Montana

State executive offices up for election in Montana this year

Published

2 years ago

February 19, 2024

State executive offices up for election in Montana this year

HELENA — Every four years, Montanans elect not only a governor, but four other state executive officeholders – together, the five members of the state land board.

Currently, all of those offices are held by Republicans. MTN has already looked at Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s bid for reelection and at his challenger, attorney Ben Alke, a Democrat from Bozeman. Now, the races are beginning to take shape for three other land board offices.

Jonathon Ambarian

Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen filed for a second four-year term earlier this month, telling MTN she promised voters not to seek higher office while she was still eligible to run for this one. She said she considers her first term to be a success, and she plans to point to record business registrations in the state and reduced red tape.

If she’s reelected, Jacobsen says she wants to continue to focus on election integrity measures. She says she hopes the Montana Supreme Court will allow provisions like stricter voter ID to go into effect, after they faced legal challenges.

“We’re working hard and fighting to keep those on the books into the next term,” she said. “So there’s always room for improvement. We’re already starting to talk with the legislators about possible legislation for next time around to continue to improve elections in the state of Montana.”

Running against Jacobsen is Jesse James Mullen, a Democrat from Deer Lodge. He owns a chain of small community newspapers in Montana and five other states, though he’s stepped back from the company during the campaign. This is his first statewide campaign, after he ran in a special election for state senate last year.

Mullen criticized Jacobsen’s office for their frequent involvement in lawsuits, saying it shows actions the secretary of state should have been taking without being taken to court. He says, as a business owner, he can bring an emphasis on “customer service” to the office’s interactions with businesses and the public.

“A good secretary of state should be a caretaker of the position,” he said. “A great Secretary of State isn’t going to be out in the media all the time because they’re doing the job and making sure Montanans can prioritize their own lives, their own careers and their own businesses.”

Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen will be termed-out at the end of 2024 after serving eight years. Two of her former deputy superintendents have expressed interest in succeeding her.

Susie Hedalen, the superintendent of Townsend Public Schools, filed for the Republican nomination last week. She worked at the Office of Public Instruction for three years, including serving as deputy superintendent for education services. She previously worked as superintendent in the Arrowhead School District, and prior to that in various other educational roles, starting as a classroom teacher.

Hedalen also serves as vice-chair of the Montana Board of Public Education. She says the various roles she’s held have given her an understanding of what school leaders need and how OPI can support them. She also wants to emphasize listening to parents’ concerns.

“I want to make sure that we bring education back to basics, and what I mean by that is that we have a well-rounded education that is built on the foundational skills that our students need – reading, writing, math, science, those skills that are going to bring them through along the way.”

Hedalen’s campaign has touted support from Republican leaders like Gov. Greg Gianforte, Knudsen and – on Monday – U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke.

Sharyl Allen, currently the superintendent-principal for Harrison Public School, told MTN she intends to file as a Republican candidate in the coming days as well. Allen was deputy superintendent under Arntzen for three years. She had previously been a superintendent in Conrad and Boulder, a principal in Great Falls and a teacher in Augusta.

Allen says, during her time in the superintendent’s office, she got experience working firsthand on educational initiatives like student assessments and teacher residency programs. She says OPI needs to do a better job of being responsive to local school leaders.

Allen says she’s shown herself to be an innovator and risktaker throughout her educational career.

“I think the question is, what do you believe in most? And for me, it’s always fighting for kids and the opportunities that they need,” she said. “I love kids, I believe they have incredible potential that often is untapped, I fight for them and I will continue to fight for them, and will ask Montanans to join us.”

The Democratic candidate running for superintendent is state Sen. Shannon O’Brien, D-Missoula. She’s worked as a high school teacher, helping students access college, and as dean of Missoula College – as well as serving as education policy advisor to former Gov. Steve Bullock.

O’Brien says she wants to rebuild the Office of Public Instruction, saying many school districts aren’t receiving the support services they should be. She argues Arntzen’s office has been too focused on issues that aren’t important to families, and she believes she can get that message across to people regardless of their political party.

“We have mental health issues, we have safe schools we need to focus on, and we have a teacher shortage crisis going on right now,” said O’Brien. “So, first of all, I think we need to focus on what’s most important to our families and our children and our teachers. And secondly, we need to make sure that our public schools are protected and our quality public schools in our rural towns are supported, and those teachers have the support that they need to do their job.”

State Auditor Troy Downing could run for a second term, but he’s campaigning in the Republican primary for Montana’s eastern district seat in the U.S. House – leaving the office, which regulates the insurance and securities industries in the state, open for now.

The only candidate to file for auditor so far is Montana Public Service Commission President James Brown, a Republican from Dillon. Brown ran a prominent campaign for Montana Supreme Court in 2022, and says that helped him introduce himself to voters statewide.

Brown believes the state auditor and the PSC share similar regulatory roles, and duties to serve the public.

“Part of the reason I ran for the PSC in 2020 is because I believed I had a skill set in order to bring balance to that commission,” he said. “I feel like I’ve successfully done what I’ve started out to do at the PSC, and I believe that my skill set now is a better fit at the moment for serving as state auditor.”

Brown, an attorney, says he holds an insurance producer’s license, and that he got it to better educate himself about insurance issues that came up in his practice. However, he hasn’t worked actively in the insurance industry, so he says he’d have knowledge without the worry of a conflict of interest.

Any candidates still wanting to file for these and other state offices still has almost a month to do so. The deadline is March 11.

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Montana

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

Published

10 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

22 hours 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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Montana

Governor’s energy task force continues public discussions on data centers

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Governor’s energy task force continues public discussions on data centers

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