Nine Republican state senators who were stripped of their ability to vote for GOP party leadership during a state convention last month have lodged a protest with the party, requesting the elections be nullified.
In a continuation of a feud that began during the 2025 Legislative session, divisions within the state Republican party were on full display during the June convention.
The nine senators — Jason Ellsworth, Hamilton; Bruce Gillespie, Etheridge; Gregg Hunter, Glasgow; Josh Kassmier, Fort Benton; Gayle Lammers, Hardin; Denley Loge, St. Regis; Wendy McKamey, Great Falls; Russ Tempel, Chester; and Shelley Vance, Belgrade — all broke with the majority of their party in a series of votes taken in conjunction with Democrats to establish Senate rules and move forward large pieces of legislation, including the state’s budget. Many bills the Nine championed were priorities of Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s administration.
The GOP Executive Committee censured the Nine during the session, saying they no longer considered them to represent Republican values. Members of the Nine, however, have argued their views represent the true identity of the GOP.
During the convention, Sen. Barry Usher of Yellowstone County made a motion to approve all credentialed delegates except for the Nine, a motion backed by fellow Freedom Caucus member Rep. Jane Gillette, of Three Forks, and approved by a majority of delegates. The vote to elect Art Wittich as the new party chair and additional members of leadership went forward without the votes from the Nine or their proxies.
The disenfranchised senators “represent the thousands of Montana Republicans committed to Republican values who elected those Senators to speak for them,” states the letter of protest sent by lawyer Joan Mell on behalf of the Nine. “The Republican Party is not the party of extremists. As Senators they had the right to vote and participate in the party process. The wholesale disregard of fundamental party voting rights embodied in the Bylaws may not be left unaddressed.”
The letter requests party leaders reconvene the convention to correct the “parliamentary snafu that left these Senators voiceless and emboldened the Freedom Caucus PAC faction to pursue its manifesto.” Mell further accuses the Freedom Caucus members of “bullying” and “exclusionary tactics through subterfuge, surprise and intimidation.”
When Usher made his motion during the convention, then-party Chairman Don Kaltschmidt ruled it out of order, but Gillette successfully demanded the ruling be put to a vote.
Mell said in her letter that Gillette’s motion should have also been ruled out of order, and requested a response within 10 days.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Montana GOP said: “It’s clear these nine senators represent a small minority within our party. The Montana Republican Party remains focused on empowering conservative voters and advancing the principles Montanans elected us to uphold. The letter has been referred to our legal counsel and the rules committee for review. We’ll have more to say soon.”
Speaking to the Daily Montanan on Tuesday, Mell said that it’s clear in the party bylaws that senators have a right to cast votes in party elections, and to remove that power requires changing the bylaws, not a simple vote during the convention.
“You can’t do that on a whim,” she said.
If a senator wanted to make such a motion, Mell said, they should have put out a notice before the meeting, or convened the rules committee to determine whether such a motion could be made.
“The tragic thing is that they are nine members of the Legislature who have all been elected by Montana voters, to have their voice and vote,” Mell said.
Mell addressed her letter to both the current and former party chair, though she told the Daily Montanan she believes Kaltschmidt has the “burden of acting on it.”
Wittich, who earned 140 votes to Stacey Zinn’s 94, said in remarks following his election that he looked forward to bright days for the party ahead.
“We’re a red state. We could become a bright red state,” he said. “And we can do it without dividing and subtracting. We can grow.”
