Mara Silvers
Missoula transgender candidates celebrate historic path to Montana Legislature
The results of Tuesday’s primary are an encouraging sign to Howell, Zephyr and other LGBTQ Montanans who spent the last year fighting against anti-trans policies from lawmakers, elected officials and state agencies.
Five candidates in the race for two Montana Supreme Court seats
Five candidates are vying for two seats on the Montana Supreme Court currently held by incumbent justices Jim Rice and Ingrid Gustafson.
Five candidates line up for Cascade County judgeship
Five lawyers with extensive legal and judicial experience have applied for an open judgeship in Cascade County and will soon be assessed by Gov. Greg Gianforte in the first test of his direct-appointment powers granted by Senate Bill 140.
Gianforte signs bill prohibiting transgender athletes from women’s high school, college sports
HB112 requires sports teams to be defined by athletes’ “biological sex” and explicitly states that women’s sports teams may not include students “of the male sex,” a misrepresentation of girls and women who are transgender.
Gianforte tests positive for Covid-19; quarantines in Bozeman
Gov. Greg Gianforte has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a Monday evening announcement by his office. No other positive test results have been announced among the governor’s family or staff.
Opposition digs in against anti-LGBTQ bills, with Gianforte in the wings
As the bills advance through the Republican-controlled Legislature, pushed by some of its most socially conservative members, advocates for LGBTQ Montanans and a range of allies are ramping up a focused opposition.
Gianforte administration signals support for ‘religious freedom expression’ bill
Senate Bill 215, the Montana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, sponsored by Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Columbia Falls, would allow individuals and entities to claim exemption from laws and policies if those rules substantially burden the expression of their religious beliefs.
AG Knudsen joins Montana to controversial Arizona deportation lawsuit
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has signed the state on to a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its January directive to largely suspend deportations of noncitizens except in cases that pose a threat to national security.
Gianforte tabs ‘full-spectrum conservative’ as administration’s chief counsel
Anita Milanovich currently runs her own national litigation firm out of Butte and is a well-known legal force on conservative issues in Montana, ranging from campaign finance and election law to anti-abortion and LGBTQ initiatives.
Republican Knudsen elected as Montana’s new attorney general
Republican Austin Knudsen won the heated race to become Montana’s next attorney general early Wednesday. The current Roosevelt County attorney and former state House Speaker led his opponent by about 90,000 votes.