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 Ken Toole | Aug 8, 2025 | Cascade County, Republicans
Far right opponents of Representative Llew Jones have been circulating the above graphic on social media
The internal war in the Montana Republican Party rages on. The recent controversy at the State GOP convention continues to draw attention to the feud between the more centrist “Solutions Caucus” supporters and the far-right “Montana Freedom Caucus.” After the convention, the Freedom Caucus turned to social media and radio to attack fellow Republicans they deemed to be RINOs (Republicans In Name Only).
GOP Convention Rumble In Helena
The GOP convention was held in Helena in late June. In violation of party rules, Senator Barry Usher moved to “not recognize” nine senators who had worked with Democrats during the 2025 legislative session, stripping them of their right to participate as convention delegates. Despite being ruled out of order by the party chairman, the vote proceeded, and Usher’s motion was approved, resulting in the senators being unable to vote in the convention. 🔗 Source
Three of the nine senators are currently challenging that decision and are calling for a “do-over” of the convention voting. In a lawsuit filed in Lewis and Clark County District Court on August 5th, Senator Jason Elsworth of Hamilton, Denley Loge of St Regis and Shelly Vance of Belgrade are asking the court to restore their voting rights and force a new vote on party leadership. https://montanafreepress.org/2025/08/06/disenfranchised-at-convention-republican-lawmakers-sue-mtgop/
Art Wittich- Far Right And Sleazy
New officers elected at the convention included Art Wittich, an attorney and longtime political operator, who was elected chair of the party. Former Republican legislator Russ Fitzgerald from Teton County put it this way:
“More alarming, the Freedom Caucus elevated Art Wittich to state party chair. I now call him the ‘Cleanser-in-Chief’ for leading this pogrom in the state party. Wittich’s past includes a $68,000 fine—one of Montana’s largest—for campaign finance irregularities during his 2010 Senate campaign.”
In 2016, 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.
🔗 More on Wittich
Grulkowski Loses Another Election
Former Cascade County Commissioner, election denier, and purveyor of wild conspiracy theories Rea Grulkowski was defeated in a bid to be GOP vice chair by Stacy Zinn. Grulkowski was clearly the darling of the Freedom Caucus crowd. She was nominated by Theresa Manzella, the founder of the Montana Freedom Caucus and an election denier extraordinaire.
🔗 See our previous post
Manzella pointed out in her nomination speech that Grulkowski was not officially endorsed by the MT Freedom Caucus, although her nomination was seconded by Senator Barry Usher, who has served as the treasurer of the Montana Freedom Caucus. Manzella said Grulkowski was not formally supported because she did not know enough of the members. Grulkowski was ultimately defeated by Stacy Zinn, a retired DEA agent and former unsuccessful candidate for Montana’s Eastern District congressional seat. Zinn received 124 votes; Grulkowski had 106.
Then There Were The Battles During The Legislature
The 2025 legislative session was characterized by infighting among Republican legislators. Right out of the gate, a group of nine Republican senators objected to the committee assignments they were given, calling those assignments a “parking spot.” They worked with the Democratic minority to stifle the rules proposed by Republican leadership, bringing the Senate to a virtual standstill. As the session progressed, the nine senators proved to be staunch allies of Governor Greg Gianforte and joined a bipartisan group of 20 to 25 representatives to pass property tax cuts and Medicaid expansion. (That’s what we call moderates?!)
🔗 More on that
What Ever Happened To Matt Rosendale
It’s hard to recap all the battles in the Republican civil war—there have been so many. Ten years ago, the Cascade County Republican Central Committee imploded after a far-right Freedom Caucus push to sanction and remove members they didn’t like.
🔗 Read the story
Then there’s the mysterious case of National Freedom Caucus leader and Montana Representative Matt Rosendale. After weeks of playing coy with the media about whether he would challenge Jon Tester for his Senate seat, Rosendale finally announced he was in. Then, six days later, he withdrew after Trump announced he was endorsing Tim Sheehy in the Republican primary—likely because Rosendale had snubbed Trump by refusing to take his call on the House floor.
🔗 Rosendale drama
Within a couple of weeks, Rosendale announced that he was not running for re-election to his seat in Congress. There’s little question he would have been a shoo-in to retain his seat. His decision prompted widespread speculation about the “real” reason. On a political podcast, North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp said the rumor in D.C. was that he had allegedly impregnated a 20-year-old congressional staffer. Whatever the reason, Rosendale quickly exited public life and politics.
🔗 Rumor recap
They’ll Be Back!
In the last election, three Freedom Caucus supporters in Cascade County—Steven Galloway, Lola Sheldon Galloway, and Rae Grulkowski—were defeated in the Republican primary thanks to the work of more centrist Republicans and progressives who crossed over to vote in the Republican primary. (There was only one contested Democratic primary on the ballot.) If the Freedom Caucus crowd has demonstrated anything, it’s that they don’t give up or compromise. They’ll be back in the 2026 election. Stay tuned.
by Ken Toole | May 5, 2025 | City, Elections
Great Falls Republican Senator Jeremy Trebas has filed to run for the open District 1 Public Service Commission (PSC) seat currently held by Randy Pinocci. Pinocci is term limited and cannot run again.
PSC District One, An Open Seat For The Hi-Line and Beyond
District 1 covers north central and eastern Montana. The City of Great Falls and Havre are the largest cities in the district. Public Service Commissioners are among the highest paid state employees, drawing an entry salary over $114,000 per year plus full state benefits. Commissioners make more than the State Auditor, Secretary of State and Lieutenant Governor. Check out this editorial from 2018 explaining PSC Commissioner Salaries. ( https://www.havredailynews.com/story/2018/09/07/opinion/time-to-stop-the-gravy-train-at-the-public-service-commission/520333.html )
Republican Control Of The PSC, A Three-Ring Circus
Under Republican leadership, the PSC has become a three-ring circus of malfeasance and incompetence. Commissioners have sued each other and the state in petty rivalries. Staff have quit and successfully sued the Commission. A legislative audit found numerous questionable transactions made by commissioners and staff. Far-right gadfly, Commissioner Randy Pinocci, attracted attention for his brushes with Cascade County law enforcement (see below). All of this while the commissioners have approved numerous rate increases for residential consumers. The largest recently was an increase of approximately 28% in the fall of 2023.
https://wtf406.com/2024/04/pinocci-dodges-two-felonies-still-a-corrupt-asshole/
https://wtf406.com/2023/10/more-republican-police-blotter-pinocci-arrested-again/
https://wtf406.com/2024/07/randy-randy-randy-what-now/
From The Color Purple To Ruby Red
Historically PSC District 1 has elected Republicans and Democrats. Pinocci held the seat for the last eight years. Before him, Chinook Democrat Greg Jergeson held the seat for eight years. When Jergeson was chair of the PSC, he guided the effort to rebuild Montana’s troubled electric system after the Republican Legislature and Governor Marc Racicot subjected the state to the failed electric deregulation experiment. The Republican deregulation legislation caused the bankruptcy of the Montana Power Company. It ushered in years of chaos and increasing power bills for electric customers in Montana. Montana still has the highest electric rates in our region after years of enjoying some of the lowest power rates in the nation.
Republican Gerrymandering, Successful Despite Litigation
In 2022 the Republican legislature changed the boundaries of the PSC districts, tipping them to favor Republican candidates while skewing the population distribution in each district. A federal district court judge found that the PSC districts violated the constitutional principle of “one person one vote.” He changed the boundaries for the 2022 election. Then, in 2023, the Republican legislature changed the district boundaries clearly favoring Republican candidates again. Another lawsuit was filed challenging their action, except this time it was in state court. Last February, Helena District Court Judge Christopher Abbott agreed that the new districts favored Republican candidates but said the evidence failed to demonstrate that it was intentionally done to disadvantage Democratic candidates. Those gerrymandered districts will stand for the 2026 election, unless there is another, successful, challenge.
Trebas Knows He Can’t Get Re-Elected to the Senate
And that brings us back to Jeremy Trebas running for the open District 1 seat in 2026. He currently serves in the Montana Senate representing Senate District 10 in Great Falls. He could run for another term in the senate. He is choosing to run for PSC instead.
Trebas apparently sees the writing on the wall. Trebas faces strong opposition if he ran for Great Falls Senate District 10. Statistically this district is the most Democratic of the Cascade County senate seats. On top of that, historically the party of the president (Trump/Republican) typically loses support in the first midterm election. Given the chaotic nature of Trump’s administration and the damage he is doing to the economy and public institutions, it is even more likely that Republicans will not do well in the midterm elections.
Trebas Has a History Of Self Dealing and Extremism in the Senate
But Trebas’ problems are deeper than the Democratic opposition. He is a legislator who is more focused on fighting culture wars and promoting his own pocket book than representing the people in his district. He has placed himself firmly in the far-right Freedom Caucus faction of the local Republican Party. In the last election, there were concerted efforts to challenge the “Freedom Caucus” members in the Republican primary by Republicans and Democrats alike. As a result, County Commissioner Rea Grulkowski and legislators Lola and Steven Galloway (all incumbents) were defeated in the Republican primary. There have already been rumors that Ed Buttrey is going to run for Trebas’ current senate seat. (5-16-25 update– Great Falls Republican Melissa Nikolakakas filed for this seat)
On the other hand, the District 1 PSC seat leans Republican. Moreover, PSC races are far less likely to attract the kind of controversy Trebas would face in a local legislative race. Then, of course, there is the $114,000 paycheck and associated state benefits package. It’s not surprising that he would opt for the PSC seat.
WTF406 has posted numerous pieces about Trebas. Here are links.
https://wtf406.com/2023/01/jeremy-trebas-the-self-dealing-senator/
https://wtf406.com/2023/04/the-continuing-saga-of-senator-trebas-dirty-real-estate-deal/
https://wtf406.com/2023/01/the-curious-case-of-jeremy-trebas-property-taxes/
https://wtf406.com/2023/07/senator-trebas-tax-scam-turns-into-an-albatross-around-his-neck/
https://wtf406.com/2023/12/trebas-fails-to-apologize-for-anti-semitic-tweet/
https://wtf406.com/2025/01/surprise-jeremy-i-hate-local-government-trebas-is-at-it-again/
by Ken Toole | Jan 5, 2025 | Elections
During the Cascade County election canvas meeting in November, the county’s new election administrator, Terry Thompson, provided a scathing criticism of local election deniers. Usually watching a vote canvas is like watching paint dry. So, when Terry Thompson said she wanted to take it as an opportunity to respond to accusations about her office, people paid attention. Thompson began her remarks:
“I’m going to make some public comments, because I never get to make public comments. I get to sit here and listen to the public accuse me and the election office of various things. I’ve been privy to an email that was sent out from the 5 for 5 group that tends to come in here and do public comments.”
Ever Hear Of 5 For 5?
If you’re not familiar with 5 For 5, you are not alone. An email sent out by the group says 5 for 5 is “Connecting the Citizens of Cascade County.” The email included a disclaimer, “5 for 5 does not endorse any candidate or guest speaker.” WTF 406 has not been able to find anyone locally who had ever heard of the group.
The Montana Secretary of State’s website listed a limited liability corporation in Kalispell called 5 For 5 Capitol. The United Church of Christ has a special offering program called 5 For 5. WTF406 contacted church officials who said they had no idea what this group is. WTF406 sent a message to the email address listed on their correspondence. No response.
Email From WTF406.com To 5 For 5
====================
Greetings,
We are in possession of your correspondence urging people to attend the 11-20 county commission meeting. Though the email said it was from 5 for 5, an organization we are not aware of, the entire email was written in first person. We are curious about both your organization 5 For 5 and who the writer is.
It’s ironic that you send an anonymous email while demanding integrity and making unsupported claims and innuendos about private individuals and public employees. Before publishing a piece on your activities we would like more information about the goals and leadership of your organization. Specifically:
What are the goals and objectives of 5 for 5?
Who are your leaders/officers?
Please respond by December 27th. Thank you.
WTF406blog.
===END===
Just How Angry Was Terry Thompson? Pretty Angry
Below we provide selected quotes to give readers a feeling for Thompson’s anger and frustration dealing with this group. If nothing else it is entertaining. (WTF406.com cleaned up some of the errors from the county’s automatic transcript program)
“I’m not a politician, so I’m going to fight back when people talk about what I’m doing, the job I’m doing, the people that I hire, the people that I work with.”
“I did call Rena Moore. I am not a fool. I’m an intelligent woman with many leadership skills. And I am going to reach out to the people that did this job for 16 years. I did my job for 16 years at the Realtor Association, and I get contacted all the time.”
“But she (Rae Grulkowski) had to ask me the other day, why didn’t I call Sandra instead of Rina? Well, let me tell you, Sandra never ran a Presidential election first of all, so I don’t think she could give me very good advice.”
“There was a group of observers, supposedly observers, that went to the lines and were taking their poll watchers. They were supposed to be poll watchers, but they got themselves involved in obstructing our election. They went to the lines and started telling people, oh, just go to the precinct, and you can vote.Well. Can you imagine the mess that we’ve had?”
“Let’s talk about the staff. I inherited a staff that was hired by Sandra Merchant, and several of those people are their friends that hung out together at the Pachyderm [Club].”
“But here’s the problem.You see, because I was supposedly raised a girl, I could be puppeteered like Sandra was puppeteered. But it’s not happening with me. And so now the attacks are coming, because I’m not letting them infiltrate the election office. I am keeping it as nonpartisan as possible.”
“Was that a setup? I think maybe that it was a setup. Maybe I was being sabotaged by Sandra Merchant and Rae Grulkowski.”
“There’s a lot of of mudslinging going on about what I didn’t do and what I did do, and I’m here to say I’m sick and tired of being under the shadow of Sandra Merchant. I’m tired of this group coming in here and bashing you (county commissioners.”
“I get sick and tired of hearing that I should do things like Sandra. I get text messages. You should be working for Sandra. She should have her job back.”
“I’m not going to have this crap going on and being said about this office… They were calling judges when they were working in there [at the polling place], asking them what we’re doing. Those people would come and tell me, ‘Oh, Julie Bass called me. I don’t want her calling me.’ Stop taking her call. It would be pretty simple. People [were] giving me their communications, because they see that this is [a] personal attack.”
Here is the link to the video of the canvas meeting. Terry Thompson’s relevant comments begin at 1:49:00
https://us02web.zo
om.us/rec/play/5JLHpjTWKDdJ9X9SvOpOy5QpDHdKJC-AOJH-pMtdNpdZGsuQaR77yO_ZaFd_hi6W-tjXY9-acgRrrzNV.iOxAu13KbfjEl9cZ?canPlayFromShare=true&from=share_recording_detail&continueMode=true&componentName=rec-play&originRequestUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fus02web.zoom.us%2Frec%2Fshare%2Fd2gXSBeQ7EZ0CyX8azLQYxsodSnEbRZLDjU4PSDggNUOub_orDr4oXj0rnrpN1c.qtYd71PziTI9Gk8v
Just More Of The Same Old Crap
WTF406.com has commented extensively on the process which was used in hiring Terry Thompson. Commissioner Rae Grulkowski clearly skewed the process to assure that Rina Moore would not be hired. Moore subsequently filed a political belief discrimination suit, and the county ended up paying her $52,500 to settle the complaint.
https://wtf406.com/2024/03/grulkowski-plays-dirty-did-we-really-expect-anything-else/
https://wtf406.com/2024/09/rea-grulkowski-you-cant-make-this-stuff-up/
Good For Terry Thompson
Thompson’s comments in this meeting are a rare example of a public employee defending themselves, their employees, and their supervisors against unwarranted attacks for doing their job in a conscientious manner. She has performed her duties in an objective and professional manner in very difficult circumstances. The sad truth is that election deniers are setting out to destroy free and fair elections in Montana. People like Terry Thompson, and Rina Moore before her, are all that stand between us and the chaos offered by the far right wing.
Below Is Copy of 5 For 5’s Email
===========================
Subject: TODAY! ELECTION ACTION ! Tune in Speak up! @2pm
From: 5 for 5 <5for5@protonmail.com>
Date IL/2O/2O24, 11.:L6 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients
Folks the “show” continues as our County Commissioners Jim Larson and Joe Briggs continue to create a story to explain away their incompetence of our elections once. Remember they stole your right to vote for EA and removed Merchant from her duly elected position.
Yesterday, EA Thompson (their hire) explained that the numbers in the election were off, and she opened (by herself) the sealed signature envelope boxes and found several ballots left in envelopes. Changing the election results.
I requested the BP34 forms on 11l9l24. They are used to reconcile all received absentee ballots.
She refused to print them and gave multiple excuses – I already knew we were off.
How? I have been working with the MT Data team which purchased voter roll history and information from the secretary of state office it is updated daily. We knew the election was off.
The primary was also off but became aware to late and then person loss interfered with timeline.
The EA’s numbers still are off the machine was NEVER correctly tested.
Election protocols were not followed. I was told Rina Moore (who just got a 52k pay out from the Briggs and Larson on the backs of the taxpayers) was the consultant on this election.
Was this a setup?
I believe it to be a CONTINUATION of a SHOW that the entitled commissioners have played at the EXPENSE of the taxpayers.
Briggs and Larson’s decision to create Resolution 23-62 has cost the taxpayers well over 150K ,
the annual salary of the position and their (Briggs and Larson) incompetence has burdened us electors
What can you do?
Demand this election is voided and redone. We are not the only county with problems
Hundreds of electors did not get to vote on 11l5. Terry Thompson said the error happened due to short staff. Staffing for an election is a requirement of the commissioners. I spoke to this weeks before the election in a commissioner meeting once again making me wonder is this just a setup. Maybe to bring back Rina Moore or her crony Lynn Deroche.
TODAY DURING PUBLIC COMMENT AT THE COUNTY WORK SESSION DEMAND RESOLUTION 23-62 be RESCINDED. BRIGGS AND LARSON to RESIGN
(WTF 406 has deleted the final few sentences of the email to conserve space)
==End==
by Ken Toole | Dec 2, 2024 | Elections
An investigator with the Montana Human Rights Bureau issued a report finding that the Secretary of State’s office discriminated against Rina Fontana Moore when it emailed the Cascade County Commission urging them not to hire her for a position running the election office.
After removing election duties from Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant last December, the county commission opened an election administrator position. Rina Fontana Moore applied for the open position. In a highly suspect hiring process, the commission hired Terry Thompson, who had no experience or training in running elections. Fontana Moore has 16 years experience and extensive election administration training. (See our post about the hiring process: https://wtf406.com/?s=Rae+Grulkowski+)
Secretary Of State Urged County To Deny Fontana Moore Election Job
On February 14th, the Republican Secretary of State, Christi Jacobsen, sent an email to the Cascade County Commissioners urging them not to hire Fontana Moore: “Please do not hire Ms. Moore or a member of her administration as Cascade County’s Election Administrator. Doing so would directly undermine the voters of Cascade County, among other reasons.” Her letter closed, “Thank you and God Bless, Christi”. The next day the county commission voted to offer the job to Terry Thompson.
Commissioners Joe Briggs and Jim Larson said they were surprised by the email. Both said they felt it was inappropriate. Briggs said, “I took it as a personal political statement that was done inappropriately.” The county attorney’s office contacted the secretary of state’s office. Jacobsen’s legal counsel said she had a First Amendment right to make the comments. When contacted by The Electric, Jacobsen’s office did not respond.
Fontana Moore Files Discrimination Complaints
Eleven days later (February 27), Fontana Moore filed discrimination complaints with the Human Rights Bureau of the Department of Labor. \One complaint was filed against Cascade County for discrimination based on her political beliefs in denying her the election administrator position. The other was against the Montana Secretary of State for advocating a discriminatory action by Cascade County.
Merchant And Grulkowski Mum About Meeting With Secretary of State
On March 1, two days after Fontana Moore filed her complaints, Jenn Rowell of the Electric was at a meeting in the Capitol building in Helena. She saw County Commissioner Rae Grulkowski and Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant going into the Secretary of State’s office. They came out about 20 minutes later. The Electric contacted Grulkowski and Merchant and asked what their business was in the Secretary of State’s office and if county funds were spent on their visit. They did not respond.
Cascade County Settles With Fontana Moore
The Human Rights Bureau accepted Fontana Moore’s complaints and initiated an investigation. As part of the process, the parties in human rights complaints attempt to resolve their complaints through mediation. On October 4, the Cascade County Commission approved paying Moore $52,500 to settle the complaint against the county on the advice of their attorney. The settlement resolved the complaint.
Rae Grulkowski was the only county commissioner voting against the settlement. Her actions on the hiring committee clearly put the county at risk in the discrimination complaint. Ironically, the county paid for Grulkowski to have an attorney separate from the outside lawyer the county hired to defend against the complaint. (See our post on Grulkowski’s legal fees: https://wtf406.com/?s=Grulkowski+)
Secretary Of State Declines To Settle; Complaint Goes to Formal Hearing
The Secretary of State’s office declined to participate in mediation. Election administrator and former chief legal counsel for the Secretary of State’s office, Austin James, argued that Fontana Moore should not be appointed election administrator because she lost her 2022 reelection to Merchant for Cascade Clerk and Recorder. Since the case was not settled in mediation, the investigator completed her investigation and found that the Montana Secretary of State’s actions were discriminatory. The case will now move forward to a formal hearing.
