I have never seen a better advertisement to NOT vote for @SamForstag 😂 We just did this 2 years ago.. this dirt farm messiah has 0 relevancy and if you don't believe me, check back after the general election. Vote @aaronflint for MT-01. #MTPol #MTNews #MTSen #MTLeg @MTGOP @MTHouseGOP @MTSenateGOP @GovGianforte

Ladies and gentlemen 🇺🇲 Charles Walking Child for U.S. Senator and I will be in Billings on Monday evening to have a meet and greet hosted by Rein Gillstrom and Claiten Harris Gusler. Please come and visit with us I would love to see everyone there!! No pressure no worries just a good time with friends. Thank you! #MTPol #MTNews #MTSen #MTLeg @MTGOP @MTHouseGOP @MTSenateGOP @GovGianforte

🚨🚨Ken Walsh who is one of my state wide Montana RINOs, was just endorsed by democrats. Not good... receipts 👇 Vote @TrevorWalter406 #MTPol #MTNews #MTSen #MTLeg @MTGOP @MTHouseGOP @MTSenateGOP @GovGianforte

🚨🚨MONTANA!!! "Republican" lawmakers George Nikolakakos and Brad Barker voted against repealing state tax on Social Security. Both were endorsed by our governor. Receipts 👇 legiscan.com/MT/rollcall/HB1… They are both on my RINO removal list. #MTPol #MTNews #MTSen #MTLeg @MTGOP @MTHouseGOP @MTSenateGOP @GovGianforte

THE STOPWATCH PRIMARY Winning By Timing, Not Ideas Bill Lussenheide Montana politics, like a good rodeo, occasionally features some creative riding. But lately, it’s started to look less like bull riding and more like musical chairs—with the music stopping suspiciously close to the filing deadline. In a couple of recent high-profile races for U.S. House and U.S. Senate, voters got a front-row seat to a curious maneuver: the last-minute candidate switcheroo. Most notably, when Senator Steve Daines withdrew from consideration and Kurt Alme was slotted in just minutes before the filing deadline, it didn’t just raise eyebrows—it practically required a neck brace. The effect? Potential opponents, who could have reasonably planned their candidacies around facing an incumbent, or deciding to run because the incumbent was out, suddenly found themselves locked out of the race entirely. It’s a bit like training all year to wrestle a grizzly, only to discover at the last second you’ve been switched into a cage match with… well, someone else entirely—and the door is already locked. Now, to be fair, politics has never been a sanctuary of pure innocence. Strategic decisions are part of the game. But there’s a difference between strategy and what many Montanans would recognize as procedural gamesmanship with a wink and a stopwatch. That’s why it may be time for Montana to borrow a page from North Carolina—a place not historically known for lecturing others on restraint in politics, which makes this all the more noteworthy. North Carolina’s statute (§ 163-106.4) requires candidates to withdraw no later than the third business day before the filing deadline. In plain English: if you’re going to bow out, you need to do it early enough that everyone else still has a fair shot to jump in. If you miss that window, your name stays on the ballot—no take-backs, no refunds, no last-minute vanishing acts. It’s a simple rule with a powerful effect. It prevents candidates from lingering just long enough to size up the competition, only to disappear at the final buzzer and clear the field for a preferred replacement. In other words, it shuts down the ol’ “wait-and-see-then-pull-the-rug” maneuver. Montana could use a bit of that clarity. Not because our elections are uniquely problematic, but precisely because they shouldn’t be. The integrity of the process matters just as much as the outcome, and voters tend to get a little cranky when the process starts to resemble a shell game at the county fair. A similar law here wouldn’t favor Republicans or Democrats—it would favor predictability, fairness, and, dare we say, a little less drama. Candidates would still have every right to run, withdraw, or rethink their life choices—but they’d have to do so on a timetable that doesn’t leave everyone else standing outside the filing office, metaphorically pounding on the door. Because at the end of the day, elections shouldn’t hinge on who has the best ideas for public service—and not who is standing in the election office with a stopwatch! Bill Lussenheide #MTPol #MTNews #MTSen #MTLeg @MTGOP @MTHouseGOP @MTSenateGOP @GovGianforte

"Adding insult to injury, Montana taxpayers are now on the hook for millions of dollars to pay Amy Eddy’s climate lawyer friends for helping bring this make-believe constitutional right into existence." 🔗 👇 #MTPol #MTNews #MTSen #MTLeg @MTGOP @MTHouseGOP @GovGianforte

The spirit of truth. #MTPol #MTNews #MTSen #MTLeg @MTGOP @MTHouseGOP @MTSenateGOP @GovGianforte

My candidate @CharlesForMT filing to run as a Republican in Montana for US Senate 🇺🇸 #MTPol #MTNews #MTSen #MTLeg @MTGOP @MTHouseGOP @MTSenateGOP @GovGianforte