Matt Regier re-elected as Senate president

Montana Senate President Matt Regier will enter his third straight session leading one of the Montana legislative chambers after the majority Republican caucus re-elected him Senate president on Wednesday. 

Regier, who ran unopposed and is part of a influential political family in the Flathead, was speaker of the House in 2023, and elected Senate president during his first term in the upper chamber in 2025.

“The Legislative branch, constitutionally, has been given a tremendous amount of power, especially here in the Senate,” Regier said in brief remarks after his nomination.

Regier, who oversaw a chaotic chamber and split caucus in 2025, said the Legislature should not be controlled by overreaching judges on the judicial branch or the executive branch. 

“We are separate branches of government, yes, with checks and balances, but with distinct roles,” he said.

He also emphasized that the legislative process included giving all bills time to be heard in committee and the floor, and he ran for the leadership post to “give each of you a voice in this process.”

“One senator should not get to be louder than the next,” he said. 

Sen. Sue Vinton, R-Billings, ran unopposed for Senate majority leader, and Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, ran unopposed for president pro tempore.

Vinton previously served as House majority leader in 2021 and 2023. 

“I served under four different speakers, three of whom are in this room. Two different majority leaders, one of whom is in this room,” Vinton said. “We need to utilize that knowledge, that experience, that leadership, and I want everyone to be aware of the wealth that we have within this caucus in this room.”

The four Republican majority whips are Dennis Lenz, of Billings; Denley Loge, of St. Regis; Vince Ricci, of Billings; and Becky Beard, of Elliston. Lenz has served in that role for the previous two sessions. 

The Republican caucus also selected the members to serve on the Committee on Committees, which assigns who will lead and sit on the various committees during the session. 

The Committee on Committees comprises Sens. Tom McGillvray, of Billings; Carl Glimm, of Kila; Josh Kassmier, of Fort Benton; Ricci; Dave Bedey, of Hamilton; and Lenz. 

On the minority side, Democrats elected Sen. Laura Smith, D-Helena, to serve as minority leader for the session. Smith was unopposed.

Democrats elected Sen. Derek Harvey, of Butte; Shane Morigeau, of Missoula; and Cora Neumann, of Bozeman, to serve as whips.

Smith told reporters that the caucus is fully committed and unified on one main legislative priority — affordability. 

“Our top three issues on behalf of all Montanans, not just Democrats and not just Republicans, is affordability, affordability, affordability,” she said. “It is an incredible opportunity for Democrats to act on the information that our constituents have given us, and that’s a promise that I want to maintain.”

Democrats flipped two seats in the Senate, which will have a 30-20 split this session. 

There remains a question of who will ultimately wield power in the state Senate following a 2025 session defined by a bipartisan working majority that fractured the Republican caucus and saw Democrats with outsized influence. 

Regier and Smith met shortly after leadership elections, and Smith said part of the discussion was about moving past political bickering and working to solve problems in the state. 

 Regier said it would be up to individual senators to decide whether to focus on politicking, acknowledged each member has made promises to their own constituents, but said he hoped for a smoother session. 

“Hopefully we can get more to debate about the policy and really leave personalities in the wayside,” Regier told the Daily Montanan. “That, I think, is a goal, definitely a goal of mine, and hopefully a goal of the minority leader.”