Montana

Montana voters keep splitting the ticket. They passed abortion rights in 2024 while electing Republicans statewide. That makes Montana a real test of whether voters who disagree with one-party control can still defend public lands, tribal sovereignty, and rural healthcare.

The state fights are not abstract. They show up as coal leases on federal land, property tax bills for mobile home owners, and a Senate race shaped by a last-minute withdrawal.

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Anti-Trans Bills Are Moving Back Through the Courts

Gov. Greg Gianforte signed HB 300 in March 2025. The law bars transgender women and girls from participating in female K-12 and college athletics. It takes effect October 1, 2025.

Montana tried a similar trans athlete ban in 2021, and a district court judge found it unconstitutional. Alex Rate of the ACLU of Montana said HB 300 “suffers from the same constitutional infirmities” as the state’s new bathroom ban.

SB 218 adds a second pressure point. It creates a private right of action for people who claim injury from gender-affirming medical care and allows lawsuits up to 25 years after treatment.

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Coal Leasing Is Back on Public Land

Congress rolled back the Biden-era Resource Management Plan for the Miles City BLM office, reopening roughly 2 million acres of eastern Montana for new coal leasing. Trump signed the resolution on December 11, 2025.

The Powder River Basin decision came as coal economics kept moving the other direction. In October 2025, Navajo Transitional Energy Company bid $186,000 for 167 million tons of coal at Spring Creek Mine. That is roughly one-tenth of a penny per ton. The federal government rejected the bid.

167 million tons of coal received a bid of $186,000, compared with $1.10 per ton in the last major 2012 lease

The Bull Mountains mine expansion adds another layer. Conservation groups including the Montana Environmental Information Center, represented by Earthjustice, sued on March 3, 2026 over the federal approval of the expansion. They argue the Office of Surface Mining cited Trump’s “energy emergency” order to skip a public draft environmental review.

In the Bull Mountains, water supplies above the mine have been damaged or destroyed, and ranchers and livestock depend on the small share of the area that still has springs, wells and ponds.

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The Property Tax Fix Missed Mobile Home Owners

Montana home prices doubled between 2017 and 2025. The legislature responded with lower rates for primary residences and long-term rentals, higher rates for second homes and short-term rentals over $1.5 million.

The catch is enrollment. Homeowners had to opt in to receive lower rates. Many mobile home owners missed the step, even though they are often the least able to absorb a tax spike.

Jefferson County Treasurer Terri Kunz warned that some mobile home owners “are not going to be able to afford these increased taxes.” That is the difference between a policy fix and a usable policy fix.

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Medicaid Expansion Renewal and Rural Hospitals

Montana reauthorized Medicaid expansion in 2025 with bipartisan support. Enrollment is still falling. The state had 217,711 expansion enrollees in 2025, the lowest since expansion began.

Uncompensated care is rising again. Charity care surged to $370 million, up from a post-expansion low of $179 million. Federal Medicaid changes now threaten the rural hospitals that expansion helped stabilize.

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Tribal Voting Rights Are Still Being Defended in Court

SB 490 eliminated eight hours of Election Day voter registration. Indigenous voters in rural tribal communities disproportionately register after noon on Election Day, exactly the window the bill cut.

Western Native Voice and four tribal nations challenged the law. On May 11, 2026, Montana’s First Judicial District enjoined SB 490. Full Election Day registration remains in place for now.

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The Senate Race Changed Minutes Before the Deadline

Sen. Steve Daines withdrew from the 2026 race just before the filing deadline. Kurt Alme, the U.S. Attorney for Montana, filed eight minutes before the deadline, and his announcement two hours later carried Trump’s endorsement.

Democrat Alani Bankhead won the June 2 primary, and independent Seth Bodnar, the former University of Montana president, is also running. CNN reported the timing was meant to block Democrats from fielding Jon Tester, Brian Schweitzer, or Steve Bullock.

Sen. Tim Sheehy is also central to Montana’s federal politics. In March 2026, he helped Capitol Police remove antiwar protester Brian McGinnis, a Marine veteran, from a Senate hearing. McGinnis said his arm was broken in a door during the removal.

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What You Can Do in Montana

1. Check your voter registration. Verify at sosmt.gov/elections. Full Election Day registration remains available after the SB 490 injunction, but do not wait if you can verify earlier.

2. Track public land decisions. Watch BLM coal leasing notices and Bull Mountains litigation. These decisions affect water, ranching, tribal sites, and climate policy.

3. Ask candidates about Medicaid. Rural hospitals cannot absorb large federal losses without cutting services or closing departments.

4. Know your property tax status. If you own a mobile home or primary residence, confirm whether you enrolled for the lower residential rate.

5. Watch the Senate race rules. Last-minute candidate swaps change voter choice. Ask every candidate whether they support open filing rules and tribal voting access.