The 2025 municipal election season is over so how did Great Falls do? First the new law passed by Montana Republicans in 2025 to require the addition of the voter’s birth year on the ballots with their signature led to a huge number of ballots being rejected.
- In the 2023 Great Falls Municipal Election, 204 ballots were rejected.
- In 2025, there were 563 ballots rejected.
While some of the rejected ballots were able to be corrected (“cured”) by the deadline of the 5 PM the day after Election Day, over 309 ballots were not resolved in Cascade County. Meaning 309 voters didn’t have their votes counted. Wow. This is consistent with the higher rejection rates seen around our state with thousands of ballots rejected.
Now we know that the new Birth Year Ballot law is working as intended. Spreading confusion, discouraging voters, and damaging trust in the electoral process. On top of that, it interferes with the work of our elections officials and reduces voter privacy. What a delight! Thanks so much Montana GOP* for your continued efforts to undermine elections! *(The House Bill 719 passed on a party line vote with no Democrats supporting it during the 2025 Montana Legislature).
How about the Election Results Themselves?
Here there are:
MAYOR
- Cory Reeves: 11,650 (71.0%)
- Jasmine Taylor: 4,416 (26.91%)
- Write-In: 57
CITY COMMISSION
- Pete Anderson: 5,249 (16.0%)
- Joe McKenney: 8,756 (26.7%)
- Matt Pipinich: 5,614 (17.1%)
- Casey Schreiner: 8,578 (26.1%)
- Write-In: 111
FIREWORKS
- Yes (limit): 8,781 (53.5%)
- No (do not limit): 7,294 (44.4%)
Well to be honest, the results weren’t what I was hoping for. But it could have been worse!
The Good News
We did not elect Pete Anderson to the City Commission after he proposed a homeless island where homeless people would be used as revenue-generating “tourist attraction” making international headlines. The bar is in the ground and we cleared it! Let’s continue to keep out the crazies. And newly elected commissioner, Casey Schreiner, is a solid addition to the Great Falls City Commission.
The Meh News
Joe McKenney and Cory Reeves were both incumbents so their re-elections look like more of the same. A commission that seems to lack vision for fiscal responsibility with the growing deficit of the local aquatic center, a 27% utility rate hike, refusal to issue proclamations on LGBTQ rights and breast feeding, yanking of funding from our library after voters passed a levy trying to increase library funding and so much more. It’s a slow motion trainwreck as the current commission runs our city into the ground.
Thank you Jasmine, Matt, and Casey
Thankfully Jasmine Taylor challenged Cory Reeves and didn’t let him run unopposed. Her candidacy helped elevate the issues our city faces such as the Calumet tax protest situation, lack of support for the public library, and so forth. Thank you Jasmine Taylor, Matt Pipinich, and Casey Schreiner for offering a different vision for our city. A city of growth and embrace of diversity. We sure deserve better than this wishy-washy city commission untethered to moral ground as they make too many decisions based on their biases and supporters’ opinions. How about doing the right thing, not the easy thing? Maybe explain to citizens why a move is necessary even if it goes against your kneejerk surface values? What a world that would be…where politicians had a backbone and actually walked the walk of their values.
What’s Next?
Should progressives give up all hope and accept that the right-wing takeover of our town is insurmountable? Um, HELL NO. Change is in the wind. We all saw it on Election night. Although things didn’t go left in Great Falls, they RAN left in national news. Virginia, New Jersey, New York City, what an impressive rejection of the national politics led by trumple-thin-skin. It takes effort to move the pendulum left, and that means persistence. Let’s Keep Going.
Adding the Birth Year Ballot law was self-explanatory. If a voter couldn’t figure it out, they shouldn’t be voting.
The people did not vote on the library dollars provided by the city; only the levy amount. Many voters didn’t even realize the city funds were in addition to the levy until after the fact. The University of Providence seems to be facing a similar loss of funding but, in a much larger amount.
Who are the extremists who are in the legislature in Great Falls? Let’s call out the legislators who do stupid bills like this one. We have the same problem with the extremists and hard-line right crazies like Theresa Manzella and her mini-me, Kathy Love from Ravalli County. These two can cause more grief, disharmony, and division than Art wittich, the Montana GOP chair handing out ‘unity’ orders while duct-taping half the party’s mouths shut.”
In Great Falls one would be Emreck. Not just an extremist but a nut job!
Oh great! Now every weasel loser MAGA, including those on our City Commission, can make a few bucks by turning in us “terrorists.” I’m sure Commissioner Strapon is making a list and checking it twice, he being the consummate weasel.
This is getting beyond ridiculous. Anything not MAGA is considered terrorism. Wonder how that’s gonna fly? In any event pretty scary stuff. I don’t know about you all, but I am guilty of most of the reputed offenses on Trump’s list. Gonna need lots more gulags for us anti-Christian, anti-Trump, LBGTQ accepting folks! Maybe mayor Pillsbury Proud Boy can proclaim Nazi month in Great Falls as he fights to defund our library. Lots of anti-MAGA stuff between them walls! Can’t wait to see the flag he flies over city Hall!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mub9zLwSUOQ
Are you a Bondi terrorist? Could be. But I’m still waiting for some in city government to publicly swear on the Holy Bible that they haven’t violated any of the “ MAGA traditional views on family, religion, and morality!” Especially the one about not committing adultery! That sin seems to violate all three! Many would consider these malefactors unworthy to preach from the pulpit of the city commission table if they’re unable to swear that oath. In other words, put the rumors to rest before lecturing the rest of us on morality and patriotism. I’ll even bring the Bible!
Among the “anti-American sentiments” Bondi enumerates are anti-Christianity, anti-capitalism, “adherence to radical gender ideology,” “hostility towards traditional views on family, religion, and morality” and “views in favor of mass migration and open borders.”
https://crooksandliars.com/2025/12/pam-bondi-plans-treat-anti-trump-activists
Oh happy day! The Trump regime has now made it official. Bigotry has been codified! Now, when Mayor Pillsbury Proud Boy denigrates minorities of pretty much any stripe, he can do so knowing he has the full weight of Trump’s DOJ backing him up! Below I’ve included a list of all the banned words that government folks can no longer use, and Cory will be pleased as punch to know that the dreaded gender words are all on there! Also Native too! Can’t leave out our Indian friends!
So, what I suggest is that Cory post these prominently in the room for city commission meetings. Then, when speakers stray into the banned words area, as you know they will, they can be immediately reminded that those words are no longer acceptable in a public forum. And for good measure and to make him feel important, I suggest we give Commissioner Strapon a buzzer to buzz any time he hears an offensive word! It’s a perfect job for him.
So in order to facilitate an orderly MAGA meeting, please familiarize yourself with the following objectionable words so as to not get the treaded buzz!
https://www.instagram.com/p/DSC6gKyClvy/?img_index=1
And to put a finer point on it, expect a visit from the FBI if you get buzzed for doing any of the following. When asked if I had, I just replied all of the above! Gettin’ pretty weird out there. Strapon’s gonna get carpal tunnel in his buzzer finger!
Things Bondi will investigate you for:
]nti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity … extremism on migration, extremism on race, extremism on gender, hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on religion, and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on morality.”
Have you ever spoken ill of our country or its policies, particularly under Trump?Trash-talked capitalism or praised socialism on social media?Publicly questioned Christianity or professed loyalty to Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Paganism, or any other non-Christian belief system or religion?Embraced the trans or more general queer community?Spoken out in defense of single-parenting, gay marriage, or same-sex couples adopting children?Said things or carried a sign that might hurt the feelings of masked ICE agents, Trump, or Kristi Noem?
Let’s continue to keep out the crazies.
The biggest problem I have with electing MAGAs to our city commission is that they simply lack the intelligence, sophistication, and education required to make the best decisions for our community. If someone like Bret Doney attaches the words “progress” or “economic development” to even the most insane, bizarre, destructive proposals, lapdog commissioners breathlessly slobber out the meaningless phrase “we’re moving Great Falls forward!” What the hell does that even mean? Forward to what?
For example, our lapdogs appeared nearly orgasmic when they heard that a data center was proposed for GF, not even being remotely aware that these things were being vigorously rejected by communities throughout the country for being the complete antithesis to good growth and development. And this comes a result of their total incompetence and lack of qualifications for office. And as a result, we suffer their bad decisions. Do they really not read!
We could have elected a woman for mayor with an advanced degree in public administration. Instead, we chose a guy who loafed through his career on the public dole as a cop, which hardly is prepares one to lead a city. And as long as we fail to realize that elections have very real consequences for our lives and pocket books, we’ll continue being easy marks for every con artist industry that needs a tax break and more of our hard earned dollars. That is no way to run a city. They get the gold, and we get the privilege of subsidizing all their infrastructure with none of the supposed tax breaks that are supposed to come from continual growth.
Hence, whenever a new scam happens along, we’re in trouble. We managed through vigorous public effort to reject the proposed slaughter plant. No sooner was that gone and then along comes the data center. Thank God that abomination appears to be history too. Not sure Great Falls will ever learn it’s lesson though. Our commissioners put on their short skirts and grab their pompons, and become ardent cheerleaders for every new car wash, casino, credit Union, chain restaurant, hotel and corporate boondoggle looking for a free ride that comes along! We need to do better.
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/michi-trota/115683/the-public-pays-the-price-for-big-tech-s-data-centers
As trump attempts to remove data centers form ANY regulations, either state or federal, I think it’s vital that we remind our local jokels on the commission that these things are NOT in any sense economic development. Anything but. They are an economic nightmare! And I know these jokers are not fond of reading or even minimally literate, so I will provide them with a video about data centers. Maybe Bret Doney could watch it with them!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-8TDOFqkQA