Get an insider’s look into what’s happening in and around the halls of power with expert reporting, analysis and insight from the editors and reporters of Montana Free Press. Sign up to get the free Capitolized newsletter delivered to your inbox every Thursday. Sign up December 12, 2024U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale wasn’t among the departing members of Congress offering farewell addresses this week.The two-term lawmaker, elected by wide margins as Montana’s at-large representative in 2020 and inaugural representative for Montana’s newly drawn eastern House district in 2022, opted not to say goodbye from the House floor. It was on that same floor that Rosendale and seven other Republicans successfully called for the ouster of then-GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October 2023, a feat made possible because Democrats joined the cause.Rosendale spent this week staying on his anti brand, opposing a $98 billion presidential disaster relief package that included $37 million for the blown-out St. Mary siphon, a piece of Milk River Project irrigation infrastructure on which 18,000 Hi-Line residents rely. Rosendale said on social media that he was “a hard no on giving Democrats more money to enshrine their agenda” Separately, he also rejected the National Defense Authorization Act because of “wokeness,” particularly the current military policy allowing personnel in areas without abortion services to travel to areas with services at government expense. The NDAA includes $20 million for Malmstrom Air Force Base in Cascade County and $14.8 million for a Malta Readiness Center to support the Montana National Guard. Montana Sens. Jon Tester, Democrat, and Steve Daines, Republican, were sponsoring an amendment to the very same NDAA bill to fully fund Milk River Project repairs and ratify a water compact for the tribes of Fort Belknap Reservation. Rosendale has often chosen principle over practicality. Recall that on Jan. 6, 2021, when both Daines and Rosendale planned to reject the results of the 2020 presidential election, Rosendale stuck to his opposition to accepting results from select states over allegations (now debunked) of voter fraud, while Daines returned to the Senate, post-riot, and approved all results without question. Before Trump supporters rioted, Daines had planned to delay approving Arizona’s results. In January 2023, Rosendale became briefly famous when he was photographed waving off a phone call from Donald Trump during a prolonged debate over the election of a House Speaker. Trump was encouraging hold-out Republicans to back McCarthy. Rosendale later explained that cell phone calls aren’t allowed in the House chamber. He wouldn’t break the rule.Principle over practicality is a big part of Rosendale’s legacy, as is some of the chaos that resulted, specifically McCarthy’s ouster. Had Rosendale chosen to run for reelection, his previous success makes it hard to imagine that he wouldn’t have won. But he chose not to after a chaotic 6-day  Senate campaign that ended after Trump announced that Tim Sheehy had the then former, now future, president’s blessing.Continuing the Senate campaign in the face of Trump’s Sheehy endorsement would have been impractical, Rosendale said at the time. Weeks later he chose not to run for reelection in the House, as well. By then, there were eight Republicans in the eastern district House primary. Several of the candidates before launching campaigns had told Rosendale they wouldn’t run if he did. He told them he wouldn’t.—Tom LuteyBillings DemocratsYellowstone County Democrats this week nominated three potential replacements for former Rep. Emma Kerr-Carpenter, who represented part of central Billings. Kerr-Carpenter is replacing Kathy Kelker in the state Senate. Yellowstone County commissioners appointed her to the job earlier this month after Kelker withdrew for personal reasons.Mark Nicholson and Anne Ross, both unsuccessful candidates for Billings legislative seats last month, are nominees to replace Kerr-Carpenter, as is Billings City Council member Denise Joy. Joy would have to end her City Council term 11 months early if she’s appointed to the state House seat. Yellowstone County Chairperson Becky Reidl said the party has submitted the nominees’ names to the county commission. An appointment could come as early as Dec. 17, less than three weeks before the 2025 Legislature begins. —Tom LuteyRedistricting on TrialThe Legislature’s 2023 redrawing of Public Service Commission districts is on trial this week. Eight voter plaintiffs, including former Republican Gallatin County Commissioner Don Seifert and former Republican Secretary of State Bob Brown testified that lawmakers divided each of Montana’s six largest communities into two or more PSC districts to thwart the influence of urban voters on any particular district. The defendant in the lawsuit is Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, Montana’s top election administrator. On the witness stand Wednesday, Brown was asked if he had any ill feeling toward the secretary. Brown said no, emphasizing that he too had been sued over election fairness issues as secretary of state. Earlier this year, Lewis and Clark County District Judge Christopher Abbott concluded that the PSC districts drawn in 2023 likely violate the state’s anti-gerrymandering laws. He found the testimony of Stephanie Somersille, a mathematical analyst, credible. Somersille told jurors Thursday that more than 100 different test scenarios for how the maps could have been drawn using fair election criteria couldn’t produce a map similar to the one passed along party lines by Republicans in the 2023 Legislature. The PSC regulates monopolies in cases where by circumstance or government action consumers are captive, meaning they do not have the right to shop around for a better deal. —Tom LuteyOn BackgroundMontana Public Service Commission elections lean decidedly Republican, despite Democrats producing up to 45% of the vote in statewide elections. Earlier this year, Rep. Rosendale characterized his motivation to run for Senate as a determination to end the “uniparty,” which refers to a belief that top-level political leaders act in agreement and not along party lines. On Monday, Montana Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester gave his farewell address to the U.S. Senate, calling for campaign finance reform.The post Rosendale exits on principle appeared first on Montana Free Press.