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May 15, 2025
The Montana Republican Party will select new leadership in June. There is growing interest in the MTGOP chairmanship with the upcoming end of Don “K” Kaltschmidt’s term.
Tanner Smith, a former state legislator from Lakeside and current member of the MTGOP executive board, is running. Smith made a statewide name for himself by challenging Gov. Greg Gianforte in the 2024 Republican primary. Smith campaigned as the race’s “real conservative” and received nearly 25% of the vote, while also picking up some donors of note, like state Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, and Republican Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci.
Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, declared as someone who can unite conservatives. Zolnikov, who has been in the Legislature since 2013, ended the 2025 session by angrily refusing to support adjournment. Zolnikov’s fellow hardline Senate Republicans, having lost control of the chamber to moderates, didn’t have many accomplishments after their four months in session. His impassioned speech led several lawmakers to believe he was positioning himself to run for Senate leadership after the 2026 general election.
Every Republican legislator has the chance to vote for party chairman. Zolnikov knows most lawmakers, either personally, or by way of his wife, Rep. Katie Zolnikov, R-Billings, who is House speaker pro tempore. Daniel Zolnikov was a majority whip in the 2025 Legislature.
Stacy Zinn, who ran in Montana’s crowded eastern U.S. House District primary in 2024, is meeting with potential voters. Zinn is a retired director of U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency operations in Montana. Out of nine U.S. House candidates in the 2024 eastern District race, Zinn finished third, behind Troy Downing and Denny Rehberg. Prior to running for Congress, Zinn had made several public presentations about the Montana drug trade. She’s currently a precinct committee member in Yellowstone County.
Troy Miller, finance chairman for the Gallatin County Republicans, is the least known of the four declared candidates so far.
—Tom Lutey
Reshaping Finance
The Legislative Finance Committee met May 13 for the first time since the end of the legislative session. The LFC, as it’s known, is responsible for analyzing state government finances and directing the Legislative Fiscal Division, which tracks government finances for the Legislature.
The first item on the agenda was to replace Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, as committee chair. Rarely does anything happen with the state budget or taxation policy without the blessing of Jones, who has a knack for organizing bipartisan voting blocs to the dismay of caucus leaders.
The new Finance Chair is Josh Kassmier, R-Fort Benton, who shepherded several bills through the Senate for the Jones coalition. Kassmier beat out Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, for the position. Glimm was chair of the Senate Finance and Claims Committee in the 2025 Legislature, during which he expressed exasperation about key bills in his committee being blasted to the Senate floor by a voting bloc of moderate lawmakers. Kassmier was one of nine Republicans who formed that voting bloc with the Senate’s Democratic minority to pass a budget, property tax cuts and Medicaid expansion.
The new Legislative Finance Vice-Chair is Rep. Paul Tuss, D-Havre.
Before the meeting, House Democrats on social media expressed disappointment that two members nominated for the committee by Minority Leader Katie Sullivan, D-Missoula, didn’t make the cut.
Reps. Donavon Hawk, D-Butte, and Thedis Crowe, D-Browning, were recommended by Sullivan, whose role in committee assignments, per House rules, is strictly advisory.
—Tom Lutey
On Background
- As a moderate voting bloc of state senators advanced the major finance bills of the 2025 Legislature, Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, declared the outcome of key votes to be “baked in.” The phrase was commemorated on cupcakes on the second-to-last day of the session.
- Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, played a critical role in passing the state budget and tax relief bills of the 2025 Legislature.
This article has been changed to accurately reflect the order of finish in the 2024 Republican primary for Montana’s eastern U.S. House District.