It all began when nine Republican state senators—Jason Ellsworth, Butch Gillespie, Dave Hunter, Sue Vinton, Cynthia Lammers, Tom Loge, Steve McKamey, Bruce Tempel and Russ Vance—crossed the aisle during the opening days of the 2025 legislative session to take the process hostage. Their votes, which were expected to be part of the Republican effort to bring tax relief, judicial reform, and accountability in government programs, instead ballooned the general fund by 18 percent, shifted property-tax burdens onto second-home owners by 67 percent, and expanded Medicaid. Furious letters poured into local Committees and the GOP office; constituents felt betrayed by elected officials who had campaigned on fiscal restraint and traditional values, only to deliver precisely the opposite.
In response, the MTGOP Executive Committee put out a press release on March 13th “strongly rebuking” and again on April 4 issued a rescission of recognition for the “Out-of-Line-9.” It’s been painted as a historic censure—yet anyone who’s leafed through the 2024 Montana GOP bylaws will notice a glaring problem: there is no provision for disciplining elected legislators! The rulebook speaks only of removing party officers—chairs, treasurers, Central Committee members—but remains silent on stripping party branding from sitting senators or representatives. The censure, as dramatic as it sounded, had no firm footing in the bylaws.
That gap didn’t go unnoticed. On May 5, Broadwater County Committeewoman Audrey Walleser Martin introduced a “Rules Change Resolution” designed to fill the void and be the start of an overdue conversation. Under her proposal, every Republican candidate would be required to swear an oath to uphold both the U.S. and Montana Constitutions and the state party platform. Any substantive violation would trigger a transparent, step-by-step process: written notice 40 days before a hearing, the right to present a defense in person or via video conference, and clear thresholds for censure or, in repeat cases, a five-year ban on using GOP branding. Appeal rights would be baked in, too, ensuring nobody was condemned by press release alone.
Imagine a future session in which a wayward senator first receives a courteous but firm reminder from their county committee about what’s at stake—and then actually faces tangible consequences.
Should the resolution pass at the June 27–28 State Central Committee meeting in Helena, Montana Republicans will finally have a playbook for accountability. Even the most audacious cross-aisle votes would be met with a known process. The five-year branding ban, in particular, promises to make any future defector think twice before exploiting the Republican Party. This could be the first real signal that Montana Republicans are fed up with the old punchline—“If you can’t win as a Democrat, just run as a Republican; they’ll take anyone!”—and are now ready to reclaim their party’s identity and integrity.
And so we wait, with a mixture of skepticism and eager anticipation, to see what the party will choose at its next board election and rule review. Will they seize the moment—honor their professed constitutional principles and craft crystal-clear bylaws for holding elected officials to account? Or will they quietly shuffle the same vague language around and hope nobody asks too many questions? June 27th can’t come soon enough …
One Response
You pose some interesting questions