by Ken Toole | Mar 15, 2024 | Elections
Let’s start with a little definition of terms used in this Post.
Far-Right Republicans– Republicans who advocate ideas and policies which are coming from extreme groups like the Freedom Caucus and local Pachyderm Club. They are driven by conspiracy theories including rhetoric about the “Deep State” and stolen elections. The Galloways, Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci, Sheriff Jesse Slaughter and County Commissioner Rae Grulkowski are in this group. Also known as Tin Foil Hat Republicans
Corporate Republicans– Republicans who generally fit into the more traditional frame of Republicanism. They promote privatization of public services and institutions, deregulation of industry, and cutting taxes. Fitzpatrick, McKamey, Buttrey, Nikolakos, Commissioners Briggs and Larson, Republican Central Committee Chair Eric Hinebauch are in this group. Also known as Corporate Lapdog Republicans.
If you follow local politics in Cascade County, you are probably aware of the feuds within the local Republican Party. We’re not going to go into in much detail here, but we provide this quote from Matthew Monforton, Republican activist, former legislator, and attorney who was representing the Far-Right Republicans here in a lawsuit over control of the Republican Central Committee in 2019. “What it comes down to is, there’s a group of fake Republicans in Cascade County that are really Democrats, but they know they can’t get elected to office as Democrats. Their goals are vastly different than those of the Republican Party.”
https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2019/02/05/tensions-gop-threaten-boil-over-county-committee-fights-steve-fitzpatrick-sheridan-buck-monforton/2782214002/
A quick look at the filing for this election cycle indicates that the feud is still going. There is a contested Republican primary in every legislative district except one. Equally telling, only one current legislator and Corporate Republican, Steve Fitzpatrick, does not face a primary challenger. Also interesting that four Libertarians have filed.
To our readers who are gleefully rubbing their hands together over the discord within the Republican ranks, we have to say, “not so fast.” The truth is that contested primaries make for stronger candidates in the general election cycle. They have already been raising money, meeting voters, buying materials and garnering media attention, and they bring those assets with them to the general election.
So, we leave you with a little unverified gossip. Word is that Far-Right Republican legislator Steven Galloway recruited James Whitaker to challenge incumbent George Nikolakos in House District 22. Nikolakos was so angry that he got his wife to file against Steven Galloway at the last minute. We don’t know if this is the real story, but we do know that Melissa Nikolakos filed against Galloway on the last day to file at 3:38 p.m. Hmmm.
HD 19
Jane Weber- D
Hannah Trebas – R
Darren Auger- R
HD 20
Rina Moore – D
Steven Galloway-R
Melissa Nikolakos-R
HD 21
Lela Graham-D
ED Buttrey-R
James Osterman-R
Joshua Rosles-L
HD 22
Ronald Paulick- D
George Nikolakos-R
James Whitaker- R
HD 23
Sandor Hopkins-D
Pete Anderson- R
John Proud-R
Josh Denully- R
Kevin Leatherbarrow- L
HD 24
Steve Fitpatrick- R
Annie Leatherbarrow- L
HD 25
James Rickley- D
Darren Auger- R
Steve Gist- R
Loui Salinas- L
SD 13
Lola Galloway-R
Joshua Cashmier- R
by Ken Toole | Mar 15, 2024 | Guest Articles
If you are interested in what it was like growing up with Montana Historian K. Ross Toole, the formation of the Montana Human Rights Network, the fight against electric deregulation, the extremism of the Gianforte administration and the Cult of Trump, you might want to check out this podcast with Russell Rowland interviewing Ken Toole.
Episode Eleven – Ken Toole – by Russell Rowland (substack.com)
by Ken Toole | Mar 6, 2024 | Elections
In an unprecedented move, Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen weighed in on Cascade County’s hiring process to fill an open election administrator position. The move by Jacobsen casts further doubt on the selection process in the County. The action provides further evidence of the corruption and incompetence of Republicans in our state and county.
WTF406.com has written extensively on the mess in the Clerk and Recorder’s office after Sandra Merchant was elected. Due to Merchant’s incompetence, the county commission removed election duties from her office and began the process of hiring a qualified employee to administer elections. Four finalists were interviewed by the three commissioners, and Terry Thompson was selected. Two other candidates, Rina Moore and Lynn Deroche, were passed over despite having much more experience and training for the position. Each had approximately 16 years of experience administering elections. WTF406 and others objected to the process, because Merchant’s crony Commissioner Rea Grulkowski participated in the selection process despite being directed by county resolution not to participate in decisions affecting the election office.
Now, thanks to excellent reporting by The Electric, we find out that Republican Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen weighed in on the hiring decision. Specifically, in an email from a state email account dated February 14th to county commissioners, Jacobsen wrote, “please do not hire Ms. Moore or a member of her administration as Cascade County’s Election Administrator. Doing so would directly undermine the voters of Cascade County, among other reasons.”
The Electric followed up on the story after observing Merchant and Grulkowski going into the Secretary of State’s office on March 1st. The Electric requested information from Merchant and Grulkowski about the reason for the meeting and whether public funds were used in their trip to Helena. They did not respond.
County Commissioners Joe Briggs and Jim Larson both said that they were surprised by Jacobsen’s email but both added that it did not affect their decision, because it was a scored “structured” hiring process. That may or may not be true, but Grulkowski also scored the applicants and her score alone was likely enough to jimmy the system in favor of Terry Thompson. And if we know anything about Rea Grulkowski, it is that she does whatever she pleases without regard for the rules and law.
So the liability for the county (and us taxpayers) continues to mount thanks to the arrogance of Grulkowski and her far right allies in their effort to control elections in Cascade County. Both Rina Moore and Lynn DeRoche would have had strong political belief discrimination complaints before the Jacobsen email. Now those complaints would be even stronger, and the state of Montana can also be brought into any legal action.
by Ken Toole | Mar 6, 2024 | Elections
Most people in Great Falls know that the Department of Justice Driver’s License Services office relocated to the old Interstate Bank building at 1401 Market Place Drive last year. But they probably don’t know that the building being leased by the State is owned by TJBBPHASEP LLC. Never heard of it? Neither had we. Turns out that the “registered agent” for this corporation is Steven Galloway and the address is Steven and Lola Sheldon-Galloway’s.
The building in question used to be a bank but has been vacant for a long time. The only use it has seen recently has been to host the local Republican Pachyderm Club. We assume the Pachyderms didn’t pay for use of the building since the Galloways are leaders in the Club. The new lease sent the Pachyderms packing to a new location and Galloways with a significant increase in income.The terms of the new lease provides a five year term at $6,900 per month or $82,000 per year. It also allows a 2% annual increase. The term of the lease is five years. Don’t run for your calculator. The total gross income from the lease, payable to Galloway’s shell corporation, is $410,000. Information WTF406.com obtained from the Department of Justice shows that they only considered one other location, which actually cost less per foot, but was eliminated for other reasons. That information also indicates that the Department began drafting the Galloway lease before the final numbers came in from the other bidder.
We have written before about Steven Galloway’s habit of introducing legislation which benefits his business interests. https://wtf406.com/2023/01/galloway-attacks-renters-rights/. We have also examined the property he and Lola Sheldon-Galloway own around Great Falls. https://wtf406.com/2022/11/cascade-countys-right-wing-royalty-the-house-of-galloway/
To be clear, we have no reason to accuse the Galloways of breaking any laws (we don’t have enough information for that). But being in the legislature sure doesn’t hurt when you are in a competitive bidding process for doing business with the State.
It is common for some legislators to introduce bills that help their bottom line. See our article on Senator Jeremy Trebas https://wtf406.com/2023/04/the-continuing-saga-of-senator-trebas-dirty-real-estate-deal/
But it raises a question. Are they there to represent us or their own pocket books?
by Jasmine Taylor | Mar 2, 2024 | E-City Beat Watch
Jeni Dodd, our favorite cosplay patriot, also seems to be one of our most devoted readers. If I make a typo or forget a comma, Jeni is sure to let me know. As What The Funk is a volunteer-based project, it’s great to have a volunteer-editor like Jeni to let me know when I mess up. Today, I want to thank Jeni for pointing out an error I made in a previous article, and the error was certainly bigger than a misspelling. I incorrectly identified Beth Cummings as the latest hire at the elections office. My mistake, and my apologies to Beth Cummings.
I should have identified Beth Cummings as one of the lead plaintiffs in a failed lawsuit attacking the library levy. I’ve updated the article to reflect the correction: https://wtf406.com/2024/02/ecb-hatesphilanthropy/
To understand important context, we have to back up to last year. The library mill levy was on the ballot. Sandra Merchant’s numerous mistakes resulted in the court appointing an election monitor to ensure the election ran smoothly and lawfully. As we previously reported, “volunteers” working in the elections office during the library mill levy were allegedly distributing anti-library materials while volunteering.
Well, the library levy passed, despite the misinformation campaign propagated by the far-right. Shortly after its passing, a lawsuit was filed attempting to keep the library from implementing those mills. One of the lead plaintiffs in that lawsuit? Beth Cummings.
Just this week, a judge threw that lawsuit out. Importantly, the judge explicitly states that it appears the plaintiffs (ie Cummings) had no actual legal dispute, were aware of such, and were simply angry about the results.
Read The Electric article here: https://theelectricgf.com/2024/02/28/judge-dismisses-lawsuit-against-city-over-library-election/
The articles states,
“In her order, issued Feb. 27, Perry dismissed the case, writing, ‘although their filings are detailed and generally well organized, every one of their legal arguments is wrong. They are consistently mistaken about which sections of law actually apply to the instant matter, misread and misapply controlling precedent, and generally find fault where no fault actually exists or any error was clearly harmless. It is difficult to read their filings and come away with any impression other than that this action is a thinly veiled attempt to undo an election result they dislike rather than a truly justified complaint about a mishandled or otherwise legally problematic election.”
Huge thank you to Jeni for bringing this mistake to my attention.
As to Jeni’s other arguments in her piece, we anticipated E City Beat’s lame defense of their story about the library levy campaign. In fact, we addressed it in our own article. As to Jeni’s other assertions about the levy, these claims were already addressed in court, as mentioned above.
