by Helena Lovick | Jan 27, 2026 | Democrats, Elections, Republicans
Former U.S. Senator Jon Tester
Great Falls, MT
[For transparency, I am the previous chair and current vice chair of the Cascade County Democrats. The opinions presented here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Cascade County Democrats. – Helena Lovick]
Last week a message supposedly written by former U.S. Senator Jon Tester leaked. (Tester hasn’t confirmed or denied the text message…pretty clear it’s real.) Many of Tester’s long-time supporters, including myself, are pissed about its content and here’s why.
What was the message about?
The leaked message covered Tester’s thoughts on the Democratic Party, his experience running for office, and what he thinks of the probable run by University of Montana President Seth Bodnar for U.S. Senate (Bodnar resigned late last week).
Former UM President Seth Bodnar
The Good
Before I go off about my personal thoughts about Tester’s views, I’ll first give him some credit. I’ll admit that as a three-term U.S. Senator Tester knows a hell of a lot more than me about what it takes to run for the U.S. Senate and win. In Tester’s opinion, to win the candidate “has to run a near flawless race that is well funded and well staffed.” He also acknowledged that we need a Senator to “fight to stop all the insanity that is going on in our dictatorship today, not rubber stamp it.” Agreed, we certainly need a fighter, not someone ready to bow down to a dictatorship.
The Bad
In the message, Tester praised Bodnar but agreed with consultant Jim Messina that Bodnar can’t win as a Democrat. Tester also appears to support a Bodnar run as an independent, because “a generic independent does about a 8 point swing [against incumbent Daines]” in comparison to a generic Democrat. Before we get into the ugly content of Tester’s message, this already was raising some red flags for the Democratic base. If you abandon our party to win, what does that do to candidates that aren’t afraid to run as a Democrat? IT TAKES VOTES AWAY FROM THE DEMOCRAT. And then neither the Independent nor the Democrat win. Sounds pretty great if you are a Republican.
We saw this exact scenario play out in 2022. In that election, Independent Gary Buchanan threw his hat in the ring for the Montana Eastern U.S. House race. That move took votes away from the Democratic candidate Penny Ronning, but not the Republican Matt Rosendale. And for what?? Both Ronning and Buchanan lost and let Matt Rosendale (gag) easily carry the race with 56.5% of the vote. I would not encourage a left-leaning candidate to run as an independent in a Senate race that already has a Democratic candidate. In Montana, in our current political climate, you are dooming them both. And honestly, the consultant class doesn’t care, because they will make money if Bodnar runs as an Independent, no matter the outcome of the election.
The Ugly
Ok, I have some ick thinking of a Democrat encouraging an Independent to run over another Democrat, but what was ugly about Tester’s message?
Throughout his message, Tester made numerous jabs at Democrats:
- “…every race I ran … was about distancing myself from the Democratic Party.”
- “During my last two races the democratic Party was poison in my attempts to get re-elected.”
- “[the Democratic party] was a hell of an anvil.”
- [about Reilly Neill currently running for U.S. Senate against Daines] “We can watch her talk about trans rights, democracy and bathrooms…BTW she will lose by 25, but she is a Democrat.”
Political Parties Can Change
First, a political party isn’t static or an unchangeable institution. THE PARTY IS THE PEOPLE. If you agree with most of a party’s political positions, but don’t like something about it… then work to change it! Tester has been entrenched in the Democratic Party of Montana for over three decades. If it’s been such an anvil, where was the effort to make it better? A U.S. Senator has a huge impact on their home state’s political positions. Use that power to build a bench, to strengthen the party, speak up on party positions! I know, I know, it’s hard. But that’s what it takes if you want to make a difference.
Democrat Reilly Neill deserves respect for her efforts
Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate Reilly Neill
Secondly, what a thing to say about Senate Candidate Reilly Neill. She is a Democratic candidate speaking up in alignment with the Democratic Party’s platform and political positions. Good Democrats DO stand with LGBTQ rights, especially when they are under attack like now. We DO speak up about the rising dictatorship in our country that is threatening our democracy. What else can an ethical candidate do? Appeal to a non-existent middle to try to eke out an 8 point swing to win? An 8 point swing that will never materialize because you will be splitting the vote between an Independent and a Democrat?
Yeah, that’s trash.
Republicans are scared anyway (good)
Even with the potential benefit of vote splitting favoring Daines, Republicans see the winds of change in public opinion now. They have already come out with an attack ad on Seth Bodnar before he even announced. Looks like Daines seat isn’t perfectly invulnerable.
Let’s beat Daines by not splitting our vote. Let’s be strategic and vote for the person unafraid to share their positions on issues, willing to take the heat. That’s a fighter. That’s the kind of person we need to elect. And that is the Democrat who wins the primary in June.
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 Ken Toole | Nov 15, 2025 | Candid Cartoon, Republicans
Welcome to the new Republican Party under the leadership of Art Wittich and its newly formed “Conservative Governance Committee.” The internal war within the state GOP continues to rage.
Back in August, Republican legislative incumbents received a questionnaire signed by Rep. Keith Regier, probing their loyalty to a slate of far-right positions. When questioned about the questionnaire, newly elected State GOP Chairman Art Wittich defended it, saying, “Republicans from across the state elected me as chair in June with a mandate to achieve conservative policies that reflect how much redder Montana has become,” according to an email statement.
Like A Bad Penny, Lola Just Keeps Coming Back
The initial questionnaire did not identify the members of the Conservative Governance Committee. However, the Montana State News Bureau reports that the committee includes Regier; Rep. Tracy Sharp of Polson; Rep. Mike Vinton of Billings; perennial statewide candidate Al Olszewski, who also chairs the Flathead County Republican Central Committee; and former Great Falls Representative Lola Sheldon-Galloway. The MTGOP declined to confirm the remaining members when asked about other rumored names.
Candidate questionnaire responses were collected, analyzed, and forwarded to party leadership. Those answers reportedly helped determine which candidates were invited to a campaign-skills training held in Helena in late October. According to the News Bureau, Wittich refused to answer questions about who funded the training, whether MTGOP funds were used to cover costs (the event was free to non-incumbents), or how the consulting firm running the training was selected.
Wittich, of course, comes with a long and sleazy history in Montana politics.
Source: https://wtf406.com/2025/08/dispatches-from-the-republican-civil-war/
by Guest Writer | Oct 7, 2025 | Medicaid, Republicans, Shutdown
Article 1 of the Constitution vests in Congress the sole authority to appropriate money. Each year, Congress and the President are required to pass 12 appropriations bills to fund the government for the next year by September 30. The current Republican-controlled House only requires a simple majority to pass a bill, yet not one appropriations bill has been agreed upon by both chambers. In fact, only three of the 12 appropriations bills have been passed out of the House.
Instead of focusing their energy on passing the 12 appropriations bills needed to fund government, Congress has spent much of their time passing a budget reconciliation bill that the President wanted. He likes to call it the “one big, beautiful bill.” Many refer to it as the Budget Busting Bill, as it raised the debt limit by five trillion dollars. It cut taxes for the wealthiest by over four trillion dollars. It will kick more than 10 million Americans off health insurance and cut nearly one trillion from Medicaid, resulting in 15 million people losing Medicaid coverage. It cut $300 billion from food nutrition programs that help feed 42 million Americans, mostly children. It cut investment in conservation programs and renewable energy, while raising subsidies for fossil fuels and lowering federal royalties for coal and other fossil fuels.
All of these cuts will cause dire impacts for farms, ranches and rural communities in Montana.
Bottom line: The budget reconciliation bill will lower the average income for all Americans except the Top 1%. This reconciliation bill barely passed, as several Republicans voted against it and required the Vice President to break the tie in the Senate.
Sadly, the juncture at which we find ourselves – a federal shutdown with no reauthorized Farm Bill, which expired Sept. 30 – further erodes our food security.
Because members of Congress and the White House have been unable to work out budget details, other work critical to the family farm remains in limbo as well. For example, finalizing a potential plan for emergency payments to offset the devastating impact of tariffs and conservation payments for producers being delayed, while chronically understaffed USDA offices fall further behind in providing technical support for producers.
I repeat: The Republicans control the White House, Senate, and the House. When the Republicans can’t pass their own appropriations bills out of the House, it is ludicrous to blame anyone but themselves.
Every one of Montana’s Congressional Delegation is Republican.
Ask them to use their power as the majority to do their job.
Schweitzer is President of Montana Farmers Union, a grassroots organization supporting family farmers and ranchers through education, legislation, and cooperation. He ranches near Geyser.
Tags:
federal shutdown 2025, Government Shutdown, MFU, Montana Farmers Union, Walter Schweitzer
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by Ken Toole | Sep 8, 2025 | Conservative, Republicans
WTF406 recently received Republican Legislator Llew Jones’ responses to a questionnaire sent to him from the state Republican Party. It is undoubtedly the beginning of a process to remove Jones and other Republican Party members from the state GOP.
In his response, Jones included a section titled “Context.” In it, he excoriates current party leadership. Jones wrote, “On paper, this questionnaire comes from the Montana State Republican Central Committee. In reality, it signals a major shift: instead of helping local Republicans get elected, the state party is now policing loyalty to party bosses. Under the direction of State Republican Chairman Art Wittich — who has a long history of attempting to purge Republicans he views as insufficiently loyal to the party machine — a state-level vetting committee has been created. We don’t know who sits on this committee, no minutes are taken, and there’s zero transparency. It appears the outcomes are predetermined, with this questionnaire serving more as justification than as honest evaluation.”
WTF406 has written numerous posts about the continuing feuds in the Montana Republican Party. https://wtf406.com/2025/08/dispatches-from-the-republican-civil-war/
We have also written about the so-called moderate Republicans from Cascade County in the legislature. https://wtf406.com/2025/08/myth-of-the-moderate-republican/
Jones On The Issues In His Own Words
In his response to the questionnaire, he addresses his positions on specific issues. Below are selected quotes from some of his responses.
On Affordable Housing: The housing market must remain driven by the free market, but the government has a limited role to play in ensuring unnecessary regulations do not block development.
On Property Taxes: The first step in lowering property tax is enforcing local spending discipline, since property taxes fund local government. Without it, tax reform is impossible.
On Economic Development: Economic growth is best achieved by empowering private enterprise and reducing government interference. The government’s role is to maintain shared infrastructure like roads, bridges, and water systems, which allow private business to thrive.
On Budget Surpluses: Surpluses should go back to the people or toward long-term obligations, never to grow government. If a surplus is ongoing, it should reduce tax rates.
On Education: Home schoolers, who do not draw on public funds, have much more freedom. I support broadening opportunities through public, charter, private, or homeschooling, consistent with Republican support for choice.
On Abortion: I am pro-life and believe life begins at conception, a principle I have consistently upheld in my votes. My record has earned me an “A” rating from the Family Foundation. Defending life is a core Republican principle I will continue to champion.
On Trans People: I stand firmly against gender reassignment procedures for minors and oppose biological males competing in female sports. Adults may choose for themselves, but taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize those choices, nor should providers be punished for elective procedures chosen by adults. This aligns with Republican principles of protecting children and ensuring fairness while respecting adult responsibility.
On Climate Change: The climate has always changed, and while I oppose alarmist policies that cripple our economy, I support responsible stewardship of Montana’s land, air, and water. Clean, safe development without overregulation aligns with Republican priorities of resource stewardship balanced with economic freedom.
On Illegal Immigration: Montana must support law enforcement, resist illegal immigration in our communities, and defend the rule of law. I have consistently supported strong border enforcement policies, including those advanced during the Trump administration. At the same time, we must avoid creating new programs that pile on burdensome red tape or punish employers unfairly. If an illegal immigrant deceives an employer, the response should target the deception, not impose undue penalties on Montana job creators who are already complying with the law. A balanced approach strengthens enforcement without strangling employers in punitive bureaucracy.
On Gun Control: None. The Second Amendment is clear: “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Montana Republicans have long defended this right, and so have I. I have consistently been rated A by the NRA and Montana Shooting Sports Association. We already have sufficient laws on the books — what we need is to defend the rights we have.
It’s Really Pretty Simple
Let’s just boil all of that down a little. Jones is anti-choice and pro-gun. He believes in trickle-down economics and deregulating corporations. He thinks climate change is the historical norm and expanding homeschooling is a good thing while public schools are underfunded. He thinks budget surpluses shouldn’t be used to improve infrastructure and public services and should be “given back to the people instead.” He is anti-trans and believes in state action replacing the judgment of medical professionals and parents. And on immigration, he supports the Trump administration. Enough said.
Jones is a garden-variety Republican conservative who claims the title of “moderate” only because others in the Republican party have gone so far over the edge. Unfortunately, many people in politics these days let him get away with it.
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.
