by Ken Toole | Jan 10, 2026 | Democrats, Elections, Republicans
Some political consultant types are working to hand the next election to Steve Daines. We all know that beating Steve Daines in the next election will be tough, but if there was ever an election cycle where Democrats had a chance of beating an incumbent Republican Senator in a red state, it is the 2026 election.
Trump’s increasingly erratic behavior combined with his callous disregard for the welfare of the country may well be wearing thin, even with his normally staunch supporters in the Republican Party. He is mired in a sex scandal, his economic program is driving up prices, he has unleashed masked thugs on the American public, and he has turned to foreign military actions in Venezuela, which angers some in his “America First” base.
Trump’s poll numbers are dropping. Recently Marjorie Taylor Greene abandoned him. Seventeen Republican members of the U.S. House abandoned him to vote to extend the ACA subsidies. Five Republican Senators voted against him in passing the War Powers Act Resolution. But the Montana delegation, and particularly Steve Daines, are “all in” with Trump. . . .and Daines is on the ballot in 2026. Trump could prove to be a political liability.
Enter the consultant class in Montana. Tired of losing elections they have concluded that the problem is the Democratic “brand.” Of course it could be that consultants and pollsters don’t know what they are doing and Democrats are in the mess they are in because they have been listening to consultants for far too long. No doubt they have polling that shows a Democrat just can’t win. Their solution is simple. Dump the Democrats and run for the middle of the road as “independents.” They do all of that while pointing fingers at the “extremists” in the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, they are finding support among frustrated groups and individuals who blame electoral losses on the Democratic Party.
This is not a new idea. The problem is, it doesn’t work. In 2022 the “ideal” independent candidate surfaced in the Eastern District Congressional race for investment advisor, Gary Buchanan of Billings. Buchanan had worked in Republican (Racicot) and Democratic (Schwinden) administrations on economic development. He was a well established presence in the business community and was known for his moderate positions on issues. In the election he was running against a relatively unknown Democrat named Penny Ronning and the controversial Freedom Caucus Republican incumbent, Matt Rosendale.
Rosendale raised a little over $2 million, Buchanan raised about $500,000 and Ronning raised around $175,000. In the final vote count, Rosendale won with 57% of the vote. Buchanan only garnered 22% of the vote, barely beating Democrat Ronning’s total of 20%, despite having more than twice as much money.
Another telling independent campaign failure in Montana occurred during the 2024 election for Public Service Commission District #4 in the northwest corner of the state. In that race Republican incumbent, Jennifer Fielder, faced a challenge from independent candidate, Elena Evans. Evans raised around $50,000. In addition an “independent committee”, the Montana Ratepayers Association, reported spending nearly $500,000 for the race to support Evans and defeat Fielder. Fielder raised around $12,000. Despite the fact that the independent outspent the Republican and an unprecedented amount of money was spent by a dark money group supporting her, Evans received only 47% of the vote.
Independent presidential candidate Ross Perot received about 26% of the vote in Montana in 1992. Ralph Nader received 1.3% of the vote when he ran for president as an independent in 2004 and .75% when he ran again in 2008. For a complete listing of the performance of independents running in legislative races, follow this link (spoiler alert–none have won) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_third-party_and_independent_performances_in_Montana_state_legislative_elections?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Two ballot measures which were predicated on taking advantage of people’s frustration with the two party system and implementing changes to our election process in the 2024 election – CI-126 and CI-127 (inaccurately referred to as the open primary initiatives) – failed by 51.1% and 60.4% respectively. This despite the fact that the campaign supporting them was well organized and well funded and there was no organized opposition.
The consulting group managing the ballot measures was a group called Fireweed. PSC candidate, Elena Evans, paid them at least $21,000 of the total she raised for her campaign. And rumor has it that Fireweed and others are approaching the Democratic Party about rule changes that would facilitate the party election of independent candidates.
Of course most people say they are fed up with the two party system. Polling routinely shows relatively large numbers of people who self identify as independents. But that does not show up clearly in voting trends. If split ticket voting is any indication of party loyalty, or lack of it, it appears that Montana voters are becoming more partisan. A recent analysis of split ticket voting done by the Montana Free Press relied on data from one researcher who said that some split ticket rates dropped from 20% in 2018 to 8% last year. https://montanafreepress.org/2025/12/08/how-has-ticket-splitting-changed-in-montana/
Having an independent candidate, particularly a strong independent candidate as envisioned by the proponents of this idea, is dumping cold water on all down ticket Democrats on the ballot. Traditionally, Democrats in local, legislative and state-wide offices have benefitted from the campaigns at the top of the ticket. . .the so-called “coattail effect.” An independent at the top of the ticket will be punching down every time he is asked, “Why didn’t you run as a Democrat?” One can only hope that the Democrats running for other offices are paying careful attention to this effort.
So, now the rumor getting all the buzz in Helena hallways is that there is a group, paid political consultants (ie Fireweed) and others, promoting a run by University of Montana President Seth Bodner as an independent against Daines. Doing so would virtually hand this election to Steve Daines. The best they could achieve is to split the anti-Daines vote between the Democrat and the Independent. In the process they further weaken the Montana Democratic Party. It’s hard to understand how all of these so-called smartest people in the room come up with these harebrained schemes.
by Helena Lovick | Dec 6, 2025 | City, Elections
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.
Vote Box Vectors by Vecteezy
by WTF 406 Staff | Oct 20, 2025 | City, Elections, Mayor
Great Falls, Mont.
[[Jasmine Taylor has stepped away from the blog, and she was not consulted or informed about this article.]]
About a week ago, Great Falls Mayoral Candidate Jasmine Taylor posted a video on her candidate page showcasing the hate language she has to deal with as a female candidate. https://www.tiktok.com/@montana_jasmine/video/7559640921394973965
Honestly, the comments are pretty sickening. Women face extra hate speech when they step up and run for office. In 2008, when Hillary Clinton was running for president in the Democratic primary against Barack Obama, the dudebros were chanting “make me a sandwich” at her rallies and worse. Things haven’t improved much for women since then, as recently as last year someone with Great Falls license plates was driving around with a “Joe and the Hoe” bumper sticker. Why are they calling Kamala Harris a Hoe?? Not misogynistic at all, people!
Great Falls Mayor Cory Reeves Eggs on Attacks
Jasmine Taylor’s opponent, Great Falls Mayor Cory Reeves, likes to egg on the attacks on Jasmine Taylor. He posts half truths and misleading information about Jasmine, and lets the trolls say hateful things about her with no push back from him.
Aside: If you didn’t know, Cory, you can (a) block comments from hateful people on your posts, (b) respond to the comments and ask them to stop, or even better (c) don’t encourage their attitude in the first place!
Mud Slinging 101
For example, on the topic of “throwing mud”…see a classic instance of Cory throwing mud in his post from September 23rd that we wrote about here.
Recently Cory shared an AI-generated video he saw posted by the Montana Resistance Facebook page. In the post Cory asserted that Jasmine Taylor supports the “false” video “involving kids.”
But what does he deem as her support for the video? The fact that it is not flattering to Cory? Jasmine does not run the Montana Resistance page, and she did not generate the video. The video shows AI-generated children examining a Homophobic Mayor of Great Falls costume that “says it comes with diversion of library funds and higher utility rates!” How is that false? Cory has repeatedly made announcements that he refuses to make a proclamation in support of Pride Month (homophobic). Cory has diverted library funds out of a long-standing city contract agreement after the library levy passed (diversion of library funds), and Cory has voted to raise our city utility rates by 27% (higher utility rates). WHERE IS THE “FALSE” PART?
Facebook keyboard warriors commented on Cory’s post to say the AI-generated video that Jasmine didn’t create or support was “literally…disgusting and disgraceful of her!”; “How old is that girl Jazabell [sic]….she is a girl right?”; and so on. You get the picture.
Cory Can’t Handle Criticism
It’s ironic that Cory encourages criticism and attacks on Jasmine when he, himself, cannot handle the mildest of criticism. Several people have personally relayed to us that when they questioned Cory on his stance on certain issues, or criticized him in any way, he reacted by becoming excessively defensive and aggressively attacking them. Three different individuals shared details about conversations that they had with Cory. To protect the privacy of these private citizens, we will only share selected excerpts from their conversations. Evidence was provided via screenshots, their physical phone text message views, and the like.
Example 1
On June 9th, Cory shared a post on his mayoral page stating “…[a]s a mayor, I wear many hats and searching for drowning victims is one of them….” One of his constituents asked for clarification if the searching for drowning victims was a part of his mayoral duties. This is the unhinged way Cory responded:
Example 2
A few days later, Cory shared a post on his personal Facebook page sharing an article from the right-wing hate blog of E Shitty Beat (oops, I mean: E City Beat) that was critical of Jasmine Taylor’s stance of funding for public safety. Someone commented that they dislike candidates posting shit about each other, and Cory jumped down their throat, too. See the screenshots below.
Example 3
To round it off, another community member reached out to Cory after he wrote an attack post against Jasmine Taylor on June 17th. Part of Cory’s post included the follow assertations:
5. Community Values:
I listen to all voices, but I also believe in common-sense leadership rooted in faith, family, and freedom. My opponent pushes divisive politics that don’t reflect the values of most Great Falls families.
- Government Role:
I believe the government should focus on the basics: safe neighborhoods, economic growth, infrastructure, housing, and protecting your freedoms. My opponent wants the city to weigh in on every national political issue, often at the expense of local priorities.”
Regarding his “common-sense leadership rooted in faith, family, and freedom” and “weigh in on every national political issue,” the community member recognized that as a nod to Cory’s repeated decision to make a public announcement that he would not make a proclamation in support of Pride Month. The not-so-constructive discussion on the topic is provided below.
… A further exchange between the two on the topic of homophobia…
This November’s Electoral Choices
Our ballots for the municipal election are going in the mail on Monday, October 20, and we hope that people will take into consideration the tone of this race that has been set by Cory Reeves. He has created a culture and atmosphere that stirs up the vile and obscene comments Jasmine Taylor has to wade through during her campaign. Is that the type of mayor that Great Falls wants?
Big Sky 55+ has endorsed Casey Schreiner, Matt Pipinich, and Jasmine Taylor in this year’s municipal race. Please take that into consideration when you cast your votes.
by Ken Toole | Sep 25, 2025 | City, Elections, Mayor, Property Taxes, Public Library
Great Falls Mayor Cory Reeves is mad. . .really mad. In a recent Facebook post Reeves went after Jasmine Taylor for getting into the “mud” in the mayor’s campaign. Too bad the post was long on indignant rhetoric and short on facts. Here’s a copy of Reeves’ post:
“When I ran for mayor in 2023, I faced three well qualified opponents. The campaigns were very professional, and they focused on ideas to move Great Falls forward.This reelection year is different. My one opponent has chosen to throw mud, distort facts, and attack instead of offering real solutions. She has openly said she wants to defund public safety, she doesn’t support the American flag, and she believes we should strip away the rights of anyone who appeals their tax assessments. I won’t join her in the mud and I won’t waste time trading shots on social media. Leadership is about knowing the facts, respecting the law, and putting Great Falls first. I will continue supporting affordable housing developments, public safety, and enhancing our city’s infrastructure, the things that truly make our community strong and livable. Ballots arrive in about three weeks; let your voice be heard and let’s stay “different” from Missoula and Bozeman. @topfans”
Wow! What has his opponent done or said to set off his tirade? Hard to tell. The specifics he does provide are inaccurate and misleading.
It’s ironic that Reeves couches his attack by saying that he will not sling mud in this campaign. It’s a political trick as old as elections and campaigning, throwing mud while saying you are staying on the high road.
Perhaps demonstrating the difference between these two candidates, Taylor responded to Reeves’ post with the following:
“I have offered nothing but legitimate criticism of your public policy and voting record. Conversely, you have refused to debate me. Please offer me a concrete example of me ‘slinging mud’. You’ve shown a keen inability to handle criticism, and I fear this is the most recent example.”
Reeves has not responded to her request for specific information.
Where Do Reeves and Taylor Stand on the Issues . . .
On Calumet’s Repeated Property Tax Appeals
Reeves’ campaign so far has been remarkably devoid of serious discussion of issues. But every now and then he gives us a glimpse of his positions. For example, in the Facebook post above he says of Taylor, “she believes we should strip away the rights of anyone who appeals their tax assessments.” This is an obvious reference to Calumet Refinery’s repeated property tax appeals which have shifted costs to Great Falls’ residential taxpayers and strangled local governments and schools trying to make and meet their budgets. Calumet routinely receives significant reductions in their property tax from the State of Montana. Taylor has never said Calumet doesn’t have a right to appeal their valuations. She has been a critic of the “revolving door” settlement process used by the Department Of Revenue to settle these appeals. Reeves apparently thinks that’s all okay. Taylor does not.
On A General Sales Tax
Then there is the issue of a general sale tax. In his recent interview with the Montana Free Press, Reeves said this about potential solutions to the city’s lack of revenue, “Me personally, I would like to see us eliminate a tax in the state of Montana. So, eliminate an income tax or something and implement a sales tax.” https://montanafreepress.org/2025/09/15/incumbent-mayor-talks-priorities-in-election-interview/
We all know that big corporate interests in the state are gearing up to promote a general sales tax in Montana. They are using the Republicans’ failure to address skyrocketing property taxes and underfunded local governments and schools to build support for a general sales tax. Reeves’ idea to eliminate income taxes and replace them with a sales tax would put money directly in the pockets of rich people and big corporations. The lost revenue would be replaced from the pockets of moderate and lower-income people at the grocery store. Taylor opposes a general sales tax. https://montanafreepress.org/2025/08/18/time-for-an-adult-conversation-about-a-montana-wide-sales-tax/
On Public Safety
Reeves also has little to offer on what the City of Great Falls can do about public safety. Despite the fact that he portrays himself as a big supporter of increasing funding for public safety, he has almost nothing to offer to address the issue. He has this to say about asking the voters to fund needed improvements, “But I also know if we were to put that before the community right now, they’d say, ‘Get bent. We’re not doing it.’ So I don’t know. The police and fire departments, even legal, the courts, are making do.” Apparently he is still pouting about the failure of the public safety levy two years ago.
Taylor has suggested going back to the voters for support for public safety. Instead of one huge levy which covers police, fire and first responders, she has proposed going to the voters with three smaller requests, possibly spread over some period of time so voters are not hit all at once. https://montanafreepress.org/2025/09/22/mayoral-challenger-pitches-her-vision/
On Respecting the Will of The Voters
Speaking of the voters, Reeves continues to say it was his job to take money which had been approved for the library by the voters and reallocate it to public safety. He said, “And I feel I did something very courageous. We were looking to come after all seven mills, and a group of supporters of the library came forward and let their voices be heard, so I knew we had to revisit this.” Unfortunately the truth is that the library mill levy vote created deep divisions in the community as social conservatives attacked the library. Following one of the most contentious mill levy campaigns in Great Falls history, the social conservative crowd lost. Then the mayor and the majority of the council stepped in and took voter approved funds from the library. The amount they took from the library was a drop in the bucket compared to the needs of public safety and everyone knows it. Reeves now uses public safety as a screen to justify his pandering to his political base. Taylor was one of the organizers of the pro-library campaign.
Good Old Boys Are Alive And Well
Early in the campaign Taylor challenged Reeves to a public debate on the issues important to the citizens of Great Falls. He declined, saying there would be ample opportunity in forums for that discussion to occur. So far, there has only been one such forum sponsored in Great Falls. It was organized by the local Realtors Association. But they somehow sent the invitation to an old email address for Taylor. She did not attend, because she didn’t know about it. Taylor did have a subsequent meeting with the association’s CEO, and he issued an apology on social media for the snafu with the email invitation. However, the local realtors did not offer her any opportunity to address their board or membership and then went ahead and endorsed Reeves. Apparently the good old boy system is alive and well in Great Falls. It may or may not be enough to carry Reeves over the top. Stay tuned.
by Ken Toole | Sep 16, 2025 | Cascade County, Elections
Cascade County Election Administrator Terry Thompson was recognized by the Secretary of State for her efficiency in administering the 2024 election. Cascade County was the first large county to complete election results, posting final results by 7:48 a.m. the next morning.
Thompson had this to say about the recognition, “You shouldn’t do things just to get done, to be the first one to get done. Accuracy means more to the voter in the end result… I’d rather be the last one to finish and know that it was 100% accurate as to be the first one to finish and it not to be real accurate.” She concluded, “We want to serve the people. We want to give them the confidence and trust that, you know, elections are being conducted fairly accurately, transparent and they’re secure.”
Her competence and commitment to open and fair elections is a welcome relief after the chaos created by Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant, Commissioner Rae Grulkowski, and their gaggle of goofy election deniers. We also can’t forget the political courage demonstrated by County Commissioners Jim Larson and Joe Briggs for standing up the these folks and removing the election duties from Merchant’s office when it became clear she was not up to the job and was taking her marching orders from Commissioner Rae Grulkowski. WTF406.com wrote extensively about the attack on our election process from far right activists in Cascade County.
Here are just a few.
https://wtf406.com/2022/11/election-deniers-must-decide/
https://wtf406.com/2024/11/county-featured-in-national-report-on-election-deniers/
https://wtf406.com/2025/01/new-election-administratorterry-thompson-a-disappointment-to-election-deniers/
by Helena Lovick | Sep 5, 2025 | Cascade County, Elections, Politics, Republicans
Great Falls, MT
Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki switched his party affiliation last week from Democrat to Republican. The county attorney released a reaaaallly believable statement about why he switched parties. (Somehow, he forgot to mention that he made the switch because he was worried about re-election…hmmmmm.) The rumor is a Republican was going to run against him and Racki wanted to hold on to his position during next year’s election.
In his statement, Racki said:
For the past several years, we have watched the Democratic party change its stance on law enforcement. Movements to ‘defund the police,’ attacks on law enforcement officials and officers, and putting criminals before victims has gone too far. The Republican Party puts the safety and freedom of law-abiding citizens first by standing with law enforcement.
Huh.
Did Josh memory hole the Republican riot on January 6, 2021? Democrats weren’t the ones beating a police officer with a flag pole, tasing, pepper spraying, and trampling officers at the U.S. Capitol. If Racki doesn’t remember that, then I have some questions about his mental ability to serve as the county attorney.
This you?
Source: https://www.fox29.com/news/rioters-maced-trampled-capitol-officers-new-documents-show-depth-of-jan-6-attack
This you?
Source: https://www.wusa9.com/article/features/producers-picks/dc-police-officer-describes-fighting-for-his-life-as-rioters-dragged-him/65-5405dfde-6c19-4c99-9160-e8a3d4173987
This you?
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/officer-who-responded-us-capitol-attack-is-third-die-by-suicide-2021-08-02/
The January 6th attack was a shameful disgrace as Republican fascist rioters overran our nation’s capital — incited and encouraged by then president, Donald Trump.
Can you imagine seeing what the Republican party is currently doing to destroy our country and thinking, mmmm, get me some of that??
In the Cascade County Democrats’ response statement to Racki’s party switch, they accurately stated:
The Cascade County Democrats are dedicated to safer communities not only through law enforcement but also supporting first responders, prevention programs, recovery programs, education, access to quality healthcare for all, a growing economy and lowering the cost of living. The Republican party is currently dismantling all of these systems at the local level all the way up to the federal level…. the Cascade County Democrats will continue to do the hard work of building a future that is better for ALL Montanans.
Josh Racki Is Finally Honest With Voters
Yeah, we saw it coming
To be honest with you, the majority of active local organizers and Cascade County Democrats saw this coming from a mile away. One obvious sign is Racki is good friends with Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter, also a party flipper for political gain. Hang around with clowns become a clown.
At least now he’s being honest with the voters. Maybe some memes will help explain the situation Josh is in:
How diD you kNow he’S RePublicaN?
Josh Racki last week, probably. Living his authentic truth.
An illustration in two parts
Now, enough talking about that loser. We don’t have time for the complicit enablers. We’ve got a fascist movement to turn around in this country.
