Montana

Montana GOP elects new chair, after rules fight over legislative party split

Published

8 months ago

June 28, 2025

Montana GOP elects new chair, after rules fight over legislative party split

HELENA — Delegates of the Montana Republican Party gathered in Helena Saturday to choose the party’s next chair – a process that took several hours and rules battles to complete.

The party picked Art Wittich, an attorney and former state lawmaker from Gallatin County, to lead them for the next two years.

(Watch the video to see the debates during Saturday’s party convention.)

Montana GOP elects new chair, after rules fight over legislative party split

Wittich will replace “Don K” Kaltschmidt, who chaired the Montana GOP for the last six years. Over that time, Republicans won all the statewide elections in Montana and held firm control of the state Legislature – but Wittich said Saturday that he doesn’t believe that’s translated into the kind of conservative policy victories they’ve been hoping for.

“We’re not delivering on the full results the voters expect,” he told delegates in a speech before Saturday’s vote. “We are a 55% red state. We did not get 55% ideas out of the Legislature.”

Initially, 241 delegates participated in the party’s officer’s convention. However, almost immediately, there was a rules fight over whether the group of state senators known as “the Nine” should be allowed to vote.

Jonathon Ambarian

At the Montana Republican Party’s 2025 officer’s convention in Helena, June 28, 2025, Sen. Barry Usher, Rep. Jane Gillette and Sen. Theresa Manzella (standing, left to right) backed a vote to remove credentials from nine state senators who broke with the party during this year’s session, including Sens. Jason Ellsworth, Denley Loge and Russ Tempel (seated center and right in dark suits, left to right).

The nine senators drew criticism from other Republicans during this year’s legislative session, when they broke with party leadership and sided with Democrats on a series of key procedural votes. In April, the state party’s executive committee released a statement saying they were “no longer considered by the MTGOP as Republicans.”

While Republican elected officials are entitled to vote at the state convention, some delegates challenged the Nine, arguing the April statement meant they were no longer eligible to represent the party.

“It is us who decides who is Republican,” said Rep. Jane Gillette, R-Three Forks. “Our executive board, through the powers vested to them through us electing those leaders, voted to declare the Nine not recognized Republicans in our private association, GOP.”

Kaltschmidt said, regardless of what he thought of the Nine, he didn’t believe party rules allowed him to remove their credentials.

“While the Executive Committee has expressed a clear belief about the senators, the Executive Committee does not have the ability to amend the party’s bylaws unilaterally,” he said. “The nine senators are elected Republicans, and our rules make them members of this convention.”

But delegates forced a roll-call vote on whether to uphold Kaltschmidt’s ruling.

"Don K" Kaltschmidt — “Don K” Kaltschmidt, the outgoing chair of the Montana Republican Party, presided over the party’s 2025 officer’s convention in Helena, June 28, 2025.

Some in attendance said those seeking to remove the Nine were trying to change rules that people had already agreed on.

“Imagine if you were in one of these counties with ‘the Evil Nine,’ and you show up, and you’re not getting that vote for your county, for the representatives that we are to vote on,” said Jason Stephenson, chair of the Big Horn County Republican Central Committee. “So I’m asking you guys, think about fairness.”

But, after 20 minutes of roll-call voting, Kaltschmidt announced 136 delegates had voted to reopen the issue of credentials, with 97 voting to sustain his decision and 3 abstaining. A majority of the body then took a second vote to accept all the delegates except the Nine. The senators – along with proxy voters representing several of them – were asked to give up their seats at the event.

After the rules issues, leaders opened voting for the next party chair. There were four candidates for the position. In addition to Wittich, they included:

Stacy Zinn, a former state supervisor for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and a 2024 U.S. House candidate for Montana’s eastern district.
Troy Miller, a financial planner and finance chair for the Gallatin County Republican Party.
Tanner Smith, an excavation company owner, former state lawmaker and 2024 gubernatorial candidate.

Delegates voted by ballot. No candidate received a majority after the first round, so Wittich and Zinn, the top-two finishers, moved on to a second round.

Montana GOP Delegates Voting — Delegates at the Montana Republican Party’s 2025 officer’s convention placed their ballots for party chair into a flag-patterned box, June 28, 2025.

Wittich was backed by some of the most conservative members of the party, including an endorsement from the Montana Freedom Caucus. During his speech before the vote, he criticized the property tax legislation passed during this year’s session, and he said lawmakers haven’t done enough to promote judicial transparency and election integrity. He also said he would establish a “conservative governance committee” that would vet and endorse candidates for office.

“I think that, if we show that conservative governance works – we’re a red state, we could become a bright red state,” he told delegates after his election.

Kaltschmidt told MTN he thought the delegates had made the right selection, and that their actions Saturday signaled that they wanted the party “to unify in the Legislature as well as the voting booth.”

Wittich will be party chair for a two-year term, continuing through the 2026 elections and the 2027 legislative session.

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Montana

Evacuation orders issued as 5,000-acre wildfire burns near Roundup, Montana

Published

3 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Evacuation orders issued as 5,000-acre wildfire burns near Roundup, Montana

ROUNDUP, Mont. —
The Rehder Creek Fire is burning 16 miles southeast of Roundup has grown to about 5,000 acres, prompting evacuation orders for residents in the Bruner Mountain Area/Subdivision.

The fire started Feb. 26, the cause is unknown and containment was at 0%.

Evacuation orders are in effect for all residents in the Bruner Mountain Area/Subdivision. The Musselshell County Sheriff’s Office is coordinating the evacuation orders, and 911 reverse calls have been sent out to advise people in the area.

A shelter is opening at the Roundup Community Center. Residents were told to contact Musselshell County DES for further information.

Firefighter and public safety remain the top priority. The public is asked to avoid the Fattig Creek and Rehder Road area so emergency personnel can safely and effectively perform their work.

Fire resources assigned to the incident include 40 total personnel, 11 engines, one Type 2 helicopter, three tenders and two dozers.

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Montana

February 26 recap: Missoula and Western Montana news you may have missed today

Published

15 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

February 26 recap: Missoula and Western Montana news you may have missed today

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Montana

Escobar, Jayapal, Members of Congress Call on Camp East Montana to be Shut Down – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Escobar, Jayapal, Members of Congress Call on Camp East Montana to be Shut Down – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) – joined by Representative Pramila Jayapal, the Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, and 22 other Members of Congress – sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons calling for the immediate closure of Camp East Montana in El Paso. They cite urgent humanitarian concerns following multiple deaths in custody, documented unsafe conditions, and serious deficiencies in medical care.

This marks the fourth letter Congresswoman Escobar has sent to DHS and ICE leadership. The previous three letters have gone unanswered.

The letter can be found in its entirety below and here.

“Secretary Noem and Acting Director Lyons:

We are urgently calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS or the Department) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to shut down Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas.

Camp East Montana has been operational for six months, and at least three people have died at the site since December 2025: Francisco Gaspar-Andres, Geraldo Lunas Campos, and Victor Manuel Diaz. The El Paso County Medical Examiner has officially ruled Lunas Campos’ death a homicide, citing “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.”

Camp East Montana was constructed in a matter of weeks and opened before construction was complete and it does not have enough federal staff on-site to provide adequate oversight. Over the last several months, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, in whose district this facility is located, has sent multiple letters to DHS and ICE regarding concerns about the conditions at Camp East Montana, and has received no responses.

According to detainees, there have been constant and consistent problems at the facility since it opened, beginning with the facility’s poor construction and poor ambient temperature control. Upon opening, the drinking water at Camp East Montana tasted foul and made some detainees sick. Detainees continue to be served inadequate meals, including food that is rotten or frozen; last fall, the facility was also consistently failing to make dietary accommodations for detainees. Detainees have shared that they have sporadic access to outside spaces and recreational areas, and that their dormitory pods are cleaned only once every eight days, despite pods housing up to 72 people at a time. Laundry services are not consistent, and people are washing their clothes in the facility showers. Additionally, the facility experiences flooding and sewage backups when it rains, leading to stagnant water.

One of the biggest concerns with the Camp East Montana facility is the inadequate medical care being provided to detainees. Our offices have heard that only the most ill detainees are referred to the medical unit and that there are inconsistencies as to how soon after arriving detainees are able to undergo initial medical screenings. Detainees with chronic health issues who rely on regimented medications for their health have had difficulty accessing necessary medications, including blood pressure medication and insulin.

At least one of the deaths that occurred in ICE custody, the death of Francisco Gaspar-Andres, appears to partially be the result of poor medical care by staff at the facility. According to ICE’s own account, Gaspar-Andres sought medical attention from facility staff for increasingly serious symptoms, but was only transferred to an area hospital once his condition had severely deteriorated.

In addition to our concerns about poor medical care, we are also aware that detainees have experienced irregular access to their legal counsel, including instances of detainees having only two minutes allotted per phone call every 8 days, which is contrary to ICE’s Detention Standards on access to counsel, and that the belatedly created law library lacks adequate resources for the amount of people currently held at the facility. In January 2026, ICE announced the on-site death of Geraldo Lunas Campos “after experiencing medical distress.” ICE opened an investigation into the death, but did not provide a cause of death. However, The Washington Post later reported that another man detained at Camp East Montana had witnessed guards choking Lunas Campos when he refused to enter a segregated housing unit. Weeks later, the El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled that Lunas Campos had experienced “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression” and ruled his death a homicide.

Lunas Campos is the first detainee to die at Camp East Montana as a result of a use-of-force incident, but we are strongly concerned that he will not be the last if ICE is allowed to continue operating Camp East Montana.

ICE was given $45 billion in taxpayer dollars in the reconciliation bill, $1.2 billion of which were awarded to Acquisition Logistics, LLC, a company with no previous experience managing immigration detention facilities, to build and oversee Camp East Montana. However, in the wake of three deaths in custody so far, continued concerns about conditions at the facility, and ICE’s apparent disinterest in responding to oversight letters from Congress, we do not believe Camp East Montana is being run professionally or responsibly.

Camp East Montana must be shut down. For the safety of everyone at the facility, for an end to abuses to detainees, and for fiscal responsibility to the American people, the site cannot continue to operate. We are calling on DHS and ICE to move to immediately close operations at Camp East Montana.

We look forward to hearing from the Department promptly on this matter.

The other co-signers include Representatives Yassamin Ansari, Nanette Barragán, Yvette Clarke, Lloyd Doggett, Maxwell Frost, Jesús “Chuy” García, Sylvia Garcia, Daniel Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Henry Johnson, Stephen Lynch, Seth Moulton, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Delia Ramirez, Andrea Salinas, Janice Schakowsky, Darren Soto, Rashida Tlaib, Paul Tonko, Lauren Underwood, Gabe Vasquez, and Nydia Velázquez.

Issues: Immigration

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