Montana Republicans dominated the 2024 election. Things got 'weird' as some sided with Democrats

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Following Montana Republicans' dominance in the fall election, a group of GOP lawmakers kicked off the 2025 Legislature with an unexpected move: ceding power to Democrats.

The minority took full advantage, remaking legislative committees and banding with a handful of moderate Republicans to thwart GOP leaders' efforts to make Montana’s judicial system more partisan. Similar alliances bolstered Medicaid expansion, raised teacher pay and passed a state budget increase that includes investments in affordable housing and health care.

The partnership seemed to defy divisions between America's two major political parties that have played out in Washington, D.C., and in many statehouses. But it may prove fleeting if elections in the Big Sky State continue mirroring national trends that have hardened party lines. Montana's conservative and moderate Republicans alike express allegiance to President Donald Trump.

Lawmakers meet for just a few months every two years inside Montana’s Capitol, perched on a hill overlooking Helena, a city of about 35,000 people founded during an 1864 gold rush. It remains a true citizen legislature, opening the playing field for compromise, said political analyst Jeremy Johnson.

“Montana’s becoming an outlier on how a state legislature is operating with this sort of dynamic,” said Johnson, an associate professor at Carroll College.

As lawmakers wrapped up the session Wednesday, GOP legislative leaders went home frustrated at their failure to remodel the state’s judiciary, rein in spending or fix rising property taxes.

Republican Sen. Barry Usher, a GOP whip, said the majority got “steamrolled" during the 85-day session.

Republicans did band to impose more restrictions on transgender people and pass an income tax cut that Democrats decried as a handout to the wealthy. But conservative Republicans frequently found themselves sidelined as their moderate colleagues hammered out deals with Democrats on health care, education, taxes and other mainstays of government, effectively forming a new majority.

Republican Senate President Matt Regier repeatedly called the turn of events “weird.”

“There’s always politics. You’re jockeying for control,” Regier said in an interview. “But I think at the end of the day, what’s weird about it is that I think the conservative faction has been largely left out of conversations, left out of a seat at the table.”

Republican leaders tried to shame party members they viewed as defectors, censuring nine senators in February. In April, the party declared it would no longer recognize those lawmakers as Republicans and would stop funding or otherwise supporting their campaigns.

The senators were unbowed and have continued to side with Democrats on key votes.

“Really all we did is make sure everybody was treated fairly,” said Sen. Josh Kassmier, one of the nine lawmakers.

They were not alone in bucking party leadership: The defeat of Republican proposals to make Montana's judicial system more partisan came in the state House, where GOP moderates hold sway.

Moderates have gotten some political cover from Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte, who has appeared with them at public events. “Every single person who was elected to the Legislature is representing their constituents,” Gianforte replied when asked if party infighting was squandering its mandate from voters.

Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers said Montana's embrace of libertarianism — as seen in its aversion to big government and its tradition of gun ownership — transcends party lines.

Montanans "don’t want just hyperpartisan battles where there are winners and losers, because then there are winners and losers among our citizens too,” Flowers said.

Nationwide, Republicans control both legislative chambers in 27 states, versus 17 for Democrats. Republicans have held more statehouse seats and chambers than Democrats since 2002, and the political lines have become more static in the last several election cycles with fewer chambers flipping control, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

But in states with partisan control, factions often emerge.

In Wyoming, the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus of Republicans holds its first majority in a U.S. statehouse and passed substantial property tax cuts and bans on diversity programs this year. Its members' differences with mainstream Republicans have become more consequential than those between Republicans and the state’s few Democrats.

In states like Oklahoma and South Carolina, mainstream Republicans still hold majorities but fend off challenges from both the left and the far-right.

Until recently, Montana had a tradition of “ticket splitting” — electing a mix of Democrats and Republicans to higher office. That forced state lawmakers to work together out of necessity.

Both parties joined this year to establish an Indigenous People’s Day in Montana, finding compromise after a decade of failed attempts. In contrast, Trump said this week that he would not follow his predecessor’s practice of recognizing Indigenous People’s Day nationally.

“Every legislative session I’ve asked myself, ‘Are we going to see this bipartisan effort, particularly without having a Democratic governor anymore?’" said Johnson, referring to former Gov. Steve Bullock, who left office in 2021 after serving two terms. "And, so far, the answer is yes. You have this group that keeps reemerging. I don’t know how much longer it will keep happening that way.”

Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City.

Montana Democratic Minority Leader Sen. Pat Flowers speaks at a news conference as state Rep. Katie Sullivan listens, at the state Capitol, April 15, 2025, in Helena, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte speaks at a press event hosted by Americans for Prosperity championing tax cuts on the steps of the state Capitol on March 28, 2025, in Helena, Mont. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP)

Republican state Senate President Matt Regier speaks during an interview in his office at the state Capitol, April 16, 2025, in Helena, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

The Montana Senate debates a bill during transmittal week in the state Capitol, March 5, 2025, in Helena, Mont. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP)

Montana Democratic Minority Leader Sen. Pat Flowers, left, speaks with Republican Sen. Josh Kassmier during a committee meeting at the state Capitol, April 16, 2025, in Helena, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)