The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision on Monday, ruled that states can accept and count mail-in ballots received after the federal Election Day. The decision comes out of the high court’s ruling in Watson v. RNC, a case challenging Mississippi’s acceptance of mail-in ballots up to five days after Election Day as long Read More…
The U.S. House of Representatives advanced Sen. Tim Sheehy’s bipartisan VA Home Loan Awareness Act as part of a larger package of housing legislation, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, sending the bill to President Trump’s desk. The measure is the first piece of legislation Sheehy introduced as a senator. “The VA Home Loan Read More…
Western Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke celebrated the release of $53,889,068 in Payments in Lieu of Taxes funding for Montana counties, an increase of more than $7.3 million over 2025 disbursements. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, Zinke said he played a major role in securing the funds. “Public Read More…
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden’s anti-doxxing bills, House Bill 1084 and House Bill 1298, will take effect July 1. “Protecting our law enforcement officers and public servants from doxxing is of utmost importance,” Rhoden said. “They are on the frontlines every day, working hard to keep us strong, safe, and free, and they should never Read More…
HELENA, Mont.—Jerry Swick, an Army veteran who currently resides in this mountainous capital city, plans to vote this fall to keep Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in Congress. He just doesn’t know how he would tell that to President Donald Trump, for whom Mr. Swick voted in 2016. Mr. Trump will host a campaign rally in Read More…
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is tapping additional Justice Department resources for help with new legal battles as his year-old investigation of Russian interference with the 2016 election continues to expand. As Mueller pursues his probe, he’s making more use of career prosecutors from the offices of U.S. attorneys and from Justice Department headquarters, as well Read More…
A giant balloon dubbed “Trump baby” has been given the green light to fly near parliament during the president’s UK visit. London mayor Sadiq Khan’s Greater London Authority has approved a request for the flight after thousands signed a petition and a crowdfunding campaign raised more than £16,000 to get the six-metre inflatable off the Read More…
Donald Trump Jr. is set to headline Friday’s GOP convention in Montana, where he will seek to boost state auditor Matt Rosendale (R), who is running for Senate. READ THE FULL STORY.
For the first time since President Donald Trump took office, the CNBC All-America Economic Survey shows more than half the public approving his handling of the economy, and it appears to be having some impact on his overall job approval rating. The president’s economic approval rating surged 6 points to 51 percent with just 36 Read More…
NEW YORK (CNN) — The Trump administration took the final step Tuesday in its plan aimed at making health insurance policies cheaper for some small businesses. The administration released its final rule governing association health plans, which allow small businesses and the self-employed to band together based on their industry or location and buy health Read More…
BILLINGS – Montana State University Billings has named Ed Garding as the Interim Dean of the College of Business. Garding served as the president and CEO of First Interstate BancSystem from 2012 to 2015. He is still involved at First Interstate as the corporate and government relations officer. He began his career with First Interstate Read More…
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee has invited FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok to appear before the panel. Strzok has faced a barrage of attacks from President Trump and conservatives after an internal investigation revealed he had been sending messages critical of the then-Republican candidate during the 2016 presidential race to FBI lawyer 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…
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) said in an interview last week that not enough of her fellow Senate Democrats were willing to “take on the billionaire class.” Warren has been critical of Senate Democrats for their support of the Dodd-Frank rollback, which President Donald Trump signed in May. The new legislation scaled back regulations imposed Read More…
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., used a private plane to travel between some stops on a three-day RV tour of her state, McCaskill confirmed Tuesday. “I added some stops with the use of the plane, but I was on the RV so much that the broken door drove me crazy,” McCaskill said Tuesday, according to Politico. 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.
(CNN) – A government watchdog has cleared Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke from improper political activity when he spoke to a professional hockey team owned by one of his campaign donors. The Office of Special Counsel found “no evidence or allegation” that Zinke “gave a political speech or otherwise engaged in political activity during this event” Read More…
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…
At least two advertisers say they’re suspending ads from comedian Samantha Bee’s television show. The backlash follows the latest episode of TBS’s “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” in which Bee called first daughter Ivanka Trump a vulgar name. Autotrader said in its statement that Bee’s comments were “offensive and unacceptable.” “As a result, Autotrader has 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…
HELENA – A political group that wants to elect more scientists is making the first major outside-money buy in Montana’s crowded Democratic U.S. House primary, supporting former land-trust director Grant Kier. The 314 Action Fund reported spending $52,000 in the past two weeks on direct mailers supporting Kier, one of five candidates competing for the 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…
When a small group of alarmed White House aides caught wind that Sen. Heidi Heitkamp — one of the most endangered Democrats up for reelection in 2018 — would be attending President Donald Trump’s bill signing last week, they raced to stop it. Word eventually reached Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has made unseating 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…
California’s primary elections on June 5 will be one of the most consequential — and bizarre — contests of the entire primary season. The Golden State is crucial to Democrats’ effort to retake the House — Republicans currently hold a whopping seven districts Hillary Clinton won, and Democrats are eager to pry them away. The Read More…
HELENA – Democratic U.S. House candidate John Heenan has been touting his record as a “consumer lawyer,” representing people wronged by banks, insurers and other corporate bad actors. “I have the privilege of representing widows when insurance companies deny their claims, people suffering from cancer when insurance companies deny their claims,” he told MTN News Read More…
When a local radio host asked Montana Senate candidate Matt Rosendale what differentiated him from the other GOP candidates earlier this year, he had a quick response. “Piece of cake. Rancher,” he told radio host Aaron Flint in January. “I’m a businessman. I’m a former legislator, and I’m an executive. And I’ve been very effective 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…
Democrats are quietly fighting their biggest political battle in a decade for state legislative races as they aim to flip control of up to a dozen chambers. The effort could position the party to play a bigger role in redrawing U.S. House districts after the 2020 census and could help boost turnout for candidates running Read More…
A South Carolina Democrat who has admitted to physically abusing his former wife in the 1970s has refused to drop out of next month’s congressional primary despite a call from his state’s Democratic Party to do so and the resignation of his campaign manager. The Post and Courier of Charleston reported Monday that Archie Parnell, Read More…
BISMARCK — A panel examining North Dakota’s ballot measure system forwarded four proposals Tuesday, May 22, but efforts to amend the policy-by-petition process may just be getting started. The Initiated and Referred Measures Study Commission wrapped up its work at the state Capitol Tuesday. Its recommended changes now move to Legislative Management, the committee that Read More…
Seonki Jo, who was brought to America from South Korea at age 3, has lived in Duluth, Georgia, nearly all his life. When it came time for him to begin his college search, he wanted to stick close to home. But, he found, he couldn’t. Georgia not only banned undocumented immigrants like Jo, who in 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…
Democrat House candidate Lizzie Pannill Fletcher is projected to win the Texas primary runoff, giving national Democrats their preferred candidate in the race to unseat Rep. John CulbersonJohn Abney CulbersonFive races to watch in the Texas runoffs Democrats are geared up for primary runoff D-Day in Texas The Hill’s Morning Report — Sponsored by CVS 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…
Jon Tester was on his farm in rural Montana when his phone rang with the news: It was his chief of staff, informing him that the president of the United States had just called for his resignation on Twitter. The Montana Democrat briefly considered President Donald Trump’s latest attack on him, then fired up his Read More…