Issue 2

The Built-In Danger of Open Primaries

By Leslie Mills

Read the complete article: The Built-In Danger of Open Primaries

Open Primary Election Season is underway in Montana for 2026. The Primary Election will be held on June 2, 2026. This election will choose the candidates for the General Election in November. The information that follows describes the process for Open Primaries versus Closed Primaries.

Montana does not have Closed Primaries. It is important that voters understand them both to be able to understand the inherent problem that arises with every Open Primary held in the state.

Read the complete article: The Built-In Danger of Open Primaries

The Power of County Central Committees

By Rae Grulkowski

Read the complete article: The Power of County Central Committees

Most people think the most important choices on the June Primary Ballot are the big races – the ones for president, governor, or legislators. But every even-numbered year, in the Montana June Primary, the most powerful positions in local politics are the Precinct Committeemen and Committeewomen.

• A Precinct Committeeman
• A Precinct Committeewoman

Yet every even-numbered year election cycle many of these positions go unnoticed on the ballot, and sometimes they go unfilled. When that happens, a small number of people end up making decisions that affect thousands.

The June 2, 2026 Primary is your chance to change that.

In Montana, each political party operates through a County Central Committee. This committee directs party activities within the county in addition to helping shape the direction of the party at the state and national level. A small appointed board helps manage the committee, and four board positions represent the county at state and national conventions where they vote on party leadership, party rules, and party platforms.

Read the complete article: The Power of County Central Committees

Understanding the Rural Solid Waste District Issue in Cascade County

A Timeline of Events, Decisions, and Court Proceedings

By Rae Grulkowski

Read the complete article: Understanding the Rural Solid Waste District Issue in Cascade County

Over the past two years, decisions involving the Cascade County Rural Solid Waste District have generated significant discussion among residents, county officials, and the courts. Many citizens have asked how the issue developed and what the courts have, thus far, said about it. Let’s summarize key events to help residents better understand what has occurred.

Read the complete article: Understanding the Rural Solid Waste District Issue in Cascade County

Voters of Cascade County: Lynn DeRoche’s Underhanded Record Should Disqualify Her from Clerk & Recorder

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Lynn DeRoche is now running for Cascade County Clerk & Recorder. Voters deserve to know exactly who she is — and what she has already done while working inside the election office.

In the 2023 Fort Shaw Irrigation District election, DeRoche deliberately helped engineer a scheme that disenfranchised hundreds of legitimate voters and favored Commissioner Kennard Steinke. Court documents in the ongoing lawsuit (ADV-23-255) lay it out clearly:

She sent an email falsely telling the election administrator that co-owners of property “must” submit new voting designations—even though the law changed in 2019 and no such requirement existed (Mont. Code Ann. § 85-7 1710).

She and FSID secretary Charla Merja privately agreed to “bury” prior valid designations that were already on file and to tell voters they “MUST” file brand-new forms or they would not receive ballots.

They used outdated 2017 statutory language in the voter notice and refused ballots to co owners who followed the actual law.

The result: at least 3,422 legitimate votes from co-owners were blocked. The chaos directly helped Commissioner Kennard Steinke win re-election.

This wasn’t a mistake. The emails and timeline in the court brief show it was coordinated and intentional. DeRoche and others created confusion, ignored the current law, and shorted votes to favor Steinke.

Today the Clerk & Recorder no longer runs elections — but the office still handles critical public records, voter registration support, and official documents that affect every citizen. If Lynn DeRoche was willing to bury records, mislead voters, and manipulate an election to help her preferred candidate when she was just an employee, what will she do when she has the top job?

Cascade County voters have a right to know this history before they cast their ballots. Underhanded tactics have no place in public office.

On June 2nd, vote for Deserae Valentine for Cascade County Clerk & Recorder — the candidate who will actually protect our elections and our rights.

Sally Tucker Cascade County

Responses to Nikolakakos

In the gritty world of Montana politics, some play dirty to cling to power—and George Nikolakakos just proved he’s willing to stoop as low as it gets.

Forward by Marci Marceau

Read the complete article: Responses to Nikolakakos

George Nikolakakos has finally crawled out from under whatever rock he’s been hiding his high school behavior and hypocrisy beneath. Armed with nothing more than a handful of ancient, context-stripped social-media screenshots and the desperate hope that nobody remembers what a fraud he is.

Read the complete article: Responses to Nikolakakos

MULTIPLE FORMAL COMPLAINTS AND FEDERAL LAWSUIT TARGET CASCADE COUNTY SYSTEM UNDER SHERIFF JESSE SLAUGHTER

Allegations of Cover-Ups, Retaliatory Policing, Jail Neglect, and Opaque Inmate Welfare Funds Mount

By Staff Writer

Read the article: Multiple Formal Complaints and Federal Lawsuit Target Cascade County System Under Sheriff Jesse Slaughter

Great Falls, MT – Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter faces intensifying scrutiny as multiple formal complaints to the Montana Public Safety Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) and a sweeping federal civil rights lawsuit expose what critics call a “good old boy” culture of over-escalation, procedural violations, and protection of insiders at the expense of citizens and constitutional rights.

Three POST complaints against Slaughter and his deputies, combined with a new U.S. District Court filing by Great Falls resident April Ellis, paint a consistent pattern: minor incidents balloon into deadly force, public shaming, or ruined lives, while the sheriff’s office and county jail—under Slaughter’s direct oversight—deny accountability and basic care.

Read the article: Multiple Formal Complaints and Federal Lawsuit Target Cascade County System Under Sheriff Jesse Slaughter

Montana’s Rotten Core

If You Truly Want to Fix This Broken System, Show Up and Vote on June 2nd

By Staff Writer

Read the complete article: Montana Rotten Core

Montana’s political system is rotten to the core—and it has been since the days of the Copper Kings. From Senator Steve Daines and Congressman Ryan Zinke dropping out of their races at the last minute and hand-picking their own successors, to state-level legislators quietly enriching themselves at taxpayer expense, the pattern is unmistakable. This isn’t a few isolated scandals or a handful of bad actors. It is a deeply entrenched network of career politicians, unelected bureaucrats, lobbyists, compliant judges, law enforcement insiders, and media gatekeepers who function as a self-protecting “Good Old Boy Club”—or, if you prefer, the uniparty, the swamp. Call it whatever you like; the behavior is identical. They put their own power, insider deals, and special-interest payoffs ahead of the everyday needs of working Montanans. Elections have become little more than theater: no matter who wins the marquee races, the outcome stays the same—more debt, more control from Helena and Washington, and a steady erosion of our freedoms and state sovereignty.

Read the complete article: Montana Rotten Core