Grid Grift
Nobody understands the blather Northwestern Energy is spouting to explain its plans for Colstrip, a subsidiary, customer credits, and … perhaps … bivationary falvebarms.
Great Falls 2025 Election – A Sign Of The Times
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.
Congratulations to Cascade Election Administrator Terry Thompson
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/
If Not You . . .Then Who?
Most of us believe we are in deep political trouble in this country. The Trump Administration with its lying, bigotry and bullying has demonstrated it is firmly on the road to unapologetic fascism. Here in Montana our statewide elected officials are a group of millionaires and billionaires in the Republican Party who either agree with Trump or are afraid of him. . . it’s hard to tell which. And here in Cascade County, local Republican Party ideologues dominate almost all local elected positions.
This is not a time for good citizens to sit back and watch the show. This is a time people need to step up and take back our government. And that is most effectively done at the local level. Take a look at the filings in this post and you can see Republicans are already mobilizing. We must do the same. There is plenty of time to file, but the sooner people get into the process the more likely it is that they will win. So, what’s stopping you? Step up and join the fight for democracy.
This WTF406 post has information on local political races. The information was taken from the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices website. There are numerous elections not included in this post. For example, there is nothing on Neighborhood Council races nor is there any information on local judicial races. In addition, it is worth noting that filing deadlines for municipal races have passed. Filing for all other races is still open and will be until spring.
Public Service Commission
District 1, Randy Pinocci, Republican, Incumbent
Pinocci is term limited
Jeremy Trebas, Republican, Treasurer, Jeremy Trebas
Jeff Pattison, Republican, Treasurer, Katie Wenetta
House Of Representatives
HD 19 Jane Weber, Democrat, Incumbent
Jane Weber, Democrat, Filed for 2026, Treasurer Pam Guschausky
HD 20 Melanie Nikolakakos, Republican, Incumbent
No filings as of 8-18
HD 21 Ed Buttrey, Republican, Incumbent
Lela Graham, Democrat, Treasurer, Charlene Graham
Trevor Fundseth, Republican, Treasurer, Trevor Fundseth
Eric Peterson, Republican, Treasurer, Patti Levesey
HD 22 George Nikolakakos, Republican, Incumbent
Kevin Leatherbarrow, Republican, Treasurer, Tony Rosales
HD 23 Eric Tilleman, Republican, Incumbent
Eric Tilleman, Republican, Treasurer, Waylon Finley
HD 24 Steve Fitzpatrick, Republican, Incumbent
Steve Fitzpatrick, Republican, Treasurer, Steve Fitzpatrick
HD 25 Steve Gist, Republican, Incumbent
No Filing as of 8-18
HD 26 Russ Miner, Republican, Incumbent
Russ Miner, Republican, Treasurer, Russ Miner
Senate
SD 10 Jeremy Trebas, Republican, Incumbent
Melissa Nikolakakos, Republican, Treasurer, George Nikolakakos
Jessica Dyrdahl, Republican, Treasurer, Tony Roslaes
Margaret Mitchel, Democrat, Treasurer, Lew Opollito
SD 11, Daniel Emrich, Republican, Incumbent
George Nikolakakaos, Republican, Treasurer, Melissa Nikolakakas
SD 12, Wendy Mckamey, Republican, Incumbent
No filing as of 8-18
County
County Commission, District 1, Jim Larson, Republican, Incumbent
Tom Lynch, Republican, Treasurer, Eric Tilleman
County Sheriff, Jesse Slaughter, Republican, Incumbent
No Filings as of 8-18
County Attorney, Josh Racki, Democrat, Incumbent
No Filings as of 8-18
Clerk and Recorder, Sandra Merchant, Republican, Incumbent
No Filings as of 8-18
County Treasurer, Diane Heikkila, Republican, Incumbent
No Filings as of 8-18
City of Great Falls (non-partisan election)
Mayor
Filing Deadline has passed
Cory Reeves, Incumbent, Treasurer, Cory Reeves
Jasmine Taylor, Treasurer, Desirae Starling
Council (two positions)
Matt Pippinich, Treasurer,Barbara Bassette
Joe McKenney, Treasurer, Greg Smith
Casey Schreiner, Treasurer, Erin Merchant
Pete Anderson, not available
Big Brother Is Watching
Pishkun Reservoir sits eighteen miles west of Choteau nestled along the Rocky Mountain Front. The 1500 acre reservoir is part of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Sun River Project which provides water to farms and municipalities all along the Front and out onto the prairie. The area is subject to high winds and extreme temperatures. Because it is an irrigation project water levels change dramatically throughout the year There is a small developed camping area which is run by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
Like almost all camp sites, the Pishkun campground has a reader board at each entry with information about the rules, maps and contact information. Most of the information on the reader board is put up and maintained by the Montana Department Fish Wildlife and Parks. But at Pishkun there is a new posting from the Federal Bureau of Reclamation soliciting information from those using the camp ground.
The Bureau of Reclamation wants to know if you have identified;
-any areas that need repair or;
-any services that need improvement or;
-any signs or other information that are negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur and abundance of landscapes and other natural features.
The post script at the bottom of the page reads; This effort is in accordance with implementing DOI Secretarial Order 3431; Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.
Clearly, Donald Trump’s war on factual history has arrived in a far corner of Montana. Are we really expected to notify the Bureau of Reclamation of “signs or other information that are negative about either past or living Americans”? Does that include songs around a camp fire or even bumper stickers on vehicles?
Read Trump’s executive order here: https://www.doi.gov/document-library/secretary-order/so-3431-restoring-truth-and-sanity-american-history