Republicans

Doug James writes, "Art Wittich created a purity test for the GOP. It’s like 7th grade all over."

Jim Elliott writes, "The latest attempt of party leaders to remove two political gadflies from the November ballot has resulted in a defeat for the party leadership and an increase in bad blood between the party purists and the more moderate party members under attack."

Lewis and Clark District Court Judge Christopher Abbott on Wednesday ruled that two Republican lawmakers will be allowed to stay on November’s ballot, halting a new opinion last week by the attorney general that would have booted them.

Montana Freedom Caucus Chairman Jerry Schillinger tried to direct $600,000 of state money to a private company even after it lost the bid for a state contract.

Fitzpatrick, who ran unopposed for re-election in the Republican primary, called the decision from the attorney general a “total affront to the electoral process” and an “affront to democracy.”

The U.S. House approved a stopgap spending bill Tuesday that would keep the government up and running through the fall, sending it to the Senate, where lawmakers expect to rework the measure.

Precinct members write, "The executive board decided unilaterally on July 1st that suing the GOP party over its new bylaws was in everyone’s interest and by extension enlisted the entire committee as plaintiffs."

More Republican legislators are finding themselves on the outs with the Montana Republican Party ahead of the 2026 election — even those long considered hard-liners.

Public polling shows most voters are dissatisfied with President Donald Trump’s job performance and historically, the party not in the White House wins seats in the midterms.

U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke’s decision not to seek another term in the House left an open race for the Republican nomination in Montana’s western congressional district.