Judge rules against Montana AG opinion, GOP lawmaker can remain on ballot

On Wednesday, a state district judge ruled in favor of Republican state lawmakers who are fighting to stay on the ballot this fall. The lawsuit comes after Attorney General Austin Knudsen issued his opinion on term limits in Montana.

Judge Chris Abbott granted a preliminary injunction against Knudsen's opinion and restrained the Attorney General and Secretary of State from enforcing it. It also orders them, for the time being, to follow the language from the previous opinion. The order from Abbott effectively allows Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, and Rep. Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, to stay on the ballot.

Abbott also noted in his ruling that no good mechanism exists to replace a candidate if they are disqualified this way. The Republican Party has taken steps to find replacements should Jones and Fitzpatrick be disqualified, but there is a concern those replacement candidates would not qualify either, leaving only the Democratic candidates on the ballot. 

"The election statutes do not cleanly provide for a mechanism to replace a candidate on the general election ballot after the primary election where the candidate vacancy arises for reasons other than death, withdrawal, or disqualification for failure to file certain campaign finance reports," Abbott noted.

The ruling comes as the ballot certification deadline approaches, with certification due Thursday. 

Knudsen appealed the decision Wednesday, asking the Montana Supreme Court for an emergency stay. 

"Unless this Court intervenes immediately, ineligible candidates will be certificated for the November 2026 ballot tomorrow in violation of Article IV, Section 8 of the Montana Constitution," said Knudsen in the appeal. 

The Montana Supreme Court denied the appeal shortly after, saying they did not have adequate time to make such an impactful decision before ballots needed to be certified under Montana law. 

Jones is one of the longest-serving members of the Montana Legislature and is running for Senate District 9 this year. Fitzpatrick has held several leadership positions, most recently Majority Leader for the Montana House of Representatives. He is running for House District 24.

In 1992, voters passed a constitutional amendment that limits state lawmakers and officials like the governor and attorney general to eight years in any 16-year period.

A 2012 opinion from then-Attorney General Steve Bullock, a Democrat, said the limit's timeline is based on when the term begins. His opinion followed legislation that intended to clarify in the same way when the timeframe would start and end for Montana’s term limits. 

Last week, Attorney General Austin Knudsen, R-Montana, rescinded that opinion and issued his own, saying the cutoff begins at the time of the election. He further ordered the Secretary of State follow his revised opinion for the current certification of qualified candidates.

In Montana, an attorney general opinion carries the weight of law unless overturned by a judge.

Knudsen issued his opinion after Montana Senate President Matt Regier asked the attorney general to review Llew Jones' eligibility to run. 

While Knudsen’s opinion does not specifically name Jones, Fitzpatrick told Nonstop Local he thinks it is clear who the opinion was intended for, given the timing so close to ballot certification. 

“There’s no doubt in my mind that [Knudsen’s] deliberately attacking Rep. Jones,” he noted. “Whether or not he wanted to get me or not, I won’t speculate, but I can say with certainty he’s out to get Jones.”

On Tuesday, lawyers representing the Department of Justice argued the opinion addressed only term limits, and ensured politicians are limited to 8 years in any given office. 

Divisions among the Montana Republican Party have widened in recent years, with public in-party fighting over ideology becoming more prevalent.

Last legislative session, the GOP-controlled Senate was mired in heated debate after nine Republicans joined Democrats to pass several key pieces of legislation. That effort drew the ire of Republican leadership.

This year’s primary saw several long-serving Montana Republican lawmakers face party leadership-backed primary challengers and significant spending in those races. Jones alone saw around a quarter million dollars targeting his campaign in an attempt to unseat him.

Fitzpatrick says he seems to have been caught up in the effort to disqualify Jones. In recent legislative sessions, he served as Majority Leader in both the House and the Senate. As Majority Leader, part of his responsibility was to keep Republicans unified on key votes.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional information from Wednesday's filings and the Montana Supreme Court's ruling.