Former legislator Steven Galloway has filed to run in senate district 11 in Cascade County. This video of Galloway at some Trump event says it all. If this offends you, consider running yourself. The deadline for filing is March 4th.
We can’t make this stuff up!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UAd4ngsbPSY
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.
REEFER MADNESS IN GREAT FALLS: By Jackie Brown
I saw another drive-by hit piece from the MAGAs in Cascade County. This time, the hit piece is posted at the E-City Beat blog by Philip M. Faccenda.
The post on the blog shows a photo of Great Falls mayoral candidate Jasmine Taylor, “…holding a half-full weed pipe and lighter…”
The horror! The horror!
The blog did correctly point out that recreational marijuana use is legal in Montana.
It passed with about 57% of the vote in the state. Cascade County approved it with about 55% of the vote. By the way, I voted for it.
Faccenda would like the people holding the next candidate forum to ask drug-related questions so they can try to “get” Taylor.
I would like the City Commission to stop raising my taxes, rates, and fees. The current mayor won’t get my vote because he has supported increasing our taxes, rates, and fees on multiple occasions.
Finally, I leave you with this thought: “Five drunk guys will start a fight. Five stoned guys will start a band.”
Party on…
Thank you to The Western Word Blog. If you are not already following, check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtt-DhGs89w&list=RDqtt-DhGs89w&start_radio=1
It hung by the door on a rusty old nail
A symbol of pride in a small-town tale
I wore it through fields, through rallies and rain
But now it just carries a shadow of shame
So I’m burning my red hat watching it glow
The fiery, the lies I didn’t want to know
I can’t stand with a man who divides and deceives
Burning my red hat, I’m setting myself free
He said he’d fight for the working man’s hand
But his words turned to dust, just smoke in the sand
Turns out his promises were built on the backs
Of fear and of hate and I’m done with all that
I can’t unsee the truth I found
No more blind face, no sticking around
So I’m burning my red hat watching it glow
The fiery, the lies I didn’t want to know
I can’t stand with the man who protects the obscene
I’m burning my red hat and all that it means
Ashes rise like a prayer in the night
For the ones that he has wronged,
For what’s still right
I’ll stand for justice, not for his show
The flames my witness
Now the world will know
by Jack Nelson
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.
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.
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/
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/
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.
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.