News

HELENA, Montana- Montana Republican Party Chairman Don “K” Kaltschmidt released the following statement regarding Vice President Harris’s long overdue visit to the southern border:

“Kamala Harris’s trip to the border was nothing but a photo-op. The Vice President stopped in El Paso, Texas—a thousand miles from where the actual border crisis is happening. And let’s keep in mind, the announcement of her visit came shortly after President Trump shared he would be visiting the border with Texas Governor Greg Abbott,” said Chairman Don “K” Kaltschmidt.

“The Biden Administration’s efforts to sweep this crisis under the rug is truly a disgrace to our country and to those suffering at the hand of their harmful immigration policies—or lack thereof. We have seen the devastating effects of the unsecured southern border right here in Montana. Meth, fentanyl, and other harmful drugs are being smuggled across the border into our communities and are tearing Montana families apart.

“I am grateful for Senator Daines, Congressman Rosendale, Attorney General Knudsen, and Governor Gianforte for their work to shed light on this devastating crisis, secure the southern border, and protect Montana’s communities. The Democrats need to stop making what’s happening at the southern border a partisan issues and act now.”

Just last month, Montana Senator Jon Tester failed to provide relief to the illegal-immigration crisis by siding with his far-left allies and voting against construction of the border wall.

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HELENA, Montana – Today, Senator Tester’s deeply flawed S.1, or the deceptively named “For the People Act”, failed on the Senate floor. This radical, federal election takeover bill is another example of a far-left power grab to gain control of our Federal Elections to ensure Democrat control in Washington, D.C.

“This afternoon, Senate Democrats, including Senator Tester, showed their true colors by voting in favor of the radical S.1, or “For the People Act” – which really isn’t for the people at all, and would be an absolute disaster for our country,” said Chairman Don “K” Kaltschmidt. “It would have completely eliminated voter ID laws, used taxpayer dollars to fund Democrat attack ads, and undermine the work the Montana Legislature passed this legislative session to strengthen the integrity of our elections. It would also have forced states to allow ballot harvesting, automatically register voters, and completely disregard the Constitution.

The Constitution is clear that the ‘Times, Places, and Manner of holding elections’ lies with the Montana legislature, and Senator Tester should be ashamed of his attempt to disregard our legislature’s work for his own political gain. Montanans support election integrity, and I am grateful for both Senator Daines and Congressman Rosendale’s steadfast opposition to this radical proposal.”

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HELENA, Montana- On Saturday, June 19^th, members of the Montana Republican Party unanimously re-elected Chairman Don K at their State Officers’ Convention. Vice Chairman and State Representative Lola Sheldon- Galloway was also chosen to serve a second term as Vice Chair.

Chairman Don K released the following statement after the unanimous decision:

“It is an honor to be re-elected as the Chairman of the Montana Republican Party. I want to thank the members of the MTGOP for choosing me to lead our party for another two years and look forward to serving our Party in this critical role once again.

We achieved historic success in 2020 and Republicans now maintain control of 7 out of 8 statewide offices. And thanks to the hard work of our elected Montana State Legislators, we had an incredibly successful 67th legislative session. Through our strong grassroots movement, exceptional team, and continued momentum, we will continue to advance conservative values across our state. 

With Montana picking up a second congressional seat, I have no doubt that next year, we will send not one, but two Republican members of Congress back to Washington D.C. to fight back on President Biden’s radical agenda. Our convention this weekend demonstrated the enthusiasm among Montana Republicans, and that together, we are stronger. Montana Republicans are more united than ever before, and we look forward to victories across our state next year.”

The Montana Republican Party’s State Officers’ Convention was held on Saturday, June 19th in Helena.

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Helena, MT – Today, Governor Gianforte and Republican Legislators held a press conference to discuss their historic achievements during the 67th Montana Legislature after the Legislature adjourned on April 29th.

Montana Republican Party Chairman Don “K” Kaltschmidt provided the following statement in response:

“Montana Republicans went into the 67th Legislature with a mandate to implement the Montana Comeback Plan, and Montanans are seeing the benefits of Conservative leadership in Helena for the first time in 16 years,” said MTGOP Chairman Don “K” Kaltschmidt. “In the last 90 days, Governor Gianforte and Republican Legislators beat back the Covid-19 pandemic and ended government mandates, enacted a pro-jobs agenda by cutting taxes and reducing red tape, defended our Second Amendment rights from Federal overreach, and were good stewards of our taxpayer dollars with a balanced budget that holds the line on Government spending.

From prohibiting vaccine passports to banning sanctuary cities and strengthening election integrity, Montana Republicans fulfilled promises they made to voters in the last election and are moving the state forward under much-needed conservative leadership. The Montana Republican Party is proud to support our leaders in Helena and know that our best days are still ahead of us.

While it is a new day in Montana, we know there is much more work to be done and look forward to building on our accomplishments as Montana Republicans lead the Montana Comeback.”

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Helena, MT – Montana Republican Party Chairman Don “K” Kaltschmidt released the following statement regarding developments with the Montana Judiciary, and the effort to gain internal information to ensure our Supreme Court and District Court Justices are not engaged in improper behavior for the Judicial Branch.

“The Montana Republican Party believes a judiciary must be impartial and uphold the rule of law, and that our judges be loyal to the Constitution above all else,” said Chairman Don “K” Kaltschmidt. “As one of our Platform Principles is to limit ‘the ability of the Montana Supreme Court to abuse its power to protect themselves,’ there is grave concern that improper judgment and behavior within our High Court goes against the principles of our Party and threatens the public’s confidence in our judicial system. The Montana Supreme Court appears to be working to protect the questionable decisions that members of the judiciary took in prejudging legislative actions, and Montanans deserve a thorough investigation from the legislature to ensure there is accountability.

Background:

Recent media reports shine light on a separation of powers dispute in Helena between our Judicial, Executive, and Legislative branches. The story began with Senate Bill 140 that grants the Governor the ability to directly appoint judges to fill judicial vacancies. Following the Governor’s signature, an immediate lawsuit to challenge the law was filed with the Montana Supreme Court in less than 24 hours, though the issue has seen several developments since its passage in March.

As the case proceeded, concerns over judicial impartiality emerged after it was revealed that members of the State’s Judiciary took positions on the legislation by participating in a poll that was conducted via email earlier this year. While Chief Justice McGrath recused himself from the case following a meeting with Governor Gianforte in which he urged him to not support the legislation, the Justice appointed to fill McGrath’s vacancy also recused himself as he was revealed to be one of the judges who participated in the email poll.

Following concerns that justices may have taken a position on the recently passed legislation, the Montana Legislature issued a subpoena to the Department of Administration for the Montana Supreme Court Administrator’s email records as it was revealed the emailed results of the poll had since been deleted. Legislative Leadership’s attempt to obtain the poll’s results was done in an effort to ensure no members on the Court had previously taken a position on the issue before the court heard the case.

In a rare move, the Montana Supreme Court issued a Sunday order denying the subpoena for the Montana Supreme Court Administrator’s emails though some of the requested documents were already obtained and published online. In those published documents, members of the Judiciary clearly divulge personal positions on bills before the legislature, including coming up with strategies to oppose and defeat some of them, further complicating the conversation regarding judicial impartiality should any of those issues come before the court. Now, the Montana Legislature, who formed a Select Committee, is moving forward in its effort to acquire the emails in question despite efforts from the Montana Supreme Court Administrator to keep emails from the public.

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HELENA, Mont – Governor Greg Gianforte and State Superintendent Elsie Arntzen visited with students, teachers, and faculty members at Sacajawea Elementary School in Great Falls and Elder Grove School in Billings today to celebrate the signing of TEACH Act, which increases starting teacher pay and is critical to Montana’s Comeback Plan.

MTGOP Chairman Don “K” Kaltschmidt released the following statement after the passage of this important priority:

“Governor Gianforte promised to change the fact that Montana’s starting teacher pay ranks near the very bottom of any state in the country, and because of the TEACH Act Montana’s talented young teachers will start to see higher and more competitive salaries,” said Chairman Don “K” Kaltschmidt. “The TEACH Act will help us attract and take care of our talented young teachers, and prepare the next generation of Montanans for the future. With Governor Gianforte and Superintendent Arntzen working together to provide starting teachers the pay that they deserve and safely get students back in the classroom, that future is brighter than ever before.”

The TEACH Act will strengthen the teacher workforce by increasing the starting pay for Montana educators and making Montana more competitive in recruitment of the best and brightest teachers. This Montana Comeback priority will help our students reach their full potential and build a stronger, brighter next generation of Montanans while also allowing us to keep more of our talented young teachers here in Montana.

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The sky’s the limit when it comes to how much Super PAC and dark money will pour into Montana to benefit Governor Bullock’s campaign this year.

A $3 million dark money ad blitz began today from Chuck Schumer’s dark money group, Majority Forward, to falsely attacking Senator Daines. Chuck Schumer will spare no expense to get Bullock across the finish line in his desire to take back the Senate majority.

This comes on the heels of a dark money group shamefully politicizing the coronavirus to boost Governor Bullock’s campaign – to the tune of $250,000. In addition, Schumer’s SuperPAC is spending $700,000 in Montana right now to prop up Bullock’s campaign.

The hypocrisy of all of this is watching to Bullock parade around “railing” against dark money and Super PAC spending in our elections, when he’s benefitting from it himself:

• Bullock says his one big idea is “ending dark money spending in our elections.”
• NPR: Steve Bullock Vows To Disentangle ‘Dark Money’ From Politics
• Bullock says we must “rid our system of the corrupting influence of dark money.”
• During his failed presidential run, Bullock blasted Joe Biden for having his own SuperPAC even though Bullock has his very own SuperPAC to boost his Senate campaign.

Enough is enough. It’s time to put an end to Governor Bullock’s hypocrisy on this issue – he must be held accountable.

The scale has been tipped in China’s favor for far too long, and Senator Daines is fighting to put America First.

In a letter to President Trump, Daines called on the President to use his authorities to decrease the United States’ dependence on China for “medicine and essential medical equipment” and bring drug and manufacturing jobs back to America. Alarmingly, more than one third of our antibiotics and 70% of our PPE are imported from China.

Daines rightly cited the United States’ reliance on China as a “national security and public health” risk. (If the Coronavirus pandemic is any indication, China cannot be relied upon when it comes to matters of public health.)

The Senator has also been one of Congress’ loudest voices in holding China accountable for their cover-up of the virus, which has had a consequential effect on the health and economic well-being of Montanans. Last week, Senator Daines sent a request to the State Department to investigate China’s role in COVID-19.

Thank you, Senator, for always fighting for Montana and putting America First!

As a reminder, applications to be a Montana delegate at the Republican National Convention are due on Monday!

Delegates will represent the Treasure State at the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina and take part in this historic election year by nominating President Trump for re-election.

Delegates to the Republican National Convention will be chosen at Montana’s State Delegate Convention which is scheduled to be held on June 12th-13th in Missoula. Delegates must be a resident of the state of Montana.

Fill out this form by Monday, April 13th to be considered and submit it to MTGOP Headquarters in one of two ways:

1. Scan and email the form to spenser@mtgop.org, or
2. Mail the form to MTGOP, P.O. Box 935, Helena, MT, 59624.

Join us in Keeping America Great!