Montana Republican Party called on to end GOP fighting

Some Republicans believe results of the legislative primary mean it’s time for the Montana Republican Party to mend an intraparty fight and move in a new direction.

Rep. George Nikolakakos, R-Great Falls, even said GOP Chairman Art Wittich should step down.

“What he has done is divided the party, created a war, and now we’re basically in shambles, putting Humpty Dumpty back together again,” said Nikolakakos, who won a primary race over current Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci with 68%.

This week, some heavyweight conservatives that earned the ire of the Montana Republican Party secured victories in state legislative primaries — but not all.

Republican Reps. Llew Jones of Conrad, David Bedey of Hamilton, and Nikolakakos of Great Falls won their Senate primaries, and Rep. Brad Barker of Red Lodge did so in the House.

But the state GOP also saw some Republican incumbents it had sought to remove ousted. Those include Sen. Shelley Vance, among a group of GOP senators that collaborated with Democrats in the Senate in 2025.

In red Montana, primaries can be decisive races in many legislative districts.

Winning candidates at odds with the state GOP said they crossed the finish line in the primary despite bruising campaigns, significant pressure from the state GOP and Wittich, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in attack ads.

But Wittich said Democrats tried to improperly influence Republican primaries, and the state GOP fought Republicans who didn’t push back and will continue to fight that influence through the general election.

“This was unprecedented. We gave them the opportunity to reject that interference, and instead of rejecting it, Brad Barker told me to go to hell,” Wittich said.

Wittich also said it isn’t surprising to see sitting lawmakers such as Jones and Bedey win given they’re known names, and he rejected the idea he should turn over the reins.

He may double down.

“If anything, I’m going to accelerate this process of looking at legislators’ votes and making sure they account when they are voting to weaken Republican leadership, voting to weaken Republican policies, and voting to weaken the Republican party,” Wittich said.

State GOP ‘message to purge fell flat’

In some cases, Republicans who pushed against their own party said they were helped when voters took offense at smear tactics. They said it took punch and persistence to counter unrelenting attack ads.

“The more people fought, the better they did,” Nikolakakos said.

Wednesday, Nikolakakos said Wittich’s attempt to take control of the party failed, as did the costly ads by the GOP and outside groups.

“They savaged me,” he said.

In 2025, nine Republicans in the Senate worked with Democrats as an ad hoc majority of 27, marginalizing a more conservative faction of Republicans.

That sometimes fragile coalition helped steer significant legislation including residential property tax relief — albeit a controversial version that landed in court.

Primary outcomes mean in 2027, the Senate could operate with a similar working majority of 26.

Wittich was elected chairman in June 2025 with a mission to further deepen the shade of red in Montana, but Nikolakakos said he ran his race bucking the idea he needs to bow to the state GOP.

“With my first speech on the Senate floor, I’m gonna call him (Wittich) out and remind him I do not work for him, that I work for the people of my district,” Nikolakakos said.

Jones, in his 10th election for the Montana Legislature, said he’s never seen more falsehoods in a campaign, and he’s glad the primary is in the rearview mirror.

The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee has shaped the state budget and was a top state GOP target.

In some cases, Jones, of Conrad, said the smears from outside groups offended voters that supported him and helped turn people out. Jones beat Rep. Zach Wirth, elected in 2024, by 4 points.

“Chair Wittich’s message of purging those who don’t swear fealty to the platform on his biggest targets didn’t work,” Jones said. “It fell flat.”

An ‘existential threat’ to the state GOP

Wittich earlier said the state GOP wanted to root out Republican candidates who were actually more aligned with Democrats.

To that end, the state GOP targeted some Republican lawmakers it viewed as out of step with its platform, including Nikolalakos, Jones, Bedey and Barker.

Bedey edged out his GOP opponent with just 51% of the vote in red Ravalli County, and Barker pulled in 64% of the vote in Carbon County.

Wittich said in general, incumbents largely win, so wins by known lawmakers in this primary shouldn’t be considered a rejection of the state GOP. But he said the GOP’s message isn’t about individuals.

“This is an existential threat to the Montana Republican Party, and we had to speak with a clear and loud voice to reject that interference,” Wittich said.

Among the wins for the state GOP was the ousting of Vance, of the Belgrade area, and defeat of the challenge by Sen. Jason Ellsworth in a House race hundreds of miles from Hamilton, where he’s lived and held a Senate seat.

Vance and Ellsworth were two of “The Nine” senators who broke with party leadership in 2025 to work across the aisle and pass major bills, leading to admonishment by the state GOP.

Ellsworth, who was all but removed from office last session, lost to Montana Freedom Caucus Chairman Jerry Schillinger, of Circle, who had support from the state GOP and bested Ellsworth with 86% of the vote.

Vance, the only member of “The Nine” seeking reelection to the Senate, lost to Rep. Caleb Hinkle by 48 points. Hinkle, in the Legislature the last three sessions, is backed by the state GOP.

Finley Warden, who bested incumbent Rep. Linda Reksten with 65% of the vote, said he rejected the idea a split exists with Republicans — he said some candidates use the GOP label to win but are “fake Republicans.”

Warden, on a state GOP Honor Roll, said talking to Republican voters at a grassroots event in nearly any part of the state is evidence.

“They will tell you that they want true conservative Republican representatives that actually follow through on the things that Republicans promise,” Warden said, pointing to smaller budgets as an example.

Into the general election, legislative session

Even staunch conservatives such as Speaker of the House Brandon Ler, of Savage, and the state GOP’s own vice chairperson, Stacy Zinn, of Billings, failed to earn the party’s nod in the Honor Roll it released in April. But they won Tuesday.

Wittich said he wasn’t on the committee that named Honor Roll candidates “supporting Republicans.

But he said it’s possible Ler, as speaker, was held to a higher standard, given the Democrats at the end of the 2025 session said “they got everything they wanted.”

Ler, who could not be reached for comment after the primary, won with 56% of the vote.

Wednesday, Zinn said her opponents tried to cast her as a “malcontent,” but she said asking questions doesn’t mean you’re not a team player.

She also said it’s time to reevaluate the Honor Roll and the strategies of the state GOP and end the fragmentation. Zinn won with 61% of the vote.

“I can tell you right now people (Republicans) are not going to be Kumbaya initially, but it’s time to put the voters and constituents first,” Zinn  said.

Editor’s note: Reporter Micah Drew contributed to this story.