GOP leaders promised a reckoning for Republican lawmakers who found middle ground with Democrats in 2019. Will voters make them pay?
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Posted inNews
When ‘Solutions Caucus’ Republicans in the 2019 Legislature did — and didn’t — vote with Democrats
Hard-right Republicans blame legislative defeats on moderate compromisers. Here’s how the Montana ‘Solutions Caucus’ voted on key issues.
Posted inElections
Primary battles between Solutions Caucus legislators and right-flanking challengers produced a mixed bag
With the results of Montana’s 2020 primary election now fully in, it appears that a concerted effort by right-flanking primary challengers to oust more moderate members of the Montana Legislature’s Republican delegation has met with mixed results. Conservative Solutions Caucus lawmakers held their own in eight of the 12 contested races Montana Free Press identified […]
Posted inMontana Legislature
Solutions status
The Solutions Caucus has been a defining aspect of recent legislative sessions. But with stronger GOP majorities and a Republican governor, is that intra-party dynamic still alive in the 2021 Legislature?
Posted inElections
Flanked from the right
In Sidney, fence-builder Brandon Ler challenges bridge-building lawmaker Joel Krautter.
Posted inMontana Legislature
Rules maneuvers hint at a potential hardline coup in the House
Republicans have unified control of the statehouse. With COVID complicating procedures, the party’s right flank could angle for primacy.
Posted inNews, Politics, State Government
MT Lowdown Podcast – Episode 18: A view from the right
House Majority Whip Derek Skees reflects on conservative losses in the 2019 Legislature. “Democrats got everything they wanted.”
Posted inElections
Purity versus pragmatism
Of the roughly dozen legislative primaries pitting Solutions Caucus lawmakers against right-flanking challengers in 2020, none provides a starker example of the electoral consequences of Medicaid expansion than the showdown over an open seat in Senate District 44.
