Brown beats Repke in Montana auditor race

Republican James Brown will become the next Auditor of Montana, one of five statewide, constitutionally mandated positions.

Late Wednesday morning, the Associated Press had called the race for him, even as the Montana Secretary of State’s Office was still counting ballots. Brown had held a commanding lead over his Democratic challenger John Repke.

Brown, the current chairman of the Montana Public Service Commission, had recently come under fire for signing in at the office using the name of superheroes, but that seemed to have little effect on his chances as he appeared poised to cruise to victory.

Brown had tallied 329,396 votes to Repke’s 201,791 as of 10:45 a.m., Wednesday.

Brown will replace outgoing Auditor Troy Downing who appears to have won the race for Second Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.

Downing has been the auditor for four years. Prior to that, Matt Rosendale served in the position before being elected to Congress.

The Auditor’s Office oversees securities and insurance, including investment companies and even bail bonding service.

Brown has been a key figure in recent election races. The attorney based in Dillon was involved in a series of lawsuits where he represented Western Traditions Partnership, a dark money group that described itself as combatting environmental extremism. Later, Brown ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Montana Supreme Court.

In 2020, he won a seat on the five-member Montana Public Service Commission, where he has served as its chairman, including during some controversial hearings on substantial rate increases by the state’s largest utilities. He’s also been a key figure in hiring an executive director for the PSC, which handles complex utility and rate case. Brown has been credited by lawmakers with tackling a critical audit that showed internal practices at the commission had been lax when it comes to business expenses.

Repke is a financial executive from Whitefish. He ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the PSC in 2022.