Montana GOP selects Kronebusch as replacement candidate in disputed Senate race

Jones has sued to stay on the ballot because a new interpretation of term limits by Attorney General Austin Knudsen would mean he’s out of time despite his primary win in June. Kronebusch is a fellow plaintiff in the lawsuit.

During a Zoom meeting Monday of the 12-person appointing committee, Kronebusch received roughly three-quarters of votes from representatives of the four counties comprising SD 9.

“I’ve also been involved in politics from the Republican side for as long as I’ve been around,” Kronebusch said at the meeting. “I’m a conservative person, and I’m concerned about what my constituents feel and what’s important to them. And using the conservative values, I would vote in that manner.”

Also nominated was Rep. Zach Wirth of Helena. Wirth lost to Jones in the June primary in one of the most contentious races that embodied the split between a more moderate faction of Republicans, represented by Jones, and hard-line conservatives such as Wirth backed by the state GOP. 

Jones has served continuously in the Legislature since 2005, moving between the House and Senate regularly, and as the architect of the state budget is often considered one of the most powerful lawmakers in the state. He spent the last eight years in the House and filed to run for the Senate this year. 

But Jones’ status as a candidate is in limbo following the new legal opinion by Knudsen reinterpreting the state’s constitutional term limits and ending the practice by lawmakers to serve indefinitely, so long as they routinely switch Legislative chambers. 

A lawsuit filed on behalf of Jones, Republican Rep. Steve Fitzpatrick of Great Falls, and Kronebusch last week argued that the Attorney General cannot alter the rules so close to Election Day, and that the request for a legal opinion from Senate President Matt Regier, a Kalispell Republican and hardline Republican, was improper. 

The Montana secretary of state must certify ballots by Thursday, putting the legal process on a tight timeline. A hearing before Lewis and Clark District Judge Christopher Abbott to stop the new interpretation from taking effect so close to ballot certification is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. 

Because of the quick turnaround for ballot certification, the state GOP convened a nominating committee of the four affected counties to select a replacement candidate Monday evening. 

Each committee questioned the two nominees, asking them about their respective stances on abortion, Medicaid expansion, and limiting government and the state budget. 

“We have laws that say we have to be budget neutral and so we already have a surplus,” Kronebusch said. “I would ask that we continue on … and I would also look to keep our budgeted surplus as low as possible.”

Wirth took a harder line on the budget, following criticisms lobbied by more conservative lawmakers against the latest Jones-engineered budget. Jones served as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

“We’ve got to rein ourselves in,” Wirth said. “ Then, if we lower the taxes that we have — on the state income tax and the state property taxes — if we can bring that down, that’s going to leave a little bit more room down there for the counties and the cities.“

Both candidates spoke about being Catholics staunchly against abortion.

Wirth received 25% of the vote from committee members. 

Though Kronebusch is an ally of Jones, who has been a thorn in the side of the state GOP, party Chairman Art Wittich said he believed in the process that played out. 

“I think the process was fair, and the counties spoke,” Witch told members of the press after the meeting. “I’m just satisfied that we’ll be able to have a Republican name on the ballot, so that a Democrat doesn’t win by default.”

Wittich said he wasn’t sure if the party would make it a priority in the upcoming legislative session to more clearly define term limits, but added that in Montana, having strict term limits is popular among voters. 

“Obviously, the initiative passed almost 30 years ago, and it still continues to poll highly for people,” Wittich told reporters. “People don’t want professional politicians, and you know, our platform is to follow the Constitution.”