by Guest Writer | Oct 21, 2026 | Democrats, Elections, Independent
Guest Post By Russell Cleveland
U.S. Navy Veteran and Former Congressional Candidate
There is something the military teaches you about leadership that stays with you long after you take off the uniform.
You don’t abandon your post when things get difficult.
When tensions rise, when the bombs begin falling, when relationships are strained and the mission seems impossible, that is when leadership matters most. Not when victory seems certain, but when everything around you is being tested.
I’ve been thinking about that lesson following Shannon O’Brien’s resignation as chair of the Montana Democratic Party.
Let me be clear: This isn’t about supporting a Democrat or an independent candidate for the United States Senate. Montanans value independent thinking, and I respect everyone’s right to support the candidate they believe will best represent our state.
This is about the responsibility we accept when we ask others to trust us with leadership.
In September 2025, I proudly voted for Mike Jopek to lead the Montana Democratic Party and encouraged others to do the same. Not because I believed he would always make popular decisions, but because I believed he understood what our party desperately needed: rebuilding trust, reconnecting with working families, and restoring purpose to an organization that had lost its footing with too many Montanans.
My concerns about party leadership began long before this resignation.
In spring 2025, as I launched my congressional campaign, I approached O’Brien seeking guidance and a working relationship. Instead, I left disappointed by the lack of meaningful support and direction.
Later, during conversations about data center development, I understood from party leadership that pressure from organized labor discouraged candidates from publicly challenging certain developments, with union support potentially at stake.
I deeply respect organized labor. But supporting unions should never require candidates to surrender their independence or remain silent about issues affecting Montana communities. Leadership should help candidates navigate difficult conversations, not discourage them from having them.
Now, just weeks before an election, we face another test.
I recognize the complexity of Montana’s Senate race. A qualified, well-funded independent candidate has complicated an already difficult political landscape. But the responsibility of a state party chair was never limited to one Senate race.
Across Montana, dedicated Democratic candidates are sacrificing time with their families, knocking on doors, and fighting for communities they love. They deserve leadership that stands beside them, especially when circumstances become uncomfortable.
And the opportunity before Montana Democrats extends far beyond November.
Across America, political frustration has created an opening to reconnect with working people who feel abandoned by both parties. Montana families are struggling with housing, healthcare, wages, and the growing influence of wealthy interests over government.
We should be rebuilding relationships with ranchers, farmers, veterans, tradespeople, teachers, and small-business owners. Instead, too much energy has been consumed by internal conflict and political calculations.
I don’t question O’Brien’s right to follow her conscience, nor should her years of public service be dismissed. But compassion and accountability are not mutually exclusive.
Leadership carries obligations beyond personal preference.
I’ve spent much of my adult life building organizations, employing people, raising a family, and serving my community. I’ve made mistakes and faced criticism. But I’ve learned that leadership isn’t measured by how many people agree with you when things are easy.
It’s measured by whether people can count on you when things become difficult.
Montana Democrats can rebuild. But doing so requires humility, courage, and remembering that political parties exist to serve people, not preserve power.
To every candidate still knocking on doors, every volunteer still making calls, and every Montanan who believes public service can be honorable: Keep going.
Your work matters. Your communities matter.
Because when the mission becomes difficult, that isn’t the time to abandon your post.
It’s the time to remember why you volunteered to serve in the first place.
by Ken Toole | Oct 18, 2026 | Corruption, Elections, Independent
Careful What You Wish For . . .
The latest fad in American politics is candidates who claim to be independent of political parties. Conjuring images of potbellied, cigar-smoking party bosses from the late 19th century, these candidates proclaim that their only interest is in the welfare of the “average, everyday voter.” In truth, their only accountability is to the donors who pay their bills.
Frustration Is Generating More Interest in Independent Candidates
On the national level, more than 200 independents are running for the U.S. House and Senate, a record number. Even those of us who have been engaged in politics for years are sick of the bickering and badgering that have taken over our political system. The toxic influence of money has turned our political system into a hotbed of crony capitalism and cynical manipulation of public opinion.
While it appears that this surge of independent candidates is spontaneous, plenty of people in politics understand the potential power of a bloc of votes in Congress that does not align itself with either major political party. Many of those people are working to advance what has become known as the “Fulcrum Strategy.” The idea is that a small, disciplined bloc of independent or third-party legislators can control policy outcomes by tipping the balance of power between the political parties. It’s simple and potentially effective.
Probably the most prominent group supporting this strategy has been the Forward Party, founded in 2021 by former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, and businessman Michael Willner. Its slogan is Not Left, Not Right, Forward. On September 23 to 25 the Independent National Convention was held in Washington DC. Montana’s two independent candidates, Seth Bodnar and Michael Eisenhauer attended.
In this election cycle, others have joined the movement to promote independent candidates. Among those is the Independent Leadership Council which has been pouring money into Bodnar’s race. (See our previous post about Seth Bodnar’s participation in a group founded by Joe Manchin, the former independent senator from West Virginia: Seth Bodnar . . . Teaming Up With Joe Manchin?.)
Who Are Independent Candidates Really Accountable To?
Before jumping on the independent bandwagon, there are a few things to consider. First among them is this: How accountable to the “average, everyday voter” is an independent candidate?
The truth is that running for office, particularly federal office, is extremely expensive. The unprecedented maneuvering in our Senate race has been driven by money from political action committees and other “dark money” groups. Some of these groups are aligned with traditional partisan interests, while others represent players who are relatively new to politics. But all of these donors expect something in return for their investment in candidates. That is true of independents, Republicans, and Democrats alike.
No matter what you think about our major political parties, they provide mechanisms for holding candidates and officeholders accountable beyond the cold, hard cash. Both parties have local central committees populated by volunteers who live in the communities they represent. These local organizations often provide many of the volunteers who form the backbone of local and statewide campaigns.
Both parties have written rules and by-laws which govern their activities. They hold conventions to elect officers and develop positions on issues they care about. These conventions are open to party members. Both parties also develop platforms of positions on various issues at member conventions that are available to the public. None of this exists for independent candidates or officeholders.
It’s worth noting that the current controversy within the Montana Democratic Party is not unique to Democrats. Republicans are mired in an internal blood feud that has been going on for years and virtually paralyzed the last legislature. Despite Republicans’ electoral success in Montana, they are failing to govern effectively. (See our previous posts on the Republican Party: There’s Nothing New About This Montana Republican Party and Dispatches From the Republican Civil War.)
Our Democratic Leaders Blew It In This Election
We’re not blind to the problems with our two-party system. The United States Supreme Court dealt a death blow to our political system with the Citizens United decision, which opened the floodgates to a torrent of dirty money flowing into elections. The reality is that we now do our political work under an authoritarian regime run for and by oligarchs. The next two elections may be our last chance to change what looks like a very dark future. And our Democratic leaders, people rank and file Montana Democrats have supported for years, blew it in this election. Hopefully, the rest of the country can do better.
The solution is not to create a cabal of nonaligned “independent” players who broker political deals with relatively little public engagement. Far better to strengthen and unify the traditional system, which has worked imperfectly for decades, and to get the massive amounts of money out of our political process.
by Guest Writer | Oct 14, 2026 | Democrats, Independent
By Bill Lombardi
Montana’s modern identity is forged from a gritty libertarian toughness conjured from personal freedom, self-reliance and rugged individualism that sneers at those who cave to collective thought and bow to the powerful establishment.
So, welcome to the 2026 U.S. Senate race in Montana.
When former University of Montana President Seth Bodnar decided to run as an “independent” for the U.S. Senate, he and his team made a grave strategic error – they failed to account for human nature in politics.
Bodnar derides Democrats and Republicans as beholden to some mysterious cabal of insiders, elites and party bosses who he alleges pull the strings of partisans. Bodnar’s team, ironically, is composed mostly of Democratic insiders, elites and party bosses.
Other than opposing party politics, Bodnar has failed to outline what independents stand for. Meanwhile, a handful of Democratic establishment figures have tagged the Democratic Party brand as toxic. They unilaterally made the decision to wave the flag of political surrender and run from the Democratic Party to win by dressing their candidate – Bodnar – in independent garb.
The result: Bodnar and his backers angered a significant slice of Democratic voters and workers who have fought for decades for Montanans and now will never vote for him.
The physics of emotion holds that if you insult and hit someone, expect to be insulted and hit back. And expect not to be liked. Politics is driven as much or more by emotion rather than logic and reason.
The heart in politics is stronger than the mind; it’s the engine room that beats strongly enough to keep political hope alive. Changing the hearts and transforming the minds of Montana Democrats is something that can’t be done without the political spadework – persuasion and grassroots organizing – that Bodnar folks failed to do.
After disparaging partisanship as bad, Bodnar supporters chose to aggressively bully the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee and her supporters to try to force her to drop out of the race and back him.
Democrats who backed Bodnar assumed that more Montana Democrats would simply roll over, without question, and commit to support an independent while rejecting the Democratic nominee. The arrogance of these Bodnar supporters made Democrats recoil and strike back, and to refuse to go along with this insider political trading powered by billionaires, Dark Money and trickery.
Bodnar and his supporters now have resorted to tearing down the Democratic nominee to try to gain Democratic votes in an election landscape that’s now favorable to the party.
But enough Montana Democrats pushed back in disgust, and most importantly, Senate nominee Alani Bankhead, refused to capitulate to these ham-handed bullying tactics and remained in the race.
As one national journalist remarked, “I like Montana Democrats: They’re feisty.”
And, whether you like it or not, Bankhead won the Montana Democratic Senate primary.
As part of some national experiment, Democrats in other states – Nebraska, Idaho and South Dakota – surrendered, and candidates who won the Democratic primary stepped aside for so-called independents who were former Democrats. They gave up – quit.
Bodnar’s strategy won’t work in Montana, where citizens revere freedom and exhibit a populist streak of independence from the elites and outside powers.
Why? Because it’s hard to whack a Montana Democrat in the head and expect them to like you – and, no less, vote for you. They’d rather fight than quit.
Stay feisty, my Democratic friends.
Bill Lombardi lives in Seeley Lake.
by Ken Toole | Oct 11, 2026 | Appraisal, Corporations, Taxes
This post is from WTF406.com’s archives. You can see other archived posts by searching on a name or topic on WTF406.com’s landing page. Please hit the subscribe button if you are not already a subscriber. This post ran on May 16, 2025.
In this post we are focusing on the games large corporations play on property taxes and “appraised values.” We’ve already written about Calumet’s shenanigans in receiving reductions in property taxes with the help and support of local Republican legislator Steve Fitzpatrick and Attorney Kim Beatty, wife of the Director of the Department of Revenue. https://wtf406.com/2025/04/calumets-got-lawyers-and-politicians/
The Goal of All Property Appraisal is to Establish the Market Value Of The Property
The first step in determining how much you will owe in property taxes is determined by the appraised value of your home, land, business, or rental. That value is determined by the Montana Department of Revenue’s appraisal process. The most common way the Department of Revenue determines the value of your home is to identify comparable property in your area that has sold. It is determining the “market value” by looking at sales of similar property.
Three Methods of Appraisal to Determine How Much a Property Is Worth
It is harder to find “comparable sales” for large industrial facilities like Calumet, because they do not sell as often and there are far fewer of them to use as comparisons. There are other ways to establish the market value. In addition to the comparable sales method, there is also the “cost approach” which adds the cost of land, buildings and other improvements and adjusts for condition of facilities to determine the total value. The third method is the “income approach.” In this system the appraiser looks at the income and expenses generated by the property. Calumet and other refineries are generally appraised using the “cost approach.”
Here’s The Game They Play. . .
If a property owner does not agree with the Department of Revenue’s appraisal, there is an appeal process through the Montana Tax Appeals Board. That process allows the Department of Revenue and the appellant (say, Calumet) to negotiate a voluntary settlement. Calumet and other refineries in Montana routinely appeal their valuations and routinely enter settlements with the Department of Revenue which result in lowering their taxes. None of the negotiation meetings are public. And when their taxes are lowered, your taxes go up. For a complete explanation of how this works, follow the link below. https://dailymontanan.com/2023/07/26/big-corporations-get-tax-benefits-while-montana-resident-get-higher-property-taxes/
2012 Showdown In A Legislative Committee
Dan Bucks, the Department of Revenue Director under former Governor Brian Schweitzer, refused to play this game. Instead, he defended the appraised values by the Department of Revenue rather than entering settlements. Not surprisingly, big corporate taxpayers, like refineries, didn’t like Buck’s approach. In September 2012, three refineries attempted to set him up in front of the legislative interim committee on Revenue and Transportation in a failed attempt to apply political pressure.
At the same time, Connacher Oil and Gas Limited, the previous owners of the Great Falls refinery, reached a deal with Calumet to sell the refinery for $120 million. That purchase established the actual market value of the refinery. The Department of Revenue had appraised the value of the refinery at $70 million, and Connacher Oil had appealed that appraisal, arguing it was too high even though it was $50 million below the actual purchase price paid by Calumet. Below is an audio clip of Bucks explaining the issue to the legislative committee.
https://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00309/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20120914/-1/20693?startposition=20120914072325&mediaEndTime=20120914072507&viewMode=3&globalStreamId=4
Our Local Elected Officials Need to Represent Us, not Big Corporations
Too often local elected officials pander to these big corporations. Beware of politicians who talk about the economic benefits of “industrial development.” Too often we get taxes shifting more and more to residential and small business and underfunded public services. We need more people in government like Dan Bucks. We won’t get them if we (the public) don’t demand that the tax system is equitable and transparent and companies like Calumet pay their fair share.
by Guest Cartoonist | Oct 9, 2026 | Elections
Guest Cartoonist, John Moore
October 9, 2026
