by Ken Toole | Jul 27, 2025 | Elections
Former Commissioner of Political Practices, Jeff Mangan, is organizing an effort to get big money out of our state politics
Responding to public frustration with the flood of dirty money in our politics, former Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan is working with a group that is proposing a ballot measure to restrict corporate contributions by amending the Montana Constitution. Titled the Transparent Election Initiative, supporters are currently working on the ballot language.
🔗 https://transparentelection.org/
Supreme Court Opens The Floodgates
In 2010, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The Court ruled that restrictions on campaign spending by corporations and unions violated the First Amendment’s protection of free speech. That decision opened the floodgates for dark money in our political process.
Since then, money from shadowy groups and secretive wealthy individuals has poured into elections. The Brennan Center reports that dark money peaked at $1.9 billion in federal races during the 2024 election cycle. It’s estimated that more than $300 million was spent here in Montana on the Tester–Sheehy Senate race—roughly $375 for every registered voter.
Montana Republicans and Dirty Money
In 2016, the recently elected chair of the Montana Republican Party, Art Wittich, was convicted of violating Montana campaign laws after failing to report nearly $20,000 spent in his legislative race in Gallatin County. That figure did not include additional money spent by “independent expenditure” groups promoting his candidacy. Wittich featured prominently in the 2018 documentary film Dark Money, which provided a detailed exposé of corruption in our political process.
🔗 https://www.acslaw.org/inbrief/prosecuting-dark-money-in-new-documentary/
We Did It Once. . . .
Montana is no stranger to corporate corruption and dirty money in elections. During the era of the Copper Kings in the late 1800s, widespread political corruption spurred citizens to act. A wave of progressive reforms led to the passage of four initiatives, culminating in the Direct Primaries Act and the Corrupt Practices Act of 1912. These laws prohibited corporate contributions to campaigns, regulated corporate expenditures in elections, and established direct primaries to limit party control of candidate nominations.
In 1972, the passage of the new Montana Constitution further embedded progressive reforms into state law. It enshrined every citizen’s right to participate in government and created mechanisms for direct democracy through ballot initiatives.
It’s a Matter of State’s Rights
The concept behind the Transparent Election Initiative is simple. The group proposes using the well-established power of the State of Montana to regulate corporate activity. In a series of 1979 decisions, the United States Supreme Court affirmed the authority of states to regulate corporations doing business within their borders. The Court stated:
“The first place one must look to determine the powers of corporate directors is in the relevant State’s corporation law… it is state law which is the font of corporate directors’ powers.”
The sad truth is that America has become an oligarchy where politics are for sale, and the highest bidders call the shots. Nothing will change until we get money out of the process. This effort is one way to begin doing that.
For more information, visit or follow:
Short Video:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL-WrMBT4vQ/
Website:
transparentelection.org
Related Resources:
- Corp Power v. Rights – TEI: Corporation Powers vs. Rights
- Montana History – Transparent Election Initiative
Social Media:
Send Contributions To:
Transparent Election Initiative
P.O. Box 1953
Helena, MT 59624
📞 406-430-7337
by Ken Toole | Jul 23, 2025 | Guest Articles
Guest Editorial from Anne Hedges, Director of the Montana Environmental Information Center
You can’t take your bird dog hunting on lands being mined or filled with oil rigs, even if they are “public” lands.
While Montanans were right to celebrate removing the sale of public lands from the recent Congressional budget bill, some may not know that our representatives still voted to put millions of acres of public lands on the chopping block. Selling public lands was just one of a dozen different ways that the billionaires’ budget bill privatized our public lands. Just try big game hunting, bird-watching, camping, hiking, or biking on public lands mined or fracked for corporate profit, and see how quickly you’re escorted away.
This is the bait-and-switch our elected representatives pulled on Montanans.
They crowed about removing provisions requiring the sale of public lands, but the new law mandates quarterly oil and gas lease sales on public lands, regardless of whether it makes economic sense. It slashes royalty rates, guaranteeing that the public does not receive the compensation it is due for public resources. It lets industry decide which land needs to be offered for oil and gas leasing – regardless of who else uses that land and for what purpose. It increases the duration of drilling permits so that companies can retain leases and tie up public lands for longer periods of time. And, appallingly, it reinstates the practice of allowing noncompetitive leases on public lands, ensuring that the public will not receive the true value of the public resources that are being given up.
But it gets worse. We know that coal mining has devastated huge swaths of public lands and waters that agricultural users depend on. However, instead of helping communities transition away from expensive, dirty coal towards cleaner energy, it incentivizes even more coal mining on public lands and slashes royalty payments for mining corporations. It expedites new coal leases and mining permits on public lands, even though coal mining is at historic lows and projected to continue declining. For example, the bill allows the notoriously corrupt Signal Peak mining company to mine more than 50 million tons of coal without consideration for the surface landowners whose water has been lost due to the mine’s operations.
And finally, the bill mandates the opening of four million acres of federal land to coal mining, without providing details about where those lands are, what resources they hold, or what the impacts may be.
In short, it’s a fire sale, thanks to our bait-and-switch congressional delegation. If they repeat the tired trope that they are trying to increase jobs or support “all-of-the-above energy,” I say hogwash. If that was true, they wouldn’t have gutted incentives that help create thousands of good-paying solar and wind jobs in Montana and across the country. And while our congressmen hide behind press releases hyping this new law, keep in mind that it will result in not only lost and destroyed public lands, but higher energy bills, increased wildfires, increased drought, more flash floods, and more intense heat waves.
A changing climate isn’t a conspiracy theory or a partisan issue; it’s a fact that we can and need to deal with. Heat waves are worsening, extreme weather is killing more people, and drought is reducing rivers such as the Dearborn to a trickle in June. This bill will set us back decades, so remember who to thank for making those problems worse now and in the future.
Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy and Reps. Ryan Zinke and Troy Downing, you’ve given us higher deficits, less public land, lower revenues, higher electric bills and more heat, wildfire and drought. You have jeopardized our public lands and our future for your rich friends’ profits.
We are definitely less safe thanks to you.
by Guest Writer | Jul 22, 2025 | Cascade County, Commissioners, ICE
Please join us in person or virtually for the Cascade County Commission meeting on Thursday @ 2 pm. We intend to make public comments about our disagreement with the use of Cascade County Dentention Center for the holding of ICE detainees from around the state. It is morally wrong, provides short term financial gain with long term consequences, and erodes public trust.
If you would like to call into this meeting, please dial
888-788-0099
Webinar ID : 895 8271 4948
Passcode : 411313
I will post a written script if you would prefer to copy and paste that into an email or the online form
Check out the discussion tab for some recent local new articles on the matter.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking time out of your day to attend or make a comment !
Where: 325 2nd Ave N, Room 105, Great Falls, MT 59401
Public · Anyone on or off Facebook
by Ken Toole | Jul 15, 2025 | City, E-City Beat Watch, Mayor, Public Library, Republicans
Mayor Cory Reeves is responding to criticism that he, and the City Commission, reduced funding for the library after the public voted to increase its budget. He wants us to buy his spin about his support for the decision to take funding from the library.
He starts his explanation with the following, “At no point did the City Commission “remove” any voter-approved library mills. That’s simply not true.” Then he explains, at great length, that the city simply renegotiated a reduction to an existing contract with the library. While denying that it had anything to do with the library mill levy which voters approved. Nor did he say much about the fact that money taken from the library was channeled to “public safety” after the voters failed to approve a much larger public safety mill levy request.
A remarkable bit of bureaucratic double speak. The library’s over-all budget, which included mills approved by the voters, was reduced. Funding from an existing contract with the city, which had been in place since 1993, was taken from the library and given to public safety activity, which had been rejected by the voters. Reeves’ effort to split hairs about the source of funds whether voted mills or existing contract is simply a ploy to avoid accountability now that he is running for re-election.
Put simply, the voters approved additional funding for the library. The voters rejected additional funding for public safety. The City Commission and Reeve’s then reduced the library’s funding and gave it to public safety.
But that’s not the whole story. As is often the case, when far-right culture warriors enter the electoral arena facts disappear and wild conspiracies theories take their place. This is especially true when libraries are involved. The library mill levy election was so contentious a judge ordered a special monitor to oversee the election to assure it was run competently and fairly. Thanks to the hard work of dedicated supporters of libraries the mill request passed. The opponents of the library temporarily retreated to their Freedom Caucus and Pachyderm Club meetings and focused on the internal fighting among Cascade County Republicans.
But here is the rub, unfortunately the majority of the city commission, including Mayor Reeves, is more aligned with the opponents of the library. And they used their power to take a pound of flesh out of the library. Ironically Reeves ended his spin about reducing the library’s budget with the following, “As mayor, I will always prioritize facts over spin, and I’ll continue to protect core services, public safety chief among them.”
The reduction to library funding smacked of political retribution and the “renegotiation” of the existing contract was a done deal before the parties even sat down at the table.
The Electric has provided an excellent time line about the library and public safety levies here. https://theelectricgf.com/2024/09/24/timeline-library-public-safety-levies/
by Ken Toole | Jul 11, 2025 | Republicans, Schools
Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Hedalen was arrested for driving under the influence in Belgrade on June 22.
The arresting officer reported observing Hedalen driving 50 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone. When her car approached an intersection, she reportedly cut off other motorists who had the right of way. After stopping her vehicle, the officer said he detected a strong odor of alcohol. In addition, he stated that Hedalen’s eyes were bloodshot and watery, she had a dazed expression, and she was slurring her speech.
According to court documents, Hedalen acknowledged having one glass of wine. She failed a field sobriety test and subsequently refused to take a breathalyzer test. She was transported to Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital for a blood test, which was sent to the Montana State Crime Lab for analysis.
Hedalen’s office released a statement saying:
“I apologize and take full responsibility for my lapse in judgment that led to this incident. I want to thank the Belgrade Police for their professionalism and commitment to public safety. As I move forward from this personal issue, it will in no way impact my service to the people of Montana.”
Her chief of staff clarified that she was not on state business at the time of the incident.
The Montana Democratic Party called for her resignation:
“Hedalen made a dangerous decision to put lives at risk, and we demand full accountability and believe she must step down immediately.”
The Montana Republican Party declined to comment.
It seems that quite a few Republican officials have had encounters resulting in arrests or criminal legal proceedings. Here’s a list of our previous posts:
Thank you to the Montana Free Press for its coverage of this story. Read the full article here:
https://montanafreepress.org/2025/06/30/hedalen-apologizes-after-dui-arrest/
