Montana

From his Montana ranch, a retired lawmaker in a crowded House race is angling for a comeback

Published

2 years ago

June 1, 2024

From his Montana ranch, a retired lawmaker in a crowded House race is angling for a comeback

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — From a ranch in one of America’s largest and newest congressional districts, where agriculture and Republicans dominate, a retired six-term Montana lawmaker and grandfather is taking an unlikely path in search of a political comeback.

Former U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, 68, is more than a decade removed from a failed U.S. Senate bid.

Now in a crowded field for an open seat without a clear frontrunner, he’s raised little money, hasn’t shown up much on the campaign trail and skipped the only broadcast debate leading up to Tuesday’s Republican primary.

Rehberg jumped into the race after firebrand conservative incumbent U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale dropped out amid clashes with party leaders.

His opponents suggest Rehberg’s time has passed. And he’s been vastly outspent by opponent Troy Downing, the state’s insurance commissioner, whose donations and loans to his own campaign equal the campaign chests of the other candidates combined.

Election to the House has historically offered Montana politicians a springboard to higher office including U.S. Senate, governor and the White House Cabinet. The district was created following the 2020 Census when population growth earned Montana a second seat in the House.

During an interview at his house on the outskirts of Billings, Montana’s largest city, Rehberg repeatedly held up a book by former Trump administration Interior Secretary David Barnhardt. But he told The Associated Press that unlike former President Donald Trump or Rosendale — who drew backlash for helping oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — he’s not a “bomb thrower.”

What to know about the 2024 Election

“If that’s what the people of Montana want, I’m not it,” Rehberg said.

“I want to work within the system,” he added. “And I don’t think that throwing bombs is the best way.”

Rehberg cited his grandchildren and the chance to make a difference in their lives as his motivation for running. He might also be seeking to rehabilitate his image after his bruising last race, said Montana State University political scientist Eric Raile.

“The 2012 U.S. Senate election against Jon Tester was a rough one,” Raile said.

The congressional district sprawls across across more than 100,000 square miles (260,000 square kilometers) of mostly open space from the North Dakota border to Helena. Its voters are overwhelmingly white. About 7% are Native American.

Rehberg, Downing and state schools Superintendent Elsie Arntzen have infused their campaigns with hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal loans as they compete in a seven-way competition that includes state Senate President Pro Tempore Ken Bogner and former state Rep. Joel Krautter, who is backed by a former Republican governor.

Downing, whose loans top $1 million, has also benefited from almost $500,000 in spending on his behalf by a Washington, D.C.-area political group, the Defend American Jobs SuperPAC, that’s funded largely by California-based donors, federal election data shows. He told the AP that he wouldn’t join the conservative Freedom Caucus, as Rosendale did.

“I don’t ever want to be in a position where I am representing a caucus rather than my constituents,” he said.

Arntzen is perhaps the most conservative of the candidates in Montana’s primary.

“Recognizing who Montana is right now means that we are based on Christian faith, we are based on freedoms, we are based very much on local government control and not a top down, heavy mandate,” said Arntzen, who opposes transgender girls participating in girls’ athletics.

Rehberg is optimistic Montana residents will remember him despite his long absence from politics. Since his 2012 loss, Rehberg started and shuttered a string of fast food franchises and lost vision in one eye. His wife Jan — his sole campaign volunteer — drives him at night, Rehberg said.

“My philosophy hasn’t changed since I first ran in 1984. I’m the same person as when I first ran for office,” he said. “A little older.”

___

Hanson reported from Helena, Montana.

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Montana

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

Published

1 hour 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.

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Montana

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

Published

14 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

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Montana

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

HELENA — You probably have goals and plans for 2026—the Montana Department of Agriculture does too.

“We’re really focusing on innovative agricultural practices,” Montana Department of Agriculture director Jillien Streit said.

It’s no secret that agriculture—farming and ranching—is not easy. There are long days, planning, monitoring crops and livestock, and other challenges beyond farmers’ and ranchers’ control.

(WATCH: Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026)

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

“We have very low commodity prices across the board,” Streit said. “We still have very high input prices across the board, and we have really high prices when it comes to our equipment, and so, it’s a really tough year.”

But innovation, including new practices, partnerships and technology use, can help navigate some of those challenges.

“We can’t make more time and we can’t make more land, so we need to start putting together innovative practices that help us maximize what our time and land can do,” Streit said.

Practices range from using technology like autonomous tractors and virtual fencing—allowing rangers to contain and move cattle right from their phones—to regenerative farming and ranching.

“It is bringing cattle back into farming operations to be able to work with cover cropping practices to invigorate the soil for new soil health benefits,” Streit said.

The Montana Department of Agriculture is working to help producers learn, share, and collaborate on new ideas to work in their operations.

The department will share stories of practices that work from farms and ranches across the state. Also, within the next year or so, Streit said the department is hoping to roll out technology to help producers collaborate.

“(It’s) providing a communication platform where people can get together and really help each other out by utilizing each other’s assets,” she said.

While not easy, agriculture is still one of Montana’s largest industries, and Streit said innovating and sharing ideas across the state can keep it going long into the future.

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