Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led a coalition of 21 states in filing an amicus brief supporting President Donald Trump’s decision to reduce the workforce at the Department of Education, a move aimed at returning more educational authority to state governments. The brief was filed on Monday in the case State of New York v. Read More…
The Wyoming Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday regarding the classification of abortion as healthcare, a case that could significantly impact the future of abortion access in the state. The state is challenging a Teton County judge’s ruling that abortion is a form of healthcare, arguing that laws passed in 2023, which could impose a near-total Read More…
Governor Kelly Armstrong signed Senate Bill 2214 into law today, officially approving the merger of the North Dakota Securities Department into the North Dakota Insurance Department. The consolidation aims to streamline regulatory oversight of the state’s financial services industry. Under the new law, regulatory authority will be unified under the elected insurance commissioner. The merger Read More…
Two bills aimed at laying the groundwork for a nuclear energy industry in Montana have passed the state legislature and are awaiting the governor’s signature. House Bill 623 would permit the establishment of nuclear waste storage facilities in the state. This measure aligns with national Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements, which mandate that nuclear power plants Read More…
BISMARCK — North Dakotans had grown accustomed to electing a state auditor named Bob Peterson. After all, the father and son pored over the state’s books in successive tenures that lasted more than 40 years. But that consistency was shattered with the election of Josh Gallion in 2016. Now, the new auditor is at the center Read More…
Former Rep. Cynthia Lummis announced a bid for Senate in Wyoming Thursday, becoming the first Republican to jump into the race and setting up a potential clash with her successor in the House, Rep. Liz Cheney. Lummis, also a former two-term state treasurer, was first elected to the House in 2008 and retired after the 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…
The chairman of the North Dakota House’s energy committee recently defended a business relationship with the state’s top oil and gas lobbyist. Mandan Republican Rep. Todd Porter and North Dakota Petroleum Council President Ron Ness are both listed in state records as partners in a commercial real estate investment group. Porter owns 5% of 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…
UPDATED with total viewership numbers: Most of the contenders pulling in big poll numbers take the stage in Miami later today for Night 2 of the Democratic debates on NBC, but Night 1 has set a pretty high bar for Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and the rest to reach. That bar, however, is well below Read More…
South Dakota may only be half way through 2019, but the state’s public university system is looking two years into the future. Universities and schools under the South Dakota Board of Regents asked for almost $91.2 million to complete what they deemed as “high-priority projects” in 2021 at Wednesday’s board meeting through informal budget hearings. The 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…
BISMARCK — A panel charged with selecting members of North Dakota’s new state government ethics commission identified two dozen candidates for further consideration during a meeting at the state Capitol Friday, June 21. Members of the selection committee, composed of Gov. Doug Burgum and the Senate’s majority and minority leaders, each brought their own list Read More…
Former Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R) on Thursday officially filed to run for outgoing Sen. Mike Enzi’s (R-Wyo.) seat in 2020. Lummis, a former member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, previously represented the Equality State as the state’s lone House representative, but opted not to seek reelection in 2016. Enzi, 75, in May announced his plans to retire from Read More…
New investigative documents released by a state agency have given fresh life to lingering questions about the marital history of Rep. Ilhan Omar and whether she once married a man — possibly her own brother — to skirt immigration laws. Omar has denied the allegations in the past, dismissing them as “baseless rumors” first raised Read More…
The U.S. Supreme Court, approaching the end of its current term, is due to issue rulings in the coming days in major cases including the Trump administration’s bid to add a contentious citizenship question to the 2020 census and efforts by voters to curb the partisan manipulation of electoral district boundaries. The court, which has 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…
CHARLESTON, S.C. — There was a time not so long ago when leading Democrats warned that Elizabeth Warren’s “fantasy-based blue-state populism” risked leading the party to ruin. But in a revealing tell of how far her campaign has come since its early February launch, some unlikely voices in the center of the party are growing 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…
BISMARCK, N.D. – On Flag Day, senators Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Steve Daines, D-Mont., introduced a constitutional amendment that would allow Congress to prohibit the desecration of the American flag. In a press release Friday, Cramer said “A flag worth dying for is a flag worth protecting. While we should always be mindful of First Amendment rights, 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…
In 1995, Sen. Joe Biden offered high praise for William Barr, the once and future attorney general who has been roundly criticized by Democrats for his handling of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the 2016 election. “As I know you know, but others should know, too, I truly enjoyed working with you when you Read More…
Idaho Gov. Brad Little plans to lead a trade delegation to Taiwan and Hong Kong this fall. The Idaho Wheat Commission June 7 said the trade mission presents an opportunity to recognize loyal client millers in Taiwan and to explore ways to grow that business. Wheat growers from the state have exported for more than Read More…
State lawmakers finalized the interim committee assignments today. The groups will look at various issues over the next 18 months, but today’s meeting might have created another one. Democrats wanted to chair three or four committees and ended up with one. House Minority leader Josh Boschee, D-Fargo, says they had an agreement with republican leadership. 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…
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock isn’t one of the leading Democratic contenders for the 2020 presidential nomination, but he’s learning how to turn a Republican attack into an asset for his campaign. On May 29, the GOP-affiliated Senate Leadership Fund started a television ad campaign in the Missoula media market, according to Kantar/CMAG, and the message went Read More…
Cheyenne Mayor Marian Orr is accusing Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon of using profane and misogynistic language toward her in an effort to intimidate her during a meeting on Friday. Gordon responded Monday that Orr mischaracterized the meeting, although he apologized for using an obscenity. “At no time during the conversation was I standing up or using Read More…
ABC News, in partnership with Univision, will host the third Democratic presidential debate in September, the Democratic National Committee announced Wednesday, saying it was raising both the polling and fundraising bars for candidates to qualify. The debate is set for Sept. 12 and could extend to a second night, Sept. 13, if enough candidates meet 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…
CHEYENNE — A wealthy Republican political donor from Wyoming says he’s thinking about running for U.S. Senate in 2020. Foster Friess told The Associated Press in a statement Wednesday he will be weighing a possible run in the months ahead. Republican Sen. Mike Enzi recently announced he will retire at the end of his current Read More…
Sen. Steve Daines of Montana said Wednesday he applauds President Trump’s tough stance on trade with China, since he saw firsthand how difficult it is to do business there. But his patience is finite, he warned Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. Mr. Daines, a Republican, said farmers and retailers back home are fretting over tit-for-tat tariffs with the 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…
Barbara Barrett, a former U.S. ambassador and one-time Arizona gubernatorial hopeful, is President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Air Force. Barrett is well-known among business-minded Republicans, the cohort who attend Chamber of Commerce luncheons. She and her husband, former Intel chairman and CEO Craig Barrett, regularly donate money to Republican candidates. They’ve also given millions Read More…