Recently, Montana Republicans have come under concentrated attack by wealthy out-of-state Leftists who are funneling millions of dollars into our state to buy control of our political system.
The reason for this is obvious: the Democrat brand is dying in Montana. Even former Senator Jon Tester was caught admitting that the Democrat Party label is “poison.” This is why Democrats are running Senate candidate Seth Bodnar as a phony “Independent” – even though he was personally groomed to run by Tester, Chuck Schumer, and the Obamas.
By continuing to radicalize, Democrats shrink their representation. Unfortunately, rather than returning to sanity, they have instead set their sights on weakening the Montana Republican Party (MTGOP) from the inside.
First, their liberal, out-of-state, dark money network spent millions on Montana’s Republican Party legislative primary races, hoping to elect their preferred candidates.
Next, these progressive billionaires turned their sights on liberals’ last stronghold in Montana: the state Supreme Court. The Montana Supreme Court has long acted as a partisan Democrat bench, frequently striking down popular laws using far-fetched constitutional interpretations. To protect their last stronghold, hundreds of thousands of dark money dollars were spent pushing to get Constitutional Initiative 132 (CI-132) on the November ballot.
CI-132 would keep judicial elections nonpartisan in name only. Its true purpose is to keep the politics of judicial elections opaque and hidden from voters, thereby protecting the liberals that legislate from the bench. In contrast, the MTGOP is fighting for reforms that make judicial elections free, fair, and honest by allowing candidates to run with a political designation if they choose, thereby giving voters the information needed to make an informed decision.
Democrats’ latest ploy to undermine Montana Republicans is paying out-of-state signature gatherers to push Initiative 194 (I-194), also known as “The Montana Plan.”
Predictably, The Montana Plan has been endorsed by the likes of Jon Tester, Pete Buttigieg, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Coincidentally, the organization funding The Montana Plan, the Transparent Election Initiative, claims that it wants to remove dark money from politics even while it is itself funded by dark money and intentionally obscures its donors. The irony is hard to miss.
More importantly, I-194 egregiously strips Montana’s small, family-owned businesses, organizations, and associations of their constitutional First Amendment speech rights, while granting out-of-state billionaires the privilege of unrestricted spending in our political system.
I-194 undermines our shared principles of self-government. As government regulations, spending, and taxes increase, citizens need more speech, not less, to understand their government and hold it accountable.
Our 2024 electoral victories seem only to have galvanized out-of-state liberals to double down on their efforts to buy control of Montana’s political system. Come November, Montanans must once again show them that our state and way of life is not for sale by rejecting liberal Seth Bodnar, and voting NO on CI-132, and I-194.
Debbie Churchill
Debbie Churchill is RNC National Committeewoman and MTGOP Engagement Director.
Published in Lee Enterprises newspapers, July 3, 2026: https://missoulian.com/opinion/column/article_cd786c8b-cbef-48c9-ab22-f80cae19ed3b.html
