Ballots are in the mail, and Missoula County voters will have a variety of races to consider. Although only one county official has a challenger, multiple legislative races are contested.
Here are a few key races to watch in the Missoula area:
Senate District 49
This year is the first time the district, which includes some of Missoula’s Westside along with the Orchard Homes and Mullan Road neighborhoods, is on the ballot since new lines were drawn following the 2020 census.
Democrat Willis Curdy was first elected to the Senate in 2022 and was one of 25 senators not up for election in 2024 who were assigned a holdover district following redistricting. He previously served in the House from 2015 to 2021. Curdy, a former teacher and wildland firefighter, highlighted on his campaign website his work across the aisle to pass legislation important to residents.
He faces Republican Brad Tschida, a real estate agent who served in the House during the same period as Curdy. On his website, Tschida emphasizes limited government as his priority, including lowering taxes, parental control, and “protecting” women’s sports. In 2021 and 2022, Tschida repeatedly alleged voting irregularities in Missoula County’s 2020 election, which were never proven or investigated by the Secretary of State’s office.
Tschida and Curdy faced off for the Senate seat in 2022. The race was seen as one of the most competitive at the time. Curdy won with about 54% of the vote. However, the district leans more blue following the 2023 redistricting, Joe Lamson, who served on the redistricting commission for 20 years, told Montana Free Press.
“That district is pretty strongly Democratic right now,” he said.
House District 89
This district encompasses a part of southwest Missoula and much of Lolo. The candidates are another pair of former lawmakers running against each other for the second time.
Democratic incumbent Mark Thane, the former Missoula County Public Schools superintendent, is seeking his fourth term in the House. He faces Republican Lyn Hellegaard, a business owner who was elected to represent House District 97 in 2022.
Following redistricting, Hellegaard ran for HD 89 in 2024 and lost to Thane, 56% to 44%. Hellegaard, also a former Missoula City Council member, ran unsuccessfully for the House in 2012 and 2014.
Thane, who has focused on tax policy while in the Legislature, recently criticized Gov. Greg Gianforte’s flat state income tax proposal.
In 2021, Hellegaard was part of the citizen effort led by Tschida to count ballot envelopes from the 2020 election. During the 2023 session, Hellegaard carried the bill that banned already-illegal double voting, which the Legislature passed, but judges later struck down as unconstitutional.
House District 99
Voters will decide on another rematch for this district, which covers some of northwest Missoula, Grant Creek and the Wye.
In 2024, Democratic incumbent Tom France beat Republican Ryan Darling with 56% of the vote.
France, who retired from the National Wildlife Federation in 2020, is running for his fourth term. France said in a recent social media video that he wants to return to Helena to “make sure we have a government that treats every Montanan fairly, that adequately funds our public institutions and public schools and protects our environment.”
Darling, a business owner and commercial pilot, said on his campaign website that his approach emphasizes individual rights, clear incentives, limited government and accountability in public institutions. He’s taken aim at France over his 2024 opinion piece advocating that Congress send aid to Ukraine.
Social media ads paid for by Darling declare “Tom France loves war” and decry France’s 2025 vote against House Bill 404, which would have required an official congressional declaration or action to release the Montana National Guard to active combat duty. The bill died in the House.
France’s social media ad highlights his endorsement from Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana.
Rob Saldin, a political science professor at the University of Montana, told MTFP that HD 99 and HD 89 should be “in good shape” for France and Thane “in a cycle that favors Democrats.”
Missoula Justice of the Peace Department 2
This position is the only contested Missoula County seat up for election this fall. The Missoula County Justice Court handles misdemeanors and traffic violations from outside city limits, small claims and civil matters. Montana law does not require justices of the peace to have a law degree.
Incumbent Landee Holloway was appointed to the seat in 2016 and elected to her first full term in 2018. Holloway began her career at the Missoula pre-release center and worked for the state Department of Corrections for 21 years as a probation and parole officer in various capacities. Holloway helped establish Missoula County’s ROAD Court, which is a misdemeanor DUI treatment court that aims to address the underlying causes of impaired driving.
Kelli Sather is a public defender who believes justices of the peace should be attorneys. Sather worked for Cascade and Missoula counties’ public defenders’ offices before joining Montana’s Office of the State Public Defender, where she worked for 18 years before starting a private practice.
Both candidates said during a City Club Missoula forum in August that jail can be a useful tool but should not be the first response in every case, though they clarified they would still send people to jail in cases involving safety concerns. Holloway and Sather emphasized the need to address underlying problems, like behavioral health challenges, addiction and poverty, along with holding people accountable for their crimes.
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