Montana primaries see party fights
- Montana’s June 2 primary is exposing fights inside both parties: Republicans are battling over legislative seats and the open western House race, while Democrats are dealing with candidate disputes and a sudden withdrawal. - In the western U.S. House primary, Aaron Flint is running with Donald Trump’s endorsement against Christi Jacobsen and Al Olszewski; in legislative races, some Republican primaries are already drawing five- and six-figure fundraising. - The clashes follow candidate filing that put 380 people on Montana’s primary ballot and sharpened divisions created during the 2025 Legislature’s property-tax battles. (nbcmontana.com)
Montana’s June 2 primary is less a fight between parties than a fight inside them. Republicans are split over who speaks for the party, and Democrats are dealing with their own candidate turmoil. (apnews.com) (nbcmontana.com) On the Republican side, the sharpest divide runs through legislative primaries shaped by the 2025 session’s property-tax battles. Montana Free Press reported in March that moderate Republicans who worked with Democrats became targets for challengers from the party’s right. (montanafreepress.org) That split is now showing up in campaign money. Daily Montanan reported on April 8 that several Republican legislative primaries had already produced five- and six-figure fundraising as moderates and hardliners fought over seats. (dailymontanan.com) The same fault line reaches the courts and the governor’s agenda. Montana Free Press reported on April 17 that the Montana Republican Party sided with current and former GOP lawmakers suing the Gianforte administration over the 2025 property-tax law. (montanafreepress.org) Republicans are also fighting over the state’s highest-profile federal primary, the open western U.S. House seat vacated by Ryan Zinke’s retirement. Aaron Flint entered the race with endorsements from Zinke, Gov. Greg Gianforte and Sen. Tim Sheehy, while Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen joined the same primary and Al Olszewski stayed in. (montanafreepress.org 1) (montanafreepress.org 2) At a Republican debate in Bozeman on April 21, Flint and Olszewski appeared, but Jacobsen and Ray Curtis did not. Daily Montanan reported that Flint invoked Trump repeatedly and leaned on his endorsement as the race’s central credential. (dailymontanan.com) Democrats have their own fractures. At an April 12 debate in Helena, candidates in the western House primary attacked Sam Forstag over data centers and political action committee money, according to Daily Montanan. (dailymontanan.com) Days later, the Democratic race in the eastern House district changed more abruptly. State Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy suspended his campaign on April 16 after the Montana Democratic Party said it had learned of “serious sexual abuse” allegations, which he did not address in detail in his statement announcing he was stepping back for health and emotional reasons. (dailymontanan.com) Local party labels have become a fight of their own in Cascade County. Montana Free Press reported that county Democratic and Republican leaders alleged two candidates running as Democrats were actually Republicans trying to game legislative races. (montanafreepress.org) Montana’s secretary of state certified the primary ballot after 380 candidates filed between Feb. 17 and March 4, with 19 later withdrawing. That leaves just over five weeks before voters decide which faction in each party gets the November line. (nbcmontana.com)
