Montana Democratic Party to hire new director, Sheila Hogan retires

The Montana Democratic Party is on solid financial footing and has the largest number of volunteers it has ever had as Sheila Hogan departs her role as executive director at the end of this month, said chairperson Robyn Driscoll on Monday.

On Jan. 3, Sheila Hogan announced her retirement as executive director of the Montana Democrats, effective Jan. 31, having been tapped to lead the party in August 2021.

Hogan, also former head of the state Department of Public Health and Human Services and Department of Administration, was out of the country and unavailable for comment Friday, but her letter to Driscoll ticked off wins for Democrats.

They included traveling the state to support local Democratic committees and work on legislative redistricting, which “brought the largest gains we have seen for Democrats in the legislature in decades,” Hogan said in her letter.

Monday, Driscoll said Hogan leaves the party with a solid foundation. Although former U.S. Sen. Jon Tester lost his seat to Republican Tim Sheehy, and Democrats lost all statewide races, Driscoll said Democrats won 12 seats in the Montana Legislature.

“There’s no longer a supermajority in the legislature,” Driscoll said. “And that truly is a victory, especially given the disappointing defeats that Democrats faced across the country in 2024.”

A committee chairperson in Ravalli County said Democrats can continue to notch wins, although the hill is steep, and a chairperson in Richland County said he hopes to see Democrats focus more on spreading their ideas in the future than spending money without a strategy.

“The Democrats outspent Republicans nationally, and what did it buy us?” said Richland County’s Jason Boeshore. “So we’ve reached the point where we can just aim the money cannons at buying votes? It clearly doesn’t work that way.”

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Driscoll said Hogan’s “fundraising prowess was excellent,” and donors wanted to stay involved even after the huge election last year, even though typically, “it’s tough to get donors back on board” under those circumstances.

Although Hogan informed Driscoll earlier this month of her departure, the former director probably stayed on longer than she wanted to, Driscoll said — “we really appreciated that.”

She said the Montana Democratic Party will continue to keep its volunteers engaged with a legislative action plan and a book club, next featuring “Becoming Little Shell: A Landless Indian’s Journey Home.” The book is by Chris LaTray, a Montana author and member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

Driscoll said the Montana Democratic Party board unanimously voted to appoint former deputy director Justin Ailport as interim director and begin the hiring process for a permanent director later this summer.

Boeshore, in Richland County, said he has worked with the party for two-and-a-half years, and he would like to see better outreach in the future and a good strategy to get the party’s message out.

He pointed to mailers that went straight from his mailbox into the trash can — “hyperbole deactivates people, and we become numb to it.”

He said he’s 41, and he doesn’t read a newspaper or watch television or subscribe to cable news, and members of his generation are similar. He said the Democrats need to find new ways to engage their members and communicate with Montanans.

“We don’t need to flip the state. We just need to make sure that people know that we have good ideas,” Boeshore said. “We don’t need a majority. We just need people on the other side to sometimes agree with us.”

Linda Schmitt, chair of the Ravalli County Democratic Central Committee, said Hogan knit together “a really solid network” of county chairs and built the infrastructure for a busy organization.

“Sheila has left us with county organizations that are willing to work together,” Schmitt said. She said even if they have a difference of opinion, “we’re all pointed in the same direction.”

She said Democrats had “a rough year” last year, but they also had “excellent candidates. Schmitt said she believes Montana Democrats still can and will make inroads because they represent values in the Constitution, freedom, justice and equality.

“To the Democrats, I say, ‘Buckle up.’ And to the people that would want us to fail, I say, ‘Don’t hold your breath,’” Schmitt said.