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11/10/2025
Astounded by her lead, the mayor-elect says she kept hitting the ‘refresh’ button on the county website
It was nearly midnight last Tuesday when the Lewis and Clark County Elections office finished counting the ballots for Helena’s municipal election.
Up until then, the race between Emily Dean and Andy Shirtliff — thought to be one of Helena’s most contested mayoral races in recent history — had been too close to call. The last of those ballots, though, settled Dean’s win by just 203 votes.
“ When the first results started coming in, obviously, we’re excited, but I knew that there was more to go and, given the margins, I knew we had a fairly large hole to recover from the primary,” Dean told Montana Free Press in an interview last week. “And so I was incessantly refreshing the [county] web browser. I wanted to make sure we were successful before I got ahead of myself.”
But when local reporters started calling her, reality set in.
“ I didn’t believe it until then,” she said.
With nearly 11,000 votes cast and counted in unofficial results, Dean had earned 5,440 votes, to Shirtliff’s 5,237. Her win punctuated a significant comeback from the September primary election, when Shirtliff secured 48% of the vote to her 37%
“We were absolutely the underdog,” Dean said.
She credited her resurgence to revised campaign plans and a renewed focus on community outreach.
With more than 3,000 doors knocked across Helena neighborhoods, bi-monthly town halls, three public candidate forums and one mayoral debate, Dean said it was important to her to ensure that voters knew what kind of leader she would be.
“ I think just connecting with as many voters as possible was the focus,” Dean said.
“Building relationships that are genuine matters to me, and I think that is one of the best ways to get to know people,” she added. “That’s one of the things that I really tried to build on, and getting in front of as many people as possible to understand what their concerns were and how I could help impact those at the city is kind of the root of it.”
Shirtliff, who will finish his current term as a city commissioner at the end of the year, called to congratulate Dean soon after the news broke.
“Congrats to Emily. Wish her all the best. But I’m proud of the campaign we ran,” Shirtliff told MTFP early Wednesday morning. “We kept our gloves up. We kept it about the issues that people wanted to talk about. I thank my supporters and volunteers throughout the whole process for their hard work, support and encouragement. Proud of the positive campaign we ran.”
When asked after the unofficial final results came in what he thought had turned the election in Dean’s favor, Shirtliff was uncertain.
“ I think Emily ran a great race, hats off to her,” Shirtliff said. ”I don’t know what to attribute it to. I have some thoughts, but again, I’ve gotta work with people for a couple more months, and it’s like we could go down a rabbit hole of the ‘coulda, woulda, shouldas,’ but I’m just thankful for the opportunity.”
“Local politics is tough. It’s a small town,” he added.
Outgoing Mayor Wilmot Collins, who had publicly endorsed Dean early in her campaign, congratulated her and said he was excited to help her fill his shoes.
“I’m happy about the results, and thanks to the people of Helena, they have spoken and Emily is ready to go to work,” Collins told MTFP in a text message. “In the next two months, I will meet with Mayor Pro Tem/ mayor-elect Dean to start the transition process.”
Dean, too, said that she is eager to start the next chapter for Helena.
“ I am very excited to carry this momentum into this new term as mayor, and [I’m] very excited about the opportunities that we have in front of us,” she said.
The mayor’s race wasn’t the only political news in Helena last week. In the race for two seats on the nonpartisan Helena city commission, incumbent Melinda Reed and candidate Ben Rigby soundly defeated candidates Haley McKnight and Shawn White Wolf. McKnight was later fired from her job at Sage & Oats Trading Post after news of her voicemail wishing that Sen. Tim Sheehy experience cancer and “die in the street like a dog” set off a national firestorm. You can read about that here.
Public Notice
Local organizing group, How the Helena? will hold a community discussion centered around suicide awareness and prevention at Ten Mile Creek Brewery, 48 N. Last Chance Gulch, Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 5:45 p.m. Lewis and Clark Public Health harm reduction coordinator Jakob Miles and suicide prevention coordinator Rachel Jeffries, along with National Alliance on Mental Health Montana executive director Matt Kuntz, will lead the conversation and provide resources.
Two upcoming opportunities to learn about federal immigration enforcement at the local level will be held next week:
- On Tuesday, Nov. 11, the ACLU of Montana will host a panel discussion with local immigration attorneys at Plymouth Congregational Church, 400 S. Oakes St., on best practices and advocacy when observing ICE in Helena.
- On Wednesday, Nov. 12, the Helena Police Department will discuss its immigration fact sheet along with recent demands made by immigration advocates at a city commission meeting at 4 p.m.
5 Things to Know in Helena
During a meeting last week, the Helena City Commission’s ongoing bruhaha about the recruitment of the next city manager took another turn when the commission revised the process it will follow. Additionally, Commissioner and Mayor-elect Emily Dean proposed that, going forward, the entire commission be included in all subsequent steps of the recruitment.
The city commission approved a $149,872 bid from Western States Automation last week for repairs at the Missouri River Water Treatment Plant, following a recent flood that damaged water treatment equipment. That equipment was originally installed in the 1970s, according to city documents.
The Montana Historical Society announced last week that a new eatery, Norm’s Café, will open on the Montana Capitol complex Dec. 3 and will be managed by local business, The Dive Bakery. Norm’s will feature the Dive’s signature crepes, cinnamon rolls and locally roasted coffee at the Heritage Center location. The new cafe name is a reflection of Norm Asbjornson, who gifted the Heritage Center $10 million, according to the society’s press release. That gift fully funded the cafe and the center’s interactive mine shaft exhibit.
This time last year, St. Helena Cathedral had just completed its nearly year-and-a-half-long renovation of its iconic spires and gilded crosses. That work, which cost around $4.5 million, has earned an International Federation of the Roofing Trade award in the steep slope roofing category, according to an October press release from the Durable Slate Company. Durable Slate is the roofing company that worked on the St. Helena project, which beat out more than 100 international submissions.
Helena’s Celebration of Lights is returning this winter on Black Friday, Nov. 28, at the downtown walking mall. Formerly known as the Parade of Lights, the event serves as a “reverse parade,” where stationary vehicles and booths decorated with holiday lights fill the walking mall, allowing residents to explore at their leisure. The celebration, put on by the Downtown Improvement District, will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Those interested in setting up a car or booth can visit the BID’s website for more information.
Might Be Fun
The Original Montana Club, 24 W. Sixth Ave., will host a holiday wine tasting Thursday, Nov. 13, pairing six wines with Thanksgiving-inspired appetizers. The event will take place from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and is open to non-members. Tickets for non-members are $25, and members pay $10, which can be purchased on the club’s website here.
