Longtime Montana political reporter Chuck Johnson dies

Charles S. “Chuck” Johnson, one of the state’s longest-serving statehouse journalists and widely known as the “dean of Montana political reporters,” died unexpectedly at his home in Helena on Saturday.

Johnson reported on Montana politics and government for Montana’s largest newspapers and wire services for 45 years before his retirement in 2017. During the course of his career, Johnson covered 22 legislative sessions, eight governors, nine U.S. senators, and 12 U.S. representatives, earning a reputation as a factual and fair journalist whose reporting was infused with a sense of history and institutional knowledge that gave readers a broad perspective on the most significant issues of the day.

Johnson’s wife, Pat Hunt, said her husband was beloved throughout Montana and his loss will be felt across the state.

“So many people sincerely loved Chuck, and I so appreciate all of them and how much they loved him,” Hunt said Monday. “He was so humbled by it and it meant so much to him. He cared so much for everybody, and for the state of Montana. It’s just such a loss.”

Johnson has served on the Montana Free Press board of directors since 2020, and chaired the board since 2021.

Former journalist and MTFP board secretary Skylar Browning said Johnson was invaluable as a board member.

“He offered the same historical knowledge, wisdom and guidance to MTFP that he had famously shared with readers and fellow journalists for decades as the preeminent political reporter in the state,” Browning said. “It’s an incredible loss for all of us.”

MTFP founder and Executive Director John Adams echoed Browning’s comments.

“I’m devastated by the news of Chuck’s passing,” Adams said. “He was a beloved friend to so many people throughout Montana. His impact on the state is immeasurable. He mentored dozens, if not hundreds, of young reporters throughout his decades as a journalist, and he was always humble, gracious, respectful and fair. Getting to know Chuck more personally in recent years was one of the great joys of my life. The treasure state has lost one of its greatest treasures.”

Johnson was born in 1948 in Great Falls, and was the oldest of four siblings. Johnson’s family moved to Helena when he was a year and a half old. He started his journalism career early, working for the Helena High School student newspaper, The Nugget.

Johnson later attended college at the University of Montana in Missoula, where he studied journalism.

As a young reporter still attending UM, Johnson’s first big story was covering the 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention for the Associated Press. His daily dispatches to the AP are among the most comprehensive day-to-day accounts of that historic event, affectionately nicknamed the “Con Con.”

In 2022 Johnson participated in a 50th anniversary celebration of the Con Con. As part of the commemoration, Johnson took part in an oral history project in which he reflected on his time covering the convention.

“It was fun to do and it was fun to witness reform happening,” Johnson said in the September 2021 interview. “To me, it was kind of removing the shackles that had been on Montana.”

Among Johnson’s many passions was the game of baseball. Johnson and Hunt recently returned from Arizona where they watched their favorite Major League Baseball team, the Chicago Cubs, play at spring training.

“He told me he was so happy when he walked into the ballpark,” Hunt said.

In May 2022 Johnson received an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Montana State University. In a video honoring Johnson during the commencement ceremony, journalist and author Kathleen McLaughlin, who worked with Johnson early in her career, said Johnson had a knack for contextualizing news.

“He was always aware of political history in Montana, I mean, down to the minute level of things,” McLaughlin said in the video. “He would know little tidbits that you never heard of, but he would know how to put them into stories to make the reporting stronger and explain to people why things mattered.”