Montana

Lawmakers consider bill to move Montana municipal elections to even years

Published

9 months ago

March 22, 2025

Lawmakers consider bill to move Montana municipal elections to even years

HELENA — Later this year, cities and towns across Montana will be holding elections for mayors and other local officials. However, a bill currently making its way through the Montana Legislature could significantly change how those elections will run after 2025.

House Bill 221, sponsored by Rep. Lukas Schubert, R-Kalispell, would move municipal elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years – putting them on the same schedule with federal and state elections. The House passed the bill 57-42, with almost all Republicans in support and almost all Democrats in opposition. It had its first hearing in a Senate committee this week.

(Watch the video to hear what city officials say about the possible change.)

Lawmakers consider bill to move Montana municipal elections to even years

Schubert said this move would get more people participating in local elections.

“I think it’s just a commonsense measure,” he said.

If HB 221 becomes law, there would still be municipal elections this year, but the winners’ terms would only last one year. Those positions would then go back up for election on the new schedule in 2026. There would also be special elections in 2026 and 2028 for one-year terms to get officials whose terms expire in 2027 and 2029 onto the new schedule.

Billings, Missoula, Bozeman, Kalispell, Great Falls and Helena are all scheduled to elect mayors in 2025.

Joe McKenney is a Great Falls city commissioner, first elected in 2021 for a four-year term expiring at the end of 2025. He says having to run at the same time as federal and state candidates could make it tougher for city candidates to get voters’ attention.

“There’s only so many billboards, there’s only so many bench signs, there’s only so many radio spots, there’s only so many spots that we can buy on the news,” said McKenney. “And when all of these hundreds – it could be hundreds – of candidates are on the same ballot, running at the same time, how do we get our message out?”

Schubert told MTN he didn’t think moving city elections would lead to local issues getting lost.

“Putting them in the even-numbered years, it doesn’t prevent anyone from looking at what their municipal or mayor candidate is – that’s clearly a distinct role from a president or Senate or anything else,” he said. “But it gives those other people that ordinarily don’t turn out an opportunity to vote, because it would be right there on the ballot.”

Two of Montana’s cities do have experience running local elections in even years: Butte and Anaconda. Both have consolidated city and county governments, and they elect their officers on the same schedule as counties.

Butte-Silver Bow chief executive J.P. Gallagher was reelected in November, at the same time as the presidential election.

“It brings more attention to it when it’s a federal and state election as well,” he said. “Sometimes, our local offices – people don’t know a whole lot about some of the elected officials that they’re voting for. And so it at least gets them to pay attention to those local offices and elections, and so I think it’s a benefit for us.”

In 2024, Anaconda-Deer Lodge County’s general election voter turnout was 81% and Butte-Silver Bow County’s was 76% – though the number of voters making a choice in each county’s chief executive race was about 5% lower. In 2021, municipal election turnout was 48% in Yellowstone County and Lewis and Clark County and 45% in Missoula County. In 2023, Gallatin County reported 33% turnout in its municipal general election.

In 2023, another bill to move municipal elections to even years passed the Senate but stalled in the House. Schubert said he believed the idea had a better chance of success this year because the Montana Secretary of State’s Office is more supportive.

Source link

Click to comment

Montana

Griz outlast power outage, surge to big win – University of Montana Athletics

Published

3 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Griz outlast power outage, surge to big win – University of Montana Athletics

The power went out inside Dahlberg Arena on Wednesday evening, delaying the opening tip of the Montana men’s basketball game by nearly two hours. Once the electricity returned to campus, the Grizzly men lit things up inside Dahlberg Arena.

Montana reached the 100-point mark for the third time this season, winning 102-46 over the Salish Kootenai Bison. The Grizzlies improved to 6-5 on the season with the win.

As a team, Montana shot 70.5 from the floor and 44.0 percent from three-point range. It’s the first time since 1968 that Montana has shot over 70 percent from the floor in a game. It’s also the 5^th best shooting percentage by a D-I team this season.

Money Williams had a double-double, his third of the season, finishing with 10 points and 11 assists. It’s the second time in Williams’ career that he has finished with 10 assists in a single game.

He wasn’t the only Grizzly to reach double figures in the assist department. Tyler Isaak recorded his first career double-double with a new career high 10 assists to go along with 16 points. It’s the first time in program history that two different players have recorded 10 or more assists in the same game.

It was a highly efficient night for Isaak, who played just 24 minutes and went 6-of-7 from the floor.

It was a complete team effort for Montana with 10 of the 11 players dressed scoring in the contest. Connor Dick (15) and Amari Jedkins (13) both scored career highs in the victory.

The Missoula kid can get 🆙#GrizHoops | @ConnorDick9 pic.twitter.com/YOg1yczxKD

— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) December 11, 2025

The Grizzlies had seven players reach double figures, the most in a single game in program history. Te’Jon Sawyer (13), Brooklyn Hicks (13), and Tyler Thompson (11) joined the previously four mentioned players in double figures.

The assists played a big role in that with Montana sharing the ball plenty. They recorded 30 team assists on the night, the second most in a game in program history. The Grizzlies had a 5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio on the night.

alley oop ☝️➡️👇 pic.twitter.com/xRz6XC0yyQ

— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) December 11, 2025

The Grizzlies held Salish Kootenai to just 27 percent shooting and a 6-of-30 (.200) mark from three-point range. Montana’s size played a huge factor on the night as the Grizzlies outrebounded the Bison 47-25 and outscored them 60-20 in the paint.

Montana scored 16 points off dunks as they broke out into the open court on several occasions for highlight reel slams. They also owned a 22-0 advantage in fastbreak points.

Montana jumped out to a 13-2 lead before the first media timeout and never looked back in win. They set the tone early from the three-point line, opening the game 4-of-7 from the arc to help build the early lead.

It was a balanced first half offensively and the Griz were able to go on five individual runs of at least six straight points with nine different players scoring in the opening 20 minutes. The Grizzlies went 8-of-17 from the arc and shot 65.5 percent from the field in the first half.

Williams’ 8^th assist of the opening half went to Amari Jedkins. The Grizzly forward knocked down a corner three to send Montana into the halftime break ahead 50-17.

8th assist of the first half from @mxney___ as he finds Amari Jedkins for the corner three to send us into the half 🔥 pic.twitter.com/UO9WGlnDeh

— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) December 11, 2025
Advertisement

The Grizzlies didn’t let up in the second half, going on two separate 12-0 runs and winning the second period 52-29 for the big victory.

Montana will get a week off before returning home next Wednesday night to face Montana Tech at 7:00 p.m. The Orediggers are 8-3 on the season.

Source link

Montana

Live Updates: Montana State leads SFA 7-0 in the first quarter

Published

15 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Live Updates: Montana State leads SFA 7-0 in the first quarter

We recognize you are attempting to access this website from a country belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA) including the EU which
enforces the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and therefore access cannot be granted at this time.

For any issues, contact sports@nonstoplocal.com or call 509-448-4656.

Source link

Montana

Frigid Friday – several inches of snow in parts of the area

Published

1 day ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Frigid Friday – several inches of snow in parts of the area

A band of moderate snow has formed from the Cut Bank area, extending southeast across Chouteau, Fergus, and Judith Basin Counties. Be alert for low visibility and slick road conditions. Icy conditions continue in Lewis & Clark and Broadwater counties, where snow fell on top of ice after some freezing rain overnight. Up to a 1/4″ of ice has been reported on cars and sidewalks. Freezing rain may mix in again this morning as milder air begins to move back in.

Today’s Forecast:

Frigid Friday, several inches of snowfall in parts of the area-Friday, December 12

It will be a frigid today, with high temperatures in the 0s and lower 10s across central and eastern Montana, and mid to upper 30s in Helena.

The snow band will continue throughout the day, bringing several inches of snow to areas east of I-15. The band of snow will gradually push east tonight, impacting Blaine, Phillips, and Valley counties overnight. Snow showers taper off by Saturday morning.

MTN News

Expect difficult driving conditions through Saturday morning, especially east of I-15 and into the mountains.

Arctic air slowly retreats north on Saturday. Temperatures start off in the -10s to near 0 on the Hi-Line and in the 0s for central Montana, then climb to the 0s and 10s for the Hi-Line and 10s to 20s in central Montana by Saturday evening.

Meanwhile, it will be a pleasant weekend in Helena with temperatures in the low 40s. A gusty breeze develops on Sunday, as temperatures warm nicely into the low to mid 40s in central Montana and into the 30s in northeast Montana.

Looking ahead to next week, mild and windy conditions kick off the workweek, followed by active weather returning midweek.