Dear Editor: Think Twice Before Choosing Your Primary Ballot This Year

Dear Editor,

Think twice before choosing your primary ballot this year - we have some bad news. Based on a recent analysis, 88% of Montana's legislature will be decided in the June 2 primary. Let that sink in: nearly 9 in 10 seats in the 2027 legislative session will be decided in less than a month, in an election where fewer than half of Montanans participate. 

The Montana Legislature affects Montanans' lives deeply. Legislators set our state budget, decide how much we are taxed (or not), fund our public schools and community infrastructure (roads, bridges, sewer and water systems, housing, energy, and internet), and make decisions about our access to healthcare, our criminal justice system, and our elections. And the fate of 88% of those critical legislators is sealed a full five months before the November general election.

We bet you already know which political party will win your legislative seat. It's likely the party that has won it for years, even decades. That's why clever, out-of-state interests are pouring millions of dollars into our legislative primaries, trying to buy Montana's representation. They're betting against Montana voters. But Montanans are clever, too.

Now, the good news: we have real choices in our legislative primaries, with over 60 contested elections across Montana happening right now. And Montanans get to choose which ballot they pick this primary, whether Republican, Democratic, or Libertarian. We get to decide how our vote will be most meaningful to us, our community, and our state.

We write to you as fellow Montana citizens who have both held elected office, one as a Republican and one as a Democrat. We are united by one belief: that Montanans deserve competitive elections, and that they should participate in the election where their vote has the most impact.

This year, if you live in a district with a competitive legislative primary, we urge you to vote in the primary ballot that will determine who represents you in the legislature. If you are wondering what difference your primary vote can really make, consider this: in 2024, the top ten most competitive Republican legislative primary races were decided by between 36 and 171 votes. In these races, every vote truly counts.

While there are multiple competitive primary races at the federal level across Montana, those elections will be decided by thousands of votes or more. It's an unfortunate reality that while every vote matters, some votes have an outsized influence on who represents you. When taken as a percentage of all votes cast, your vote in a critical legislative primary matters more than your vote in a congressional or US Senate primary. 

Is this ideal? Far from it, which is why both of us have advocated for a fully open primary system, where voters can vote for any candidate they choose, regardless of political party. For now, please open the primary ballots available to you, see if there is a competitive legislative primary in your district, research the candidates, and vote for the one that will best represent you. Your vote just might make the difference.

Bruce Grubbs is a former Republican Legislator from Bozeman, and Mary Sexton is a former Democratic Teton County Commissioner and Chair of the Montana Democratic Party.