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February 21, 2023
Last week, the executive committee of the Montana Republican Party decided to officially criticize former Republican Montana Gov. Marc Racicot. They declared that due to his recent public disapproval of Republican candidates, the state party no longer recognizes him as a Republican.
Over the weekend, Racicot distributed the resolution to the press through Bob Brown, a former Republican Montana Secretary of State. Brown, known for frequently dissenting from the party line, had previously been involved in legal challenges against laws enacted by the Republican-led Legislature in the previous session.
Approved on February 15, the resolution states that Racicot has actively and aggressively worked towards undermining candidates endorsed and supported by MTGOP.
Racicot, a former state attorney general who served as governor from 1993 to 2001, said he’s never been a party-line voter, but found more commonality with the Republican platform than the Democratic platform on fiscal issues. He began bucking Republican endorsements in 2016, when he came out in opposition to then-candidate for president Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, Racicot informed Capitolized that back in 2016, he was aware that not every one of his comrades would support his viewpoint. However, he genuinely felt concerned about the character of the individual and believed that his evaluation has been proven right.
He took his support to the next level in 2020 by publicly endorsing Joe Biden as the President, rather than supporting Trump.
He stated, “In 2020, not only was I unable to back him, but I had to endorse the candidate who had the potential to make the greatest positive impact on our nation.”
In 2022, he gave his support to Democratic congressional candidate Monica Tranel instead of Ryan Zinke in Montana’s western U.S. House district. He also endorsed Justice Ingrid Gustafson over the GOP-backed Public Service Commission President James Brown in their supposedly nonpartisan race for the state Supreme Court.
In a letter to the editor, Flathead County Republican lawmaker John Fuller characterized the former governor as a part of the “narcissistic elite” in response to Racicot’s endorsement of Tranel.
The resolution condemning Racicot raises concerns regarding his continued prominence in Montana and his public speaking engagements, which may lead some to believe that he represents the views of Montana Republicans due to his self-identification as a Republican.
Racicot, despite his recent embrace of Democratic politicians and critique of some Republicans, is hardly a bleeding-heart liberal. While governor, he denied the appeal of a man on death row. He signed highly controversial — and now generally viewed as disastrous — utility deregulation legislation in 1997, and continued to defend it after leaving office. He chaired the Republican National Committee from 2002 to 2003, when he joined the George W. Bush presidential re-election campaign. He worked at a lobby shop where Rudy Giuliani’s name was on the door.
When questioned about the role of the Bush presidency in the solidification of conservative ideology within the modern GOP, Racicot acknowledged that the administration had made errors. However, he highlighted two other significant events in recent history as immediate factors: the speakership of Newt Gingrich and his “Republican Revolution,” and the rise of social media.
“It was like hand-to-hand combat,” he said, describing how evident the tone of communications was.
According to Racicot, he asserts that his political philosophy remains unchanged. However, he mentioned that his party has undergone a shift in its governing philosophy.
He stated that the current situation primarily revolves around forcefully imposing power, citing instances such as the ongoing conflict between legislative Republicans and the judicial branch. He warned that this approach will have negative consequences in the future.
The Montana GOP spokesperson confirmed that the vote to rebuke Racicot was unanimous in a statement.
The statement mentioned that worries about his endorsements were communicated to the ex-Governor before the resolution was approved. It stated that Chairman Don Kaltschmidt reached out to Governor Racicot through a call and text message to show respect, right after the decision was made, but before it was shared with the public.
The executive board of the party consists of 11 members who are elected and two members who are appointed by the party chair.
- MT GOP Chairman Don Kaltschmidt
- MT GOP Vice Chair Lola Sheldon-Galloway
- MT GOP Treasurer Derek Skees
- MT GOP Secretary Brad Tschida
- National committeeman Art Wittich
- National committeewoman Debra Lamm
- Regional chairs Sarah Swanson, Tracy Sharp, Paul Fielder, Mollie Phipps and Dan Skattum
- Chair-appointed members Jason Small and Mark Noland
The resolution approved last week was not the first the executive committee considered. A previous version obtained by Capitolized and confirmed with Republicans in the Capitol contained similar language but rebuked both Racicot and Brown, who in 2020 declared independence from a Republican Party he said has been reshaped in the image of Trump.
—Arren Kimbel-Sannit
Bill Report
House Bill 284, a measure sponsored by Rep. Jerry Schillinger, R-Circle, that seeks to restore monopoly utility companies’ ability to ask regulators to sign off on expensive power generation projects prior to building or purchasing them, passed second reading on a 77-22 House floor vote. Missoula District Court Judge Jason Marks in May stripped NorthWestern Energy of its access to such “preapproval” when he struck a nearly 20-year-old law on the grounds that it amounts to unconstitutional “special legislation” benefiting one company exclusively: NorthWestern. HB 284 would circumvent that issue by opening access to preapproval to the state’s other large regulated power company, Montana-Dakota Utilities, which supports the measure.
House Bill 378, sponsored by Rep. Jim Hamilton, D-Bozeman, died on the House floor Tuesday, an abrupt reversal after 28 Republicans had sided with Democrats to support the measure on an earlier vote. HB 378 sought to remove political candidates from the ballot if they fail to meet campaign finance and business disclosure deadlines, and to prohibit political parties from appointing replacements for candidates disqualified on those grounds. Hamilton argued that the bill was necessary to crack down on what he called “placeholder candidates” — people from either party who, after getting on the ballot, refuse to file disclosure forms and withdraw at the last minute to make way for a party-named replacement. Despite its initial bipartisan showing, HB 378 lost the support of all 28 Republicans, going down on a 32-65 vote.
Legislator lawsuits
Rep. Bill Mercer, R-Billings, brought a pair of bills to the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday morning that would allow lawmakers to either bring or intervene in lawsuits involving laws passed by the Legislature.
The first, House Bill 518, would establish that the Legislature has standing to file or defend a lawsuit on its own behalf under certain circumstances.
The bill outlines two situations: the first is when a statute’s constitutionality is being challenged in court, and the second is when a state agency fails to enforce a statute, resulting in hindrance to adherence of legislation, session law, or a statute.
Mercer testified that the underlying idea of this bill is to prevent the Legislature from being merely a passive observer. He expressed that it should not be limited to enacting laws that are endorsed by the governor and become part of the statutory framework, without having the ability to enforce compliance with those provisions.
Mercer’s testimony focused almost entirely on the second possibility, though it’s hard to detangle that first provision from the litany of constitutional challenges to laws passed in the 2021 session. Republican lawmakers have brought several legislative proposals this session that would amend judicial procedures, standards of conduct and more.
However, Mercer was well-prepared and had an example ready to illustrate a situation in which an agency disregarded legislative direction.
In 2003, he said, then-Sen. John Cobb, R-Augusta, successfully carried Senate Bill 160, legislation requiring the Department of Public Health and Human Services to develop strategic plans containing various performance measures. But 20 years later, when Mercer sent a letter to DPHHS asking which of those measures the department was actually tracking, he received a response indicating the agency was largely ignoring the law, he said.
Mercer stated that under the current statute, the Legislature lacks the authority to litigate such a matter.
He presented a hypothetical situation where the Department of Environmental Quality grants a permit that violates the Montana Environmental Policy Act. In such a case, a party affected by this violation would have the right to challenge the permit in court, while the Legislature would not possess that ability, according to him.
Mercer stated that the issue with SB 160 arises when we consider the fact that there is no one available who can prove their standing in that particular area.
The bill additionally presents various situations for granting the Legislature the authority to initiate litigation.
A legislative staff legal note attached to HB 518 flags a few potential issues with the bill. Case law, the note says, has landed on both sides of the question whether an individual lawmaker or a group of lawmakers can bring litigation. The key consideration is whether the injury in question constitutes a “concrete injury” or an “abstract institutional injury.”
Moreover, the note states that Mercer’s bill could potentially violate the separation of powers doctrine outlined in the Montana Constitution.
According to the note, the Montana Supreme Court has expressed that the separation of powers doctrine serves the purpose of designating each branch as a sole guardian of its vested power, answerable only to the people for its responsible execution. This arrangement is meant to ensure that each branch serves as a safeguard against the others, thereby preventing the occurrence of tyranny and oppression that would arise from consolidating all power in a single entity.
Mercer’s second bill, House Bill 512, is similar, but specifically authorizes the Legislature to intervene in ongoing lawsuits. It has no legal note.
Both bills did not receive a vote on Tuesday.
—Arren Kimbel-Sannit
eye in the capitol
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, discusses his brief Twitter ban at a joint session of the Legislature on Feb. 20. He produced an enlarged image of the Twitter profile photo that led to his suspension. The poster was large enough to essentially obscure House Speaker Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, seated to the left.
Heard in the Halls
“I had to talk about their… personhood? Because it seemed like we couldn’t get into, here’s what I think this person is.”
—Rep. Scot Kerns, R-Great Falls, describing the challenges he faced describing candidates for the Montana Supreme Court to his constituents during the 2022 election. He made the comments during a hearing on his House Bill 595, one of several pieces of legislation this session that either allow or, in this case, mandate judicial candidates to be “nominated and elected on a partisan ballot.”
Background Reading
Americans can choose better than Trump: Read this Marc Racicot op-ed in the Washington Post decrying Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential bid. (Washington Post)
Montana’s federal delegation addresses state Legislature: Read for an account of the federal delegation’s addresses to the Legislature on Monday — plus a bit of political prognostication. (MTFP)
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