Montana
Youth Versus Experience in House District 1 – Flathead Beacon
Three-term Republican lawmaker Neil Duram is running for reelection to represent northern Lincoln County in state House District 1 –– a newly-drawn district that was formerly House District 2 before the state’s decennial redistricting process took place last year. Duram is facing a challenge from Dakota Adams, a 26 year-old who has gained notoriety as the son of Oath Keepers militia founder Stewart Rhodes.
During the 2023 legislative session, Duram carried three successful bills pertaining to emergency response and motor vehicle laws with bipartisan support through the Legislature. Previously, he also championed a bill that requires school buses in Montana to have an extended stop sign arm on any routes where students have to cross a street, which came after an elementary school student in Whitefish was struck by a car after getting off her bus.
“My skillset is public safety,” said Duram, a former Montana Highway Patrol trooper and current chief of the Eureka Police Department. “My whole lifetime has been about Montana Title 61, Title 45 and Title 46 codes. Those are the ones I know, and that’s where I bring experience to the capital.”
Montana Code Annotated (MCA) Titles 45, 46 and 61 are the laws pertaining to “Crimes,” “Criminal Proceedings,” and “Motor Vehicles,” respectively, areas that Duram has focused on during his three terms in office.
Among the bills Duram was unsuccessful in carrying through the House in 2023 was one that would have established an “election security team” to oversee a post-election hand count of all ballots cast in Montana. The bill prompted much debate among lawmakers and died in committee.
“Intense debate, that’s how we figure out what ideas are good and bad. We brainstorm about ideas in committee and on the floor and if they get batted down and don’t get the votes to move forward, then we know it’s not what we need to be doing,” Duram said.
If sent back to Helena for the 2025 session, Duram has several bills already top of mind. On property taxes, Duram said he hopes to make all tax levies approved by voters subject to reapproval after 10 years, similar to how the Legislature must reauthorize the 6-mill levy for the Montana University System every decade.
“I think 10 years strikes the balance point for predictability of local government to be able to plan their budgets,” he said. “Of course, the point that I think is missed when we talk about property taxes is that they fund local government. Maybe not necessarily your local government — Lincoln County gets more than we contribute — but it’s still vital to remember what property taxes pay for.”
Duram also suggested raising the threshold for voters to approve initiatives and local levies above 50%.
On public safety, Duram wants to add an automatic check to see if a person is on probation when law enforcement conducts a check on an individual or license plate. He said it will bring accountability to probation programs to ensure interactions with law enforcement are reported to probation officers.
In addition, Duram talked about a bill that passed in 2023 criminalizing the use of date rape drugs, which he tried unsuccessfully to amend to include giving someone any mind-altering substances without their consent.
“I couldn’t believe it wasn’t against the law to give someone a drug without their knowledge,” he said, adding that there are clear differences when talking about a medical setting. “It’s my position that if you’re giving someone a drug, you need their consent, including marijuana and alcohol. It’s my intention to bring that portion of the bill back.”
Duram ran unopposed in 2018 and 2022, and beat Democratic challenger Lori Ramesz by 60 percentage points in 2020.
A first-time candidate, Adams lives in Eureka, where he works in construction, takes classes at Flathead Valley Community College, and serves as a rural volunteer firefighter. He said he decided to run to make sure that there is a choice for voters on the ballot in a district that is often written off by the Democratic Party.
“Coming up on this election, I’d been advocating for a while that more ordinary people should become involved in politics and sign up to run for something to fill out the ballot, whether they think they have a good shot or not,” Adams said. “Then I had to follow through, or else I would have been one more hypocritical voice on Twitter. I decided I was going to lean in and commit as hard as possible.”
Adams acknowledges that he is a long-shot candidate “running as a progressive Democrat in maybe the second most conservative county in Montana,” but has been surprised at the reception he’s received while campaigning.
“It’s struck me with how often starting a conversation with ‘I’m a down-ballot candidate here to talk about Montana issues, not anything national’ leads to better conversations,” he said. “I’m talking to them about how I’m applying for a job and explaining my positions on things, and overall people are so sick of politicians dodging uncomfortable questions that I think they’re interested in actually talking.”
Adams endorses the property tax reform policies put out by state Democrats earlier this year, emphasizing that this will be a primary focus for all lawmakers. He hopes property taxes will “be addressed immediately upon the opening of the next legislative session.”
There’s also the “crusade against civil rights” Adams said took place during the 2023 legislative session. He hopes to push back against bills restricting LGBTQ+ rights and abortion rights.
“I see so many politicians attacking our civil rights, but doing so under the cover of being ‘against the woke agenda,’” he said. “I’m somebody who’s suspicious of any government authority over people’s lives, any power of the state to determine how people live. I don’t have a blind eye to that, and I won’t let the state keep it up.”
Adams also wants to focus on bolstering local economies and supporting local manufacturing, a counter to northwest Montana’s reliance on recreation tourism.
“If we can support the broad spectrum of Montana small businesses and entrepreneurs, and remove the chokepoint that’s keeping upstart businesses form succeeding, I think local economies will be in a better place,” Adams said. “We should support places tied to local people who want to build their American dream.”
House District 1 comprises Eureka, Rexford, Troy and Trego. View the district map here.
The general election is on Nov. 5. Absentee ballots are sent out Oct. 11. Read more about the candidates running for Legislature in the Flathead and Tobacco valleys here, and find out what legislative district you live in here. Check your voter registration here.
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WASHINGTON ― Montana Republican Senate nominee Kurt Alme, who previously served as his state’s U.S. attorney, cut a plea deal in 2020 that allowed a tribal police officer who sexually abused a 6-year-old girl to serve less than a year in prison and avoid being registered as a sex offender.
Alme, who has President Donald Trump’s backing in his bid for Senate, served as Montana’s U.S. attorney in two stints. Trump appointed him both times; Alme served in the role from September 2017 through December 2020, and then again from March 2025 through March 2026.
Alme oversaw the case of Mychal Thomas Damon, who was indicted in June 2019 by a grand jury on one count of abusive sexual contact with an individual under 12, which carries a maximum punishment of a lifetime in prison, a $250,000 fine and no less than five years to a lifetime of supervised release. The average sentence for this crime is less severe, but still significant: 62 months in prison, no fine and 143 months of supervised release, based on an analysis of 2025 data provided by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Damon, 28, had admitted he touched the 6-year-old’s genitals. But in February 2020, Alme’s office filed a plea deal in his case that reduced his charge to felony child abuse.
The changes in the plea deal raised the alleged age of the victim from below 12 to below 14, stripped out the language of sexual intent and moved the offense out of the federal sex crime framework, meaning Damon would no longer be required to register as a sex offender. It jointly recommended Damon be sentenced to the time he’d already served of 324 days, and required only a sex offender evaluation. Alme’s name appears on the bottom of the document, along with a signature by his assistant U.S. attorney, Cassady Adams.
In June, Alme filed a sentencing memorandum that described Damon’s conduct, which included details of him touching the child’s vagina with skin-to-skin contact, and the adverse effect it had on her mental health. Local reporting at the time said the victim had told a therapist “Mychal touched me” and hurt her by putting his fingers in her “hoo hoo.”
Ten days later, Alme announced Damon was being sentenced to time served of 324 days and two years of supervised release. As of June 2026, Damon is not listed in the national sex offender registry or in Montana’s Sexual or Violent Offender Registry.
It’s not clear why Alme reduced the charges against Damon as significantly as he did. During part of his tenure as U.S. attorney, his office declined 64% of sexual assault cases. He conceded in a 2019 interview that this “is something that has to be worked on,” and noted that a lot of these cases are declined due to “weak or insufficient evidence.”
Asked what happened in Damon’s case, an Alme campaign spokesman on Thursday lashed out at unnamed Democrats for trying to make him look bad.
“Kurt’s liberal opponents are twisting the facts to manufacture a fake narrative that exploits crimes against women and children,” said Alme’s spokesperson. “Department of Justice policy required defendants to plead to the most serious charge readily provable from the evidence. Kurt strongly supported the Multi-Disciplinary Teams on our Native American reservations, led by his office, to support investigations of crimes against children and to support victims.”
His spokesperson also pushed back on the idea that Alme unreasonably declined a large number of sexual assault cases during his tenure as U.S. attorney.
“Kurt’s office prosecuted every viable sexual abuse felony referred to it and pursued the most serious charge readily provable from the evidence,” the spokesperson said. “Many ‘declined’ cases were to allow more appropriate tribal prosecutions ― they were not dropped. Kurt will bring his years of experience prosecuting criminals and working with the Sexual Assault Response Teams on our Native American reservations to the U.S. Senate to strengthen investigations, support victims, and better protect women and children.”
The campaign pointed HuffPost to a 2010 report by the Government Accountability Office that found the most common reason for U.S. attorney’s offices to decline sexual abuse cases referred in from Indian country was “weak or insufficient admissible evidence.” It also highlighted statements of support for Alme in an October 2025 press release by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), when he celebrated Alme being confirmed as U.S. attorney.
Alme is currently running for Daines’ Senate seat, and Daines went out of his way to clear the path for him. In a stunning and orchestrated maneuver, the two-term senator in March abruptly withdrew from reelection as Alme filed to run for his seat, minutes before the state’s filing period closed. Daines’ last-minute change-up was an effort to block potential Democrats or any major Republican challenger from jumping into an open Senate race.
Alme is taking on Democrat Alani Bankhead and independent candidate Seth Bodnar in the November election. Bankhead and Bodner have been duking it out for weeks, with each appealing to different factions of the Democratic party and calling on the other to drop out.
Bankhead, a retired Air Force officer, unexpectedly won the Democratic primary earlier this month, boosted by grassroots supporters and more than $2.5 million in outside money from a progressive veterans’ PAC. But Bodnar, a former University of Montana president who did not appear on the primary ballot, has bipartisan endorsements from prominent establishment figures, including former Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and former Republican Gov. Marc Racicot. He’s also significantly outraised Bankhead and Alme.
This Senate seat is rated “solid Republican” by the nonpartisan Cook’s Political Report, meaning Alme is well-positioned to win the general election. But this race would be more competitive if Bodner and Alme were going head to head, without Bankhead in the running.
Where Khloe Kardashian Stands With Ex French Montana More Than 10 Years After Breakup
French Montana is done keeping up with reality TV.
In fact, he only agreed to appear on Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Kourtney & Khloé Take the Hamptons over a decade ago as a favor to then-girlfriend Khloe Kardashian.
“She said to get on the show,” he exclusively told E! News at the BET Awards on June 28. “And I got on the show. Shout out to Khloe.”
The “Ever Since U Left Me” rapper, who split with Kardashian in December 2014 after eight months of dating, said the experience was “fun” because her family kept it real.
“They filmed their real life,” he continued. “And we were part of something together that one time. So it felt great. It didn’t feel like work because they film what they do everyday.”
As for his future in reality TV, the 41-year-old said those days are over, shutting down any prospective offers with a simple, “Negative.”
Although the “Unforgettable” artist—whose real name is Karim Kharbouch—may not be returning to television anytime soon, he has no problem hanging out with his ex-girlfriend these days.
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