A brief history of political cleansing in Montana

In 2007, a group of right-wing extremists, the precursor of the modern Freedom Caucus, took control of the Republican Party in the Legislature. It immediately announced a plan to reduce the state budget and, over the next several months, went through a series of procedural gyrations, including trying to send a 1 cent education budget from the House to the Senate. The session ended without a state budget and the Republican Caucus fractured.  

Afterward, a group of common-sense conservatives met, drafted a fiscal plan for the state, worked out a compromise with other caring legislators, went back into special session and passed the budget. That fracture has never healed; it simply ebbs and flows in intensity.  

Following the 2013 session, then Senate Majority Leader Art Wittich decided to conduct a “cleansing campaign” and terminate the political careers of the common-sense conservatives that he, and the other “party bosses” could not subjugate. The effort failed,  Wittich got caught, then convicted, of campaign finance violations and ended up paying about $84,000 in fines and court costs. 

Things simmered down until 2025, when Senate President Matt Regier decided to conduct his own purge. He tried to isolate nine common-sense conservatives from full participation in the Senate by having them assigned to “do-nothing committees” while Regier and his cronies controlled the finance, taxation and business committees. Regier’s effort was a deliberate attempt to strip 180,000 Montanans of their right to be represented in the Senate. The targeted, “nine” said no. They organized a coalition, voted in a new committee structure and relegated Regier to the role of Senate minority leader. 

The “nine’s” action was courageous and because of it the Legislature was able to pass a conservative budget, save money in interest bearing savings and trust funds, and, above all, provide property tax relief. 

The “party bosses” are violently angry that the common-sense conservatives put the welfare of Montana first and did not follow the “bosses” demands. 

Wittich, now the “big boss,” recently started another cleansing campaign with the help of Americans for Prosperity, a dark money group from Virginia, which I believe has raised political dishonesty to an art form, and the Schreiber Family from California which has pumped thousands of dollars into political action committees to attack the common-sense legislators and give the “bosses” control of the legislative agenda. The “bosses” need legislators who are both loyal and dumb. 

No thanks. When I was elected to the Legislature in 2022, I went to Helena with a commitment to represent the people of my district, work to fix problems facing the state and endeavor to improve the quality of life for all Montanans. I share a common political philosophy with other Republicans but when enacting policy for the state, that philosophy needs to be based on fact, reasoned judgement and tempered with compassion. 

It’s time to end extremist tyranny in the Republican Party and Montana. That’s why I just say no to the “party bosses”. 

Rep. John Fitzpatrick R-Anaconda.