Of the 27 bills crafted by a select committee to “reign in the courts,” only eight remain as the Legislature nears its endpoint. Several attempts to get judicial candidates to declare a political party have died, even though that objective was cited as a priority by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte in his State of the State address. Lt. Gov Kristin Juras, a former law professor and 2014 state Supreme Court candidate, testified before the House and Senate judiciary committees in support of partisan judicial races.