Vice President JD Vance will speak at an airplane hangar in Belgrade on Monday, Oct. 26. His arrival will mark the third visit to Montana in two weeks by the federal government’s most powerful Republicans: President Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Vance. The three men have been traversing the country to encourage Republicans to vote in the Nov. 3 midterm election.
On Oct. 14, Trump came to Kalispell to rally for Aaron Flint, the Republican candidate for Montana’s Western District U.S. House seat. And on Tuesday, Johnson visited Bozeman for the same purpose.
Gallup polling shows that the Republican-led Congress’ job approval has sagged since spring 2025. In the last month, Republican campaign groups have shifted money from races now deemed too difficult to win toward formerly safely red districts that now appear at risk of flipping to Democrats.
Kal Munis, a political science expert at Montana State University, told Montana Free Press Thursday that the Montana visits indicate Republicans believe the Western District race is critical to the party’s congressional fortunes, and that the high-profile stump stops will help.
“It’s suggestive that they see the race as being highly competitive, and that they see this as being a really key race in helping keep a Democratic majority as small as possible,” Munis said.
Munis said the visits also demonstrate that the party believes the appearances will “help mobilize voters within that Republican base to show up and vote.”
Vance is scheduled to speak at 11:40 a.m. at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport on Monday. The Republican National Committee, which announced the visit to Montana reporters Thursday, indicated an RSVP is required to attend the event.
LATEST STORIES
In eastern Montana, Bridger Pipeline carries both promise and risk
Bridger Pipeline LLC plans to build a 650-mile tar sands pipeline through farm and rangeland in eastern Montana where volatile cattle markets, skyrocketing diesel prices and multiyear droughts have made a challenging industry even harder. Landowners along the route say a payment from Bridger could provide stability. But the pipeline also comes with risk.
Inside Yellowstone National Park’s historic gift from data center developers
The $105-million donation is the largest in National Park Service history. It came from the largest data-center backer in the world.
Elk hunter days and harvests, by region
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks estimates that elk hunters spent roughly 1.1 million cumulative days afield in 2024, the most recent year for which data is available. Southwestern Montana accounted for the largest share of that time, and the state’s largest estimated elk harvest. Southeastern Montana recorded the highest number of elk harvested relative to…
