasingly hearing from those in the know here in Montana: we have a shot at getting a second seat in the US House of Representatives. Even with our state’s very poor response rate during the latest US Census count? Yes. At least that is what I am Read More…
Gov.-elect Greg Gianforte on Tuesday named the first member of his cabinet, announcing that outgoing U.S. Attorney for Montana Kurt Alme will be the new Republican administration’s budget director. Alme, who has degrees in law and business, just announced his resignation Monday from the U.S. attorney job in Billings. Gianforte said voters gave his administration Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Governor-elect Greg Gianforte today announced his joint-transition advisory team for the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor and Industry. The advisory team will identify and review candidates to serve as the next directors of Commerce and Labor. The team will forward their recommendations to Governor-elect Gianforte. “For too long, Montanans Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Governor-elect Greg Gianforte today announced his transition advisory team for the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP). The advisory team will identify and review candidates to serve as the next director of the FWP and will forward their recommendations to Governor-elect Gianforte. “Montana’s landowners, hunters, and anglers share a tradition of Read More…
This year in Montana, Republicans swept every statewide and federal race, while also increasing their majority in the statehouse by 10 seats. Montana, once dubbed a purple state for its split-ticket voting, is now deep crimson. After four terms of a Democratic governor, a Republican will sit in Montana’s governor’s mansion for the first time Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Governor-elect Greg Gianforte today announced his joint-transition advisory team for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The advisory team will identify and review candidates to serve as the next directors of the DNRC and DEQ and will forward their recommendations to Governor-elect Gianforte. Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. – This year’s election results in Montana prove, yet again, how divisive people’s views are on gun regulation across the state. Legislative Referendum 130, restricting local governments’ authority to regulate carrying firearms, passed by 51%-49%. LR-130 has quite a lot of history to it, dating back to 2016 when Missoula enacted a city Read More…
HELENA — As Election Day approached last week, most public polls had declared the big statewide races in Montana – U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor – to be relatively close, with Republicans perhaps having an edge. Yet the final outcome showed no such spread: Republicans cruised to easy victories, up and down the ticket, winning Read More…
On Friday Nov. 6 around the lunch hour MTN canvassed just over 50 voters in Helena to gauge their reaction to the election. Much like the vote, reactions were split. In regards to the state of the presidential election, around a third of those canvassed directly supported the president’s actions so far. ‘It’s a scam Read More…
South Dakota and Montana are the latest states to vote in support of the legalization of recreational marijuana use. Arizona and New Jersey voters also approved the legalization of recreational marijuana on Election Day. The addition of South Dakota and Montana means that there are now 15 states in the nation that permit marijuana use Read More…
HELENA- Results are in for the Montana Youth Vote 2020. The election was held Thursday in many schools throughout Montana and results were finalized at 4:00 pm. Around 4,500 students from Montana schools participated in the election. Two demographics were polled, grades K-6 voted for the President and other age-appropriate questions and grades 7-12 voted Read More…
With less than one week to go until election day, Montana’s Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) is bringing two of the US Senate’s heavy hitters to the Treasure State. Both Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) and Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R) will be in Montana. Rubio hit Great Falls on Tuesday, while Ted Cruz will be in Read More…
WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste Political Action Committee (CCAGW PAC) announced its endorsement for Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) for re-election to the Senate and Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.) for governor. CCAGW PAC based its endorsements on the candidates’ lifetime score in CCAGW’s 2019 Congressional Ratings. Sen. Daines has a lifetime rating of Read More…
It’s less than two weeks before election day and Montana on Thursday again set a new record for COVID-19 cases reported in a single day with more than 900. Whoever is elected as Montana’s next governor will inherit oversight of the state’s response to the pandemic. Yellowstone Public Radio’s Nicky Ouellet and Rachel Cramer discuss Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — A new exclusive NBC Montana/Strategies 360 poll shows very close Montana races less than two weeks before Election Day. Strategies 360 conducted a mixed-mode survey of 500 likely November 2020 voters in Montana. Interviews were conducted Oct. 15-20. A combination of landlines, cellphones, and voter file-based online interviews via text message were used Read More…
Why is the union that is supposed to represent Montana school teachers spending $800,000 to campaign against a referendum on the ballot this November? Does it involve teacher pay? Would it take away the pensions of teachers or public employees? Nope. The teachers union is spending $800,000 to campaign against your gun rights. Legislative Referendum Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. – President Donald Trump has made several visits to Montana in recent years – in 2016 as a candidate for president, as well as in 2018 in an effort to flip Senator Jon Tester’s seat in the mid-term elections. Now, three weeks shy of Election Day, the president has not set foot in Montana Read More…
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) raised $26.8 million in the third quarter of the year for his bid to unseat Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), making him the latest Democratic Senate candidate to set a fundraising record in his state. Bullock’s third quarter fundraising haul is more than three times the roughly $7.8 million he raised in the second quarter, and Read More…
BOZEMAN – Montana State University on Wednesday released the results of its Treasure State poll weighing Montana attitudes for the 2020 general election set for Nov 3. The poll, one of the most extensive publicly available polls on the state’s voter preferences for the upcoming election, is administered by members of the MSU Department of Read More…
A new poll of the Montana Senate race, conducted October 5–7 by Emerson, shows Republican incumbent Steve Daines leading his Democratic challenger Steve Bullock by 9 points: Republicans have been worried about the Montana Senate race because the state has a robust recent history of ticket-splitting. Bullock, the sitting Democratic governor, won reelection in 2016 even as Read More…
The two men running to become Lewis and Clark County’s second justice of the peace are both first-time candidates, but each has long experience serving the public. In November 2018, the Lewis and Clark County Commission voted to create a second justice of the peace position, to help address a growing workload for the court. Read More…
Republican Roosevelt County Attorney and former Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen faces Governor’s Counsel Raph Graybill, a Democrat, in the general election for attorney general. “(I want to be attorney general) because I think Montana oughta have a top law enforcement official who has actually dealt with law enforcement who has actually prosecuted criminals,” Read More…
HELENA- Just days after Montana’s Democratic candidates started a tour around the state, their Republican counterparts are doing the same thing. But with a different twist, their message is something any candidate would get behind. “Get out the vote.” This election is expected to have extremely high voter turnout and these men and women plan Read More…
Jim Murry, a longtime leader of organized labor in Montana who helped usher in a progressive era of politics in Montana in the 1960s and 1970s, died Monday in Helena. He was 85. Murry, who grew up in Laurel and worked at its oil refinery, became head of the Montana AFL-CIO in 1968 at age Read More…
Democratic U.S. House candidate Kathleen Williams reported Monday that she raised $2.3 million in campaign funds for three past three months – nearly doubling her total for the entire campaign. Williams, a former state legislator from Bozeman, is in a close race with Republican state Auditor Matt Rosendale for Montana’s only U.S. House seat. A Read More…
A group opposed to the legalization of marijuana in Montana, voiced its opposition Saturday to two ballot initiatives up for vote in November. “Wrong For Montana” is against Initiative 190 which would legalize marijuana in the state. Wind forced the group indoors at South 24th Street West & King Avenue West, after its demonstration in Read More…
In what’s likely their final debate before ballots are mailed out, U.S. House candidates Matt Rosendale and Kathleen Williams faced off Saturday night, with Williams, a Democrat, casting herself as an independent who can work with both sides of the political aisle and Rosendale, a Republican, calling her someone allied with the “radical far leftists.” Read More…
If you missed Wednesday’s debate between Republican US House candidate Matt Rosendale and Democrat Kathleen Williams, don’t worry, you can watch the full debate right here at the bottom of this post. Plus, there’s a couple of other big Montana PBS debates still left to air in the coming days. Republican Congressman Greg Gianforte and Read More…
A recent American Statistical Association report revealed that Montana is one of two states that could lose a potential seat in the House of Representatives as a result of the Sept. 30 enumeration deadline. The American Statistical Association is a professional association that supports the development of statistical science through publications, advocacy and education. After temporarily halting Read More…
At a Thursday meeting that Democrats decried as an illegal attempt by GOP lawmakers to rein in Gov. Steve Bullock’s emergency powers during the coronavirus pandemic, Republicans recommended several legislative rule changes – but denied it was any sort of a “partisan power grab.” The Joint Rules Committee meeting, instigated and attended only by Republicans, Read More…
BELGRADE — Vice President Mike Pence touted the work President Donald Trump has done over the last four years at a rally here on Monday and portrayed the November election as a battle between Republicans who are working to uphold Montana values and Democrats who back destructive liberal policies. Pence spoke at the Big Yellow Read More…
HELENA — U.S. Sen. Steve Daines leads his Democratic challenger, Gov. Steve Bullock, by three percentage points and President Trump leads Democratic nominee Joe Biden by seven points in Montana, according to a poll released Friday by AARP-Montana. The poll, which surveyed 800 people by telephone from Aug. 30-Sept. 5, said Daines led Bullock 50 Read More…
The Montana Contractors Association on Wednesday endorsed Republican Greg Gianforte for governor, citing his opposition to a 2020 ballot measure that would legalize recreational marijuana in Montana. “The recreational marijuana initiative is a very, very troubling initiative,” said Bob Warren, president of the contractors’ group. “The MCA board voted to fight this with all our Read More…
Vice President Mike Pence is coming back to Montana for a rally with Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) in Belgrade on Monday. Congressman Greg Gianforte (R-MT) and Republican US House candidate Matt Rosendale will also be prominently featured. According to an eventbrite page created by the Montana Republican Party, the event will take place at the Big Yellow Read More…