Montana Politics

Four of the five Republican primary candidates for Montana’s western U.S. House seat met in a debate Friday hosted by Montana Farmers Union. The candidates generally agreed they want to limit big government, but differed on how to address specific issues.

Voters in three counties this week have one more chance to weigh in on local cannabis taxation policy before sales begin in January.

The most contentious debate between commissioners and the public has come down to whether the two districts should be politically competitive and how to define compactness.

The commission in charge of drawing Montana’s new political boundaries remains stuck in a deadlock over how to split the state into two congressional districts.

The Montana Democratic Party, Montanans for Tester and a college student on Tuesday filed suit challenging the law in federal court in Missoula.

A Democratic Montana state lawmaker Wednesday questioned the head of the state health department about whether medical experts were involved in making a controversial emergency rule issued last month regarding masking in schools.

In a few months, Montana’s Districting and Apportionment Commission will finalize the state’s new maps outlining political districts. To kick things off, they’re looking at map submissions from the public.

From now until the next Montana legislative session in 2023, state lawmakers are studying potential ways they can change the judicial system. That conversation is happening while tensions are high between the two branches of government.

The new laws in question limit voter identification acceptable at the polls, restrict ballot drop-offs and eliminate same-day voter registration.

The Montana Supreme Court has denied Republican lawmakers’ request to withdraw a previous order that limited the legislature’s subpoena power.