Montana

Republicans want to take the Senate. A hard-right Montana lawmaker could crash the party

Published

2 years ago

February 12, 2024

Republicans want to take the Senate. A hard-right Montana lawmaker could crash the party

Matthew Brown
| Associated Press

HELENA — Montana Republicans gathered in a hotel ballroom this weekend aiming to unite ahead of the 2024 election and defeat three-term incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Jon Tester. Yet before the party even got underway it was crashed by conservative U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, who jumped into the race in defiance of GOP leaders.

Rosendale’s move laid bare deep fissures within the Montana GOP at a time when Republicans can ill afford it. Toppling Tester is a key part of their strategy to take control of the narrowly divided Senate in the November election by targeting vulnerable Democratic seats in Montana, Ohio and West Virginia.

Outside observers and even some Republicans say an intraparty skirmish leading up to Montana’s June primary could undermine those hopes.

Senate Republican leaders — including Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, who leads the National Republican Senatorial Committee — are backing a former U.S. Navy SEAL over Rosendale, who is viewed as too divisive to appeal to the state’s large contingent of independent voters.

Rosendale’s entry into the Senate contest capped months of speculation that the hard-right lawmaker wanted a rematch six years after losing to Tester in 2018.

“I’ve won two elections since then,” Rosendale, 63, told reporters after filing paperwork on Friday to formally enter the race. “And the most important thing is that my name I.D. and my trust factor is elevated dramatically. People know who I am.”

A large group of conservative state lawmakers showed up for Rosendale’s filing and boisterously cheered him on, underscoring his grassroots support in the state.

A few hours later and several blocks away, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte took the stage in a Helena hotel ballroom to pump up former SEAL and political newcomer Tim Sheehy as the party’s best chance to beat Tester. Behind the Republican governor was a poster with the state GOP slogan, “We’re better, together!”

As Gianforte’s speech concluded a buzz ran through the crowd: Former President Donald Trump had just endorsed Sheehy in a social media post. “He probably heard my speech,” Gianforte quipped as an aide told him of the endorsement.

Rosendale, who Trump backed in 2018 and again in 2020, responded to the setback by reaffirming his fealty to the former president. “I love President Trump,” he said when asked about the endorsement.

Rosendale was among eight conservative lawmakers who ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year. He suggested during the event in Helena that he hopes to do the same to Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who Rosendale derided as part of a “uni-party” of Republican and Democrat leaders controlling legislation in Congress.

Sheehy, 38, founded an aerial firefighting company in Belgrade, Montana, that is heavily dependent on federal government contracts. He said in an interview that he decided to enter politics following the chaotic American withdrawal from Afghanistan.

His lack of political experience is a plus, he said, because it means he hasn’t “been contaminated by years in politics.”

“Americans in Montana specifically are really tired of the same people in Washington going back and forth over and over,” he said. “I bring a fresh perspective. I’ve been a small business owner, a job creator for over 400 jobs.”

The federal contracts that helped pay for many of those jobs irk Rosendale’s supporters.

“I see a pretty significant conflict when your livelihood is determined by government contracts,” said Theresa Manzella, a Republican state senator and chairperson of the Montana Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative lawmakers politically aligned with Rosendale.

But state Rep. George Nikolakakos argued that nominating Rosendale would play into the Democrats’ hands.

“Rosendale had his chance in ’18 and lost,” said Nikolakakos, a Republican representing a swing district in Great Falls. “I would say that the people who are going to choose Rosendale and the people who want Rosendale to be the nominee are the Democrats.”

Those Democrats are egging on the division in the GOP Senate race, hopeful it will drain Republican funds and alienate independent voters before the general election. The state Democratic Party responded to Rosendale’s announcement by declaring that the Republican primary would be “a bloody brawl.”

Tester, 67, is a farmer and former state lawmaker who was first elected to the Senate in 2006 in an upset victory over a three-term Republican incumbent. The moderate lawmaker won his next two contests also by narrow margins, including a 3.5-percentage-point victory over Rosendale.

Montana has politically veered sharply right since Tester first took office, leaving him increasingly vulnerable with each election cycle.

Trump beat Biden by 16 percentage points in Montana four years ago and Tester is now the only Democrat holding statewide office there — an abrupt flip from last decade when Republicans faced a similar situation.

The candidates and outside political groups already have spent more than $18 million on advertising in the Senate campaign’s early months. That will quickly ramp up between now and the November election with an additional $95 million in advertising reserved, according to AdImpact, a firm that tracks political advertising.

The heady pace of spending also puts the race on track to be among the most expensive political contests in Montana history, rivaling a 2020 matchup between Daines and then-Gov. Steve Bullock in which more than $118 million was spent.

Source link

Click to comment

Montana

Christi Jacobsen enters race for Western House seat

Published

3 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Christi Jacobsen enters race for Western House seat

HELENA, Mont. — Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen is running for Montana’s Western Congressional District seat, entering the race a day after U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke announced he would not seek reelection.

Jacobsen’s announcement sets up a new contest for the open seat after Zinke, a Republican, said he would seek reelection.

BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT

“As your Secretary of State, I’ve stood up to Washington overreach, defended election integrity, and delivered real results for Montanans. In 2020, voters gave me a mandate to clean up our elections, grow Montana business, and push back against radical liberal special interests. I delivered. Now it’s time to take that same results-driven, America First leadership to Congress.”

Source link

Montana

Montana Lottery Powerball, Lotto America results for March 2, 2026

Published

16 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing

02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto America numbers from March 2 drawing

03-08-17-24-34, Star Ball: 06, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from March 2 drawing

06-12-19-29, Bonus: 11

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 2 drawing

21-28-58-65-67, Powerball: 25

Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 2 drawing

28-41-42-50-55, Bonus: 02

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.

Source link

Montana

Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate

Published

1 day ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate

Everyone makes mistakes, even experienced professionals; a good reminder for the rest of us to learn from those mistakes. The motion in State v. Stroup starts off well in its initial pages (no case law hallucinations), but is then followed by several pages of two other motions, which I don’t think the lawyer was planning to file, and which appear to have been AI-generated: It begins with the “Below is concise motion language you can drop into …” language quoted above.

Griffen Smith (Missoulian) reported on the story, and included the prosecutor’s motion to strike that filing, on the grounds that it violates a local rule (3(G)) requiring disclosure of the use of generative AI:

The document does not include a generative artificial intelligence disclosure as required. However, page 7 begins as follows: “Below is concise motion language you can drop into a ‘Motion to Admit Mental-Disease Evidence and for Related Instructions’ keyed to 45-6-204, 45-6-201, and 4614-102. Adjust headings/captions to your local practice.” Page 10 states “Below is a full motion you can paste into your pleading, then adjust names, dates, and styles to fit local practice.” These pages also include several apparent hyperlinks to “ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws,” “ppl-ai-fileupload.s3.amazonaws+1,” and others. The document includes what appears to be an attempt at a second case caption on page 12. It is not plausible on its face that any source other than generative AI would have created such language for a filed version of a brief….

There’s more in that filing, but here’s one passage:

While generative AI can be a useful tool for some purposes and may have greater application in the future, when used improperly, and without meaningful review, it can ultimately damage both the perception and the reality of the profession. One assumes that Mr. Stroup has had, or will at some point have, an opportunity to review the filing made on his behalf. What impression could a review of pgs. 12-19 leave upon a defendant who struggles with paranoia and delusional thinking? While AI could theoretically one day become a replacement for portions of staff of experienced attorneys, it is readily apparent that this day has not yet arrived.

The Missoulan article includes this response:

In a Wednesday interview, Office of Public Defender Division Administrator Brian Smith told the Missoulian the AI-generated language was inadvertently included in an unrelated filing. And he criticized the county attorney’s office for filing a “four-page diatribe about the dangers of AI” instead of working with the defense to correct her mistake.
“That’s not helping the client or the case,” Smith said, “and all you are doing is trying to throw a professional colleague under the bus.”

As I mentioned, the lawyer involved seems quite experienced, and ran for the Montana Public Service Commission in 2020 (getting nearly 48% of the vote) and for the House of Representatives in Montana’s first district in 2022 (getting over 46% of the vote) and in 2024 (getting over 44%). “Его пример другим наука,” Pushkin wrote in Eugene Onegin—”May his example profit others,” in the Falen translation.

Thanks to Matthew Monforton for the pointer.

Source link