by Jasmine Taylor | Jun 28, 2023 | Elections, LGBTQ+ Issues
Senator Theresa Manzella is no stranger to controversy, and although she lives in Hamilton, she’s no stranger to Great Falls. Manzella is the leader of the “Freedom Caucus,” an extremist group of Republican Representatives, including Great Falls Rep. Steven Galloway. Manzella has spent the past three years repeating the Big Lie- claiming the 2020 election was stolen. (https://montanafreepress.org/2022/01/25/republican-minority-presses-for-election-investigation-in-court-of-public-opinion/?fbclid=IwAR2GpI3RcyyyXgbP985DcKfCrji4sYNMYUg3tnmhvG1kAF2VHEzKAI88k14)
This delusion has been repeatedly disproven, but Manzella and the Great Falls Pachyderm Club haven’t changed their tune. Instead, Manzella continues to travel the state speaking with groups of MAGA Republicans. Known for her aggressive tactics and violent rhetoric, Manzella is a clear influence on Julie Bass and the election deniers that have taken over the Clerk and Recorders office. Jan Weenas, who has been volunteering in the Elections office, brought Manzella and her inane conspiracy to Great Falls in May 2022. We previously reported on Weenas history with election denial here: https://wtf406.com/2023/04/elections-update-things-just-got-worse/
Now Manzella is in the headlines again, this time for posting a meme showing a man being drug behind a horse with the text “Make Drag Shows Great Again.” There’s a lot to unpack here. Firstly, the use of Trump slogans is no surprise. Manzella wholly embraces Trump ideology, parroting election integrity lies and promoting violence. Manzella tried to backtrack, claiming this was simply a “joke” about rodeo. Let’s ask the family of Matthew Shepherd if jokes about dragging gay people to death are funny. After a recent attempted murder of a trans person in Great Falls, I don’t find myself chuckling.
This isn’t the first time Manzella has promoted violence against the LGBTQ+ community. In 2021, Manzella spoke at political rallies stating that violence against LGBTQ+ people is a “consequence” for our existing in public. Manzella herself faced no consequences for using her platform to promote violence. In response to her most recent rhetoric, the Democratic Party released a statement condemning Manzella’s post. The Montana Human Rights Network has gone a step further with a petition calling for Manzella’s removal. You can sign that petition here: https://secure.everyaction.com/-vu7uB7kIE-U8cd7z6SosQ2?fbclid=IwAR0BN2b0qqRdNDP4FQv8EtTgGEJvRv1h9wMvHbxGAZ-s52dYCuoBSLZQr44
Manzella is a prime example of the intersection between bigotry and election denial. Manzella is but one in a string of extremist speakers brought to our city by Great Falls’ Republicans. As part of their 5 For 5 group, they also hosted Pastor Jordan Hall, a violent bigot who was later arrested for DUI charges, embezzling from his church, and violently assaulting his wife and children.
The same crowd that wants to purge all voter roles also loudly cheers violence against LGBTQ+ people. Give Manzella a microphone and she’ll claim election integrity with one breath, then call for the murder of Queer people with the next. Great Falls election deniers have wholly embraced the Manzella ideology- ignore facts, threaten the marginalized, and scream your lies with your whole chest. From Theresa Manzella to Julie Bass, the election denier crowd are a dangerously unhinged group of conspiracy theorists. Republicans are using Great Falls as a stage for the state’s most dangerous liars.
Read more about the Democrat’s response to Manzella here:
https://www.nonstoplocal.com/great-falls-helena/democratic-leadership-condemned-montana-senators-anti-drag-facebook-post-tuesday/article_64936f76-23b8-5632-adad-c59eff54d79e.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share)
Read about Great Falls’ Republicans love for Jordan Hall here: https://wtf406.com/2022/08/republicans-support-disgraced-former-pastor/
Read about Manzella’s prior attacks on the LGBTQ+ community here:
https://www.advocate.com/politics/2021/11/19/politician-says-anti-lgbtq-attacks-are-due-perverse-lifestyle
See Manzella’s offensive post here:
by Guest Writer | May 19, 2025 | Legislature, Property Taxes
Republican Wendy McKamey represents Senate District 12 in Cascade County. This editorial ran in the May 15, 2025 edition of the Cascade Courier. On May 16 Governor Greg Gianforte signed the bills discussed above into law.
OP-ED — Montanans are being crushed under the weight of skyrocketing property taxes. Longtime residents are watching their tax bill soar as wealthy out-of-staters scoop up land and inflate home values across Montana. Families, seniors, and working people across the state are pleading for relief.
This session a group of Montanans – Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals – came together to deliver meaningful property tax relief. Unfortunately, a group of Montana lawmakers stood in the way and are now actively campaigning to get Governor Gianforte to veto meaningful property tax reform for you. That group is the Montana “Freedom Caucus.”
You deserve to know their names. Barry Usher, Nelly Nicol, Jerry Schillinger, Theresa Manzella, Carl Glimm, and Bob Phalen all fought to prevent you from receiving a property tax cut. These legislators – all members of the “Freedom Caucus” – voted against cutting your property taxes from 1.35% to 0.76% on your primary residence. Instead, they wanted to offer you a token $240 rebate and call it good enough.
It’s not just them. Jeremy Trebas, Daniel Emrich, Ken Bogner, and Daniel Zolnikov all seem to want you to pay high property taxes. Jeremy Trebas wants to serve on the PSC. If he won’t protect you from high property taxes today, how can you expect him to protect you from high utility costs tomorrow?
Instead of fighting for Montana residents, these lawmakers chose to protect the pockets of wealthy nonresidents who own second homes in exclusive enclaves like the Yellowstone Club and the shores of Whitefish Lake. Every one of these legislators voted against bills that would cut tax rates on your primary residence – just so wealthy nonresidents don’t have to pay more.
That’s not conservatism. That’s not freedom. That’s protecting the elite at the expense of everyday Montanans.
It should be no surprise these legislators don’t want to cut your taxes. When it comes to protecting the taxpayer, these legislators are missing in action. All are supporters of President Matt Regier. Matt Regier wants to spend more money, grow government, rather than save you money. Matt Regier tried to get the part-time Legislature to build a $160 million dollar office building, and he has spent large sums on high-priced lawyers, new office furniture, and a fancy electronics suite.
Montana’s property tax system is broken. We need reform and Matt Regier, the “Freedom Caucus,” and Jeremy Trebas, Daniel Emrich, Ken Bogner, and Daniel Zolnikov said, “NO!”
The next time those legislators campaign on “low taxes” and “standing up for Montana,” remember they didn’t want to cut your property taxes. They wanted to stick it to you and force you to pay the same exorbitant tax rates you are paying today. When it mattered most, they stood with wealthy outsiders and fought against real property tax relief for you. Whereas I will continually consider Montanans first.
What the Funk 406
by Ken Toole | Mar 25, 2025 | Guest Articles, Legislature
Guest Editorial From Bill LaCroix from the Bitterroot Valley
On March 3, Hamilton vape store owner and legislator Ron Marshall (R-87) resigned his House seat in a huff, charging the predominantly-right-wing Republican majority with corruption for voting down HB 149 (his bill), which would have allowed him to sell toylike vape products from China designed to appeal to children.
Marshall Thinks Lobbyists Are Corrupt?
“The lobbyists run this capitol,” Marshall pontificates. “Don’t ever think that the people have a say up here, because you don’t….the people need to understand that, if you want your voice heard up here, you get rid of all these lobbyists. Get rid of them all because it’s the absolute worst thing that could happen to a citizen government.”
Well, duh, Ron, but which lobbyists are “corrupt” in your view? Apparently not the cultural-warrior and fossil-fuel-friendly ones like Montana Right to Life or A.L.E.C. , with whom you’ve consistently voted in lockstep. Just the tobacco-industry ones who are a little more reticent to openly sell Chinese tobacco toys to kids than yourself? So confusing.
But No Issue With Trump’s Corruption?
It’s appropriate to note here that the Ravalli County Republican Central Committee (RCRCC)—of whom Ron is currently a vice-chair—heartily endorses the most demonstrably-corrupt head of state in the history of Western Civilization…with the possible exceptions of Hitler and Caligula. “Oh, the hypocrisy,” I’d have a 21st-Century Joseph Conrad say about such a thing, but then, what do I know about hearts of darkness?
Marshall’s Replacement Is No Moderate
Well, how about this? Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Ron has been part of the uber-right/ John Bircher takeover of the already-ultra-but-not-uber-right RCRCC. And who did Ron (and Manzella, etc.) overthrow to form a more-perfect religio-fascist trainwreck of a committee? None other than Terry Nelson, who, as chair of the RCRCC, has orchestrated the far-right, Christian Nationalist takeover of our valley since 2010, and who has just been appointed by our right-wing-but-not-right-wing-enough county commissioners to fill Ron’s seat.
Terry is considered a “moderate” these days, because he’s only a “Tea Party” Republican and not a loopy John Bircher. That’s what the Republican infighting here in Ravalli County is about. But let’s be clear: Terry was honchoing the RCRCC when members in good standing, such as Jeff Burrows, were threatening sheriffs with “constitutional shootings.” His portrait has hung behind the booth at the Ravalli County Fair, where they display an uncapped, ready-for-action AR-15 they have auctioned off for years. He’s been the head of the planning office since 2011, but he’s a surveyor, not a planner, and was gifted the job of “planning office administrator” by his county-supremacy commissioner buddies in 2011 (I believe) as a prize after all the real planners were scared off by militia wannabes and rich guys wanting to build trophy homes IN the river. Stay tuned for more on Terry, but in the meantime, know this: the infighting in Ravalli County and Helena over where the Edge of the Flat World actually exists isn’t over here yet. I personally believe it’s just south of Conner, where tech billionaires ride long-necked Diplidons*, but again, what do I know about Dinosaurs?
The problem with being a Montana Republican these days is you gotta find someone in the room to hate. “Someone doin’ somethin’ dirty decent folks can frown on,” as the late John Prine put it. This is simple math: since you don’t have any real solutions to your constituents’ real problems, hate is your only sell-point to voters who, according to the latest statistics from the most well-heeled think tanks, are still paying top dollar for it.
This is a mere observation, and I wish I had a crystal ball to predict when the price of Hate will drop to, say, a pig in a poke or the price of eggs. But, for anyone gazing from afar at the 2025 Montana Legislature and wondering “WTF?,” look no further than Ravalli County.
On a personal note: apologies to readers of this blurb since, no matter how hard I try, I can’t put this stuff down into words without it sounding like a dark fairytale rejected by the Grimm brothers. because it was too unbelievable.
And I ain’t kiddin.’
*The actual dinosaur is called a Diplidocus, but I refer here to a fictional beast who is a metaphor to the well-worn truism: “Their brains were tiny and they died.”
by Ken Toole | Nov 10, 2024 | Elections
By now we all know that election day in Cascade County was chaotic. WTF406 has received numerous reports from people about waits as long as seven hours for voters. This election was characterized by confusion, poor organization, and staff who were poorly trained and disorganized.
Responsibility for this mess should be laid directly on the shoulders of the County Commission. Going all the way back to the two years before the election of Sandra Merchant and Rae Grulkowski, it was obvious the national election denier movement had arrived in Cascade County. Former election administrator Rina Moore and her staff were constantly harassed and confronted by people presenting bizarre conspiracy theories straight from the “My Pillow Guy” and his Montana minions, western Montana legislators Theresa Manzella and Brad Tschida. Locally, the Republican Pachyderm Club became a launching pad for promoting election disruption under the guidance of local legislators Steven and Lola Galloway. See our previous post https://wtf406.com/?s=Manzella
The election denier Sandra Merchant defeated veteran clerk and recorder Rina Moore and the shit show began. Merchant proved to be completely incompetent and ultimately the County Commissioners removed election administration from her office. But not before she managed to replace almost all of the clerk and recorder staff with her cronies in the local election denier ranks. When the County Commission hired a new administrator for elections, they selected Terry Thompson as the new administrator in a completely corrupt hiring decision driven by Commissioner Rae Grulkowski. The table was set for the mess we saw on election day. Grulkowski Plays Dirty– Did We Really Expect Anything Else? – What the Funk
We asked a couple of people who were there all day and into the night for their observations. Below we excerpted some of their comments.
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Observer #1
On November 5, 2024, I started my day at 6:30 am at the Montana Expo Park observing the voting process. Little did I know what was in store for the next 15 hours.
Election judges early in the day seemed confused about provisional ballots, inactive voters, and some other special circumstances. When judges would signal, by waving a flag, for assistance on questions there would be an approximately 10-minute delay or more in receiving help. Many times, the Election Official did not have the answer. Judges also received conflicting information at times.
Unfortunately, the lines became impossibly long. This happened within 30 minutes of the polls opening. Some voters stood in line for up to 7 hours. Numerous people left without voting out of frustration and need to get to appointments or work. There were 2 to 3 people at computers registering voters and resolving other issues regarding voter registration. Individual voters took it upon themselves to set up chairs that were stacked up against the walls. Why did this not happen before election day? Line management was nonexistent. When the polls closed at 8:00pm, there were over 500 hundred people waiting in line.
People were given conflicting information at times as to where they should line up.Staff were not prepared to handle the large number of people that were registering and having to solve issues with their ballot. Separate stations would have solved the issue and cut down on the time people had to stand in line. Signage would have been very beneficial in directing people where they should go. There were no such signs.
Voters were frustrated after standing in line for hours and then told they were in the wrong line and had to move. Poor communication and information.
There were not enough people staffing the polling place. Why didn’t the Commission forsee this? Many counties will pull employees from other departments to assist on Election Day, why was this an option here.
It was very noticeable the lack of experience of the Election Officials and the Administrator. It was exhausting watching the frustration and fatigue of the people who took the time to turn out and vote. High praises to those people who stuck it out. Mistakes will happen, but not on the scale that I witnessed. Clearly many changes need to be made.
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Observer #2
Witnessed multiple voters leaving the lines in the morning saying that they had to get to work. I informed them that if they came back before 8pm they would be assisted. A couple that I remembered did come back
Mass confusion is the best way I can describe what was happening in the polling place. Issues of not knowing where to go or what line to get into were a problem from the start of the day to the end of the day.
Late registration line was set up to serpentine in a side garage. This space was not sufficient in size. The line started weaving into the main hall and creating confusion on where to go or how to get to their precinct table.
A secondary line was set up for handicapped voters. However non-handicapped people got in the line and, once they got up to the late registration table, they were informed that they are not supposed to be in that line and sent to the main late registration line. The handicap line was at most 2 hours and now the voters were sent to the other line that had a wait time of several hours.
One voter came in wearing a Make America Great Again hat. He was approached by Elections staff and was asked to remove it. The Voter took the hat off and put it on his child. I notified the Elections staff about this and he informed me that the child is unable to vote so it doesn’t matter.
I informed the Elections staff of an individual wearing a “Pray to end abortion” pin. While I was informing the worker, a Cascade County Attorney was standing nearby. She informed me that it would be hard to say if that is electioneering and that they will not tell her to remove it.
The Election judges at the precinct tables were informed to wave flags to get the attention of Election staff for assistance. Multiple times I timed them and they waved the flag from as little as 1 minute up to 6 Minutes.Some did not ever get help and would send the voter to get the help that they needed.
Julie Bass was walking around assisting voters. She was not signed in as a poll watcher or observer.
One of the biggest concerns that was noted to me is the severe lack of security. Anyone was able to walk into the count board area or the late registration area. One gentleman from the GOP kept walking behind the counter to talk to election officials. Voters were going behind the counter for assistance and going by the ballots. Extra assistance was brought in and not vetted.
by WTF 406 Staff | Aug 27, 2023 | Elections
In case you haven’t noticed, free and fair elections are under attack. Most recently the election denier crowd here in Cascade County is bringing another roadshow charlatan here to Great Falls. This guy’s name is Douglas Frank, a former high school math and science teacher from Ohio. And it appears he is a target of an FBI probe into voter fraud in numerous states.
In April, he appeared in six public meetings in Wyoming and held private meetings with legislators and the Wyoming Secretary of State. His actions prompted the Association of Clerk and Recorders to issue a letter to the Secretary of State, Chuck Gray, which said, “Throughout those meetings, we have concluded that Dr. Frank conveys claims of impropriety but provides no proof to support his allegations.” Malcolm Ervin, Platte County clerk and president of the clerks’ association, also wrote to Gray on March 29. “One would think that Dr. Frank would be eager to prove this capability but rather than proof, Dr. Frank offers an unverifiable story.”
Last spring the election deniers brought other so-called “experts” to town for another public meeting. In addition to Republican State Senator Theresa Manzella, the self appointed Queen of election deniers in Montana, they brought in a shady character named Mark Cook. Among other things, Cook was implicated in litigation and investigations in Colorado over illegal copying of voting records. (WTF406.com has written several articles, some examples here and here, on the election deniers here in Great Falls.)
It turns out that Douglas Frank is also a target in an FBI probe of voting fraud in Colorado arising from some of the same incidents Mark Cook had allegedly been involved in. In September, his cell phone was confiscated by the FBI. Mike Lindell’s (The My Pillow Guy and major supporter of election fraud conspiracy theories) phone was also taken in part of the same investigation. Documents that Lindell showed on his on-line program said investigators were seeking evidence of crimes committed by Lindell and several associates, including Frank. Lindell said that he had hired Frank for several projects but was not aware of all of his activities and denied any involvement in the incidents in Colorado.
As Donald Trump faces state and federal criminal indictment for his efforts to steal the 2020 election, here in Great Falls election conspiracists continue promoting their wacky theories and generally fouling up the Clerk and Recorder’s office. Since taking office in January, our new Clerk and Recorder, Sandra Merchant, has managed to screw up virtually everything she touches. The school election was completely fouled up, a court ordered a special monitor to oversee the library levy election to guarantee it was properly administered, there are currently three lawsuits filed against the county challenging Merchant’s administration of local elections.
Merchant is not just incompetent. She is also corrupt. Most recently Merchant and members of her staff went to a meeting held at the high-end Chico Hot Springs Resort at an estimated cost of more than $3,000 to the taxpayers. Virtually, every new hire in the Clerk and Recorder’s office has been filled by her cronies, including the wife and daughter of far-right Republican Public Service Commissioner, Randy Pinocci. Makes one wonder where the County Attorney and County Human Resources office is since political patronage hiring is clearly illegal under state law.
So, now Frank is bringing his roadshow to Great Falls. He will be appearing on August 29 at MSU College of Technology. It makes one wonder what kinds of shenanigans Sandra Merchant and her cronies are up to now that they control the local Clerk and Recorder’s office.
–KT
For more on Frank and the investigation in Colorado, check out these articles:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/09/15/douglas-frank-fbi-phone-lindell/?nid=top_pb_signin&arcId=FE2NUTK67ZEHBKFRPUDJNDFXGE&account_location=ONSITE_HEADER_ARTICLE
https://wkzo.com/2022/02/17/colorado-elections-clerk-sued-after-passing-on-voting-data/
Photo of Douglas Frank from the Los Angeles Times
