HELENA — The Montana Legislature’s 2025 session was marked by tensions – and while it’s been almost three months since the session ended, some of the divisions that emerged within the two major parties are now back on display.
Watch the video for more on what's bringing intraparty disagreements into the open
This week, MTN journalists were mailed copies of a document that points to disagreements within the Legislature’s Democratic caucuses. The 22-page document, titled “Tangible Damages,” lays out an argument that cooperation between Democrats and some Republicans had undermined Democratic priorities.
“This so-called ‘working majority’ repeatedly worked against Democratic values,” it read.
The report particularly claimed that the alliance had empowered Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte and his allies at the expense of Democrats’ proposals on budget and tax policy, and that Democrats working with Republicans should have done more to stop “’far right’ policies attacking trans people.”
The document was mailed anonymously and was received by multiple journalists and a number of lawmakers. It purported to come from a group called “United Democrats,” and came with an unsigned letter criticizing lawmakers including House Minority Leader Rep. Katie Sullivan, D-Missoula, over the document. However, the return address listed was Sullivan’s public PO Box in Missoula, while the envelope was postmarked from Billings.
Sullivan confirmed in a statement to MTN that the document came out of a request she made to House Democratic staff, asking for feedback on what her caucus did well this session and what they could have done better.
“This document is just one result, and one person's perspective,” Sullivan said. “Some I agree with, some I disagree with, and some I would have phrased it differently. It's just one perspective and it's not the only feedback I have collected. I understand it upset a lot of people.”
Sullivan said she didn’t know who was responsible for the mailer, and that she considered the use of her PO Box fraudulent and had reported it to authorities.
“I wish I knew who it was so I could talk to them in person,” she said.
Sullivan said Democrats did have successes during the session, passing more bills than they had in a long time.
“Dems have their eye on the prize - and that is making Montana better,” she said. “Disagreements happen, but we can overcome this.”
Cooperation between Democrats and Republicans was most visible on the Senate side, where a group of nine Republicans frequently broke with their party leaders on procedural votes. Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, frequently pointed to the “working majority” as a success, allowing for the passage of legislation like the renewal of Medicaid expansion.
MTN reached out to Flowers about the “Tangible Damages” document.
“Differences of opinion within a political party aren’t just inevitable, they’re healthy,” he said in a statement. “I am proud of the work every one of our Democratic legislators did this session and I know that we’ll continue to work together on the hard problems facing people across Montana.”
Leaked documents aren’t the only sign of party disagreements spilling out into the public. In some parts of Montana, residents are hearing them right on their phones.
Over the last two months, a series of robocalls have gone out, attacking Republican lawmakers considered to be aligned with the “Solutions Caucus,” a more moderate faction.
“Llew Jones is at it again: He’s gobbling up our tax dollars to pay for more public spending,” one of the calls began.
“What I'm getting is, folks up here are feeling harassed,” said Jones, R-Conrad.
The recordings don’t include any attribution, and they appear from multiple different numbers. In Jones’ case, they criticize him for working with Democrats and voting against bills to allow party labels in judicial elections, and they accuse him of supporting “out-of-control government spending.”
Jones said the calls have primarily gone to residents in his district. He believes they aren’t going to have a significant impact on his voters.
“The people that call me, they know this is not coming from their neighbors, they know it's coming from somewhere across the state, right?” he said. “They don't like it because it's not being attributed, it's kind of bushwhacking from the dark – they really don't like when it spoofs local numbers. So I usually get a call to say, ‘Hey, we got your back, how do we make these calls stop?’”
The staunchly conservative Montana Freedom Caucus has posted recordings of calls against Jones and Rep. George Nikolakakos, R-Great Falls, on its social media accounts. Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Jerry Schillinger, R-Circle, denied knowing who was behind the calls but said caucus members agreed with their message.
“They totally blew off their voters,” he said of Jones and his allies. “They disrespected what their voters thought they were getting in a conservative majority in the Senate to carry out a conservative agenda.”
Schillinger said Jones represented a “big-government” agenda and that conservative lawmakers were increasingly dissatisfied. He said he believed the arguments in the robocalls would resonate with voters.
“Growing government and continuing to take more and more taxpayer dollars than what we budgeted for isn't good for the state,” he said.
MTN asked Schillinger if he was troubled by reposting anonymous attacks.
“I don't think that's anything new,” he said. “As far as I know, political ads and calls get done like that all the time.”
“If we felt it wasn't true, we certainly wouldn't repost it,” he added.
Jones said he would stand by his votes. He said investments like the billion-dollar state trust fund he supported this session would be important for keeping up with needs like infrastructure maintenance in the largely rural district he represents.
“I try to vote for this district 100% time,” he said. “I would argue it's conservative. I don't know how it's not conservative to fix stuff before you fail.”
The GOP splits from the 2025 session have remained visible in other ways as well. At the state party convention last month, delegates blocked the nine Republican senators who were part of the “working majority” from voting. The Montana Freedom Caucus, which dubbed those senators the “Nasty Nine,” later put out a list of 12 House members, including Jones and Nikolakakos, it called the ”Dirty Dozen.” In recent weeks, lawmakers allied with the Freedom Caucus and the Solutions Caucus have gone back and forth with each other in a series of op-eds.
There are now just over ten months left until the June 2026 primary elections, when some of these intraparty splits could again be important.
