A political fight among Republicans in Ravalli County that resulted in the ousting of Freedom Caucus allies from local leadership posts earlier this year may serve as a warning to the Montana Republican Party.
In March 2025, Ravalli County District Court Judge Jennifer Lint found the Ravalli County Republican Central Committee had disenfranchised voters and infringed on their constitutional rights by failing to hold an election of officers.
In the complaint, Stevensville Republican Tony Hudson alleged the local party chairman, influenced by hardline members of the GOP, was failing to hold a central committee election contrary to state law, and was illegally holding onto power.
Defendant Ron Stoltz, then chairman of the Ravalli County central committee, argued state GOP bylaws, amended in June 2024, precluded a local election until after Dec. 1, 2026, and he said he had held off at the direction of the state GOP.
But the judge said that stance ran contrary to state law.
Without a local election, precinct captains elected in June 2024 wouldn’t have the chance to run for leadership or select officers or delegates to the state convention, and the judge ordered Stoltz to hold one.
The results ushered in new leadership on the Ravalli County Republican Central Committee, and some Republicans say the case helped end a caustic period within the local GOP, one pushed by power-hungry members of the Freedom Caucus.
But shrapnel from the case could still hit the Montana Republican Party.
Hudson, who filed the lawsuit, and his lawyer, Joan Mell, said the case could open the door to legal action that challenges election outcomes from the June 2025 state GOP convention — an organization that itself trumpets concerns about election integrity.
The case also raises questions about how the Montana GOP will move forward.
In a July email and memo obtained by the Daily Montanan, Montana GOP Chairman Art Wittich told central committees to hold off on local conventions and officer elections until December 2026, as the state GOP advised the Ravalli County chairman prior to the lawsuit.
Through a spokesperson, Wittich declined an interview for this story.
Hudson, though, said the state GOP has misled “good Republicans,” it has let bullies from the Freedom Caucus run roughshod over the organization, and it needs a similar restoration of order for which he fought in Ravalli County.
“We need to follow the law in the Republican Party,” Hudson said. “If we are going to be the party of law and order, then we must.”
Takeover, fighting in Ravalli County Republican Central Committee
The COVID-19 pandemic ratcheted up anti-government sentiment among some members of the hard right in the Bitterroot Valley, deepening political divisions and opening the door to new leadership on the central committee.
Terry Nelson, selected this year to replace a resigning state legislator, had served as chairperson of the central committee for more than a decade.
In 2023, state Sen. Theresa Manzella, a Hamilton Republican and flashy hardliner, successfully nominated Stoltz as chairperson of the Ravalli County Republican Central Committee.
The 2023 central committee election put control of the executive board in the hands of the more extreme members of the Republican Party.
Hudson, on the Stevensville Public Schools board, said under the influence of Manzella and other activist hardliners, local GOP leadership ostracized Republicans who didn’t fall in line.
Manzella declined an interview and did not answer written questions in time for this story.
At central committee meetings, Hudson said Stoltz would cut off public comment if he didn’t agree with the speaker.
“It was their beliefs 100% or nothing,” Hudson said. “There was no dialogue. There was no communication.”
Patty Franklin, current vice chairperson of the central committee, said local GOP leaders took actions that were out of step with party tradition, such as spending money on primary races.
But Franklin said when members who weren’t in lockstep with leadership tried to raise a collective voice and reason with elected officers, they were met with animosity.
“This group was very hostile,” Franklin said.
Hudson mobilizes new members, ‘Dirty Thirty’ accusation flies
Hudson decided he had seen enough of the central committee leadership and its influencers.
In 2024, within two weeks of the deadline for Ravalli County Republicans to sign up to run for precinct captain, Hudson said he recruited 30 or so fellow Republicans for the positions.
“I just made up my mind I was going to do it,” Hudson said.
In 2018, Hudson’s son Wyatt died at the age of 19 in a car accident, and Hudson decided he could “crawl into the bottle,” or he could honor his son and family and improve the world. He’s also a rancher with a bias for action.
“As ranchers say, ‘We’ve been doing so much with so little for so long, we can do anything with nothing at all,’” Hudson said.
Hudson turned the names of GOP recruits in to the county clerk five minutes before 5 p.m. on filing day, he said, and he turned to face the wrath of the central committee.
“These people went apoplectic,” Hudson said.
The Ravalli County Republican Central Committee took out a full-page advertisement in the Bitterroot Star calling the new recruits “The Dirty Thirty.”
The letter, addressed “Dear neighbor,” said historically, the seats are difficult to fill, and “there are virtually never multiple candidates interested in the job.”
It accused Hudson’s recruits of using “dirty tricks” to try to “retake” the committee.
Most won at the ballot box anyway.
Typically, the central committee holds elections among precinct captains to select leadership positions, as state law and its bylaws require, but Stoltz, the chairman, never called for one.
“There was never a formal conversation about elections, but the implication always was, ‘We’re not going to have elections because the state party had decided to not have elections until basically the fall of 2026,’” Hudson said.
Hudson takes Stoltz, central committee to court
In February 2025, Hudson took the Ravalli County Republican Central Committee and Stoltz to court, and he asked the judge to grant a type of relief legally defined as “an extraordinary remedy.”
He asked the court for a writ of mandate, an order that forces a public official to take action the person has a legal obligation to take, in this case, to hold the local election.
As he saw it, if the state GOP could amend its bylaws to preclude elections for a couple of years, he wasn’t sure what would stop it from doing so for longer.
In the complaint, Hudson alleged Stoltz had no authority to continue serving as chairman past April 1, 2025, but intended to control the local central committee “without election to office in 2025 through 2027.”
He alleged members of the Freedom Caucus intended to control the Republican platform and had taken control of many local committees, but its members knew local committees still weren’t “stacked in their favor.”
And he said Freedom Caucus members sought to extend their power anyway.
At the 2024 state convention, as outlined in court documents, GOP delegates amended party bylaws to say local elections should take place between Dec. 1 of each even-numbered year and March 31 of each odd-numbered year — starting on Dec. 1, 2026.
State convention delegates Paul Fielder, a Thompson Falls legislator, and Brad Tschida, former legislator from Missoula and former Public Service Commission director, drove the changes, according to the complaint.
Stoltz did not respond to an email requesting comment, but according to the district court order, he argued the amendments meant no central committee election could be held until Dec. 1, 2026, and none could be held “until the State Chair authorizes” it.
The judge disagreed.
Until Dec. 1, 2026, the judge said the current rules for local elections remained in place, as did state statute, and she ordered Stoltz to hold one by April 1, 2025.
Activists out, ‘old guard’ returns
To his credit, Stoltz complied with the district court order and called for the local election, said Matt Roth, current chairman of the Ravalli County Republican Central Committee.
He and others said Stoltz never showed up for it, nor did his allies.
In holding off on the local election, Roth said Stoltz was only following the directive of the state GOP, but the results contravened the rights of the people.
“It’s fundamentally against the law, fundamentally against the Constitution of the United States, and fundamentally against our republic,” Roth said.
He said he had hoped the new board would be mixed and include GOP members from across the political spectrum, but the Freedom Caucus activists did not show up.
Franklin, vice chairwoman, said in one way, the extremists sidelined themselves. She said she talked to eight people at a recent dinner who used to support Manzella and will no longer do so.
“They got too noisy and too obnoxious, and people stopped taking them as seriously as they used to,” Franklin said.
Roth said he took the helm of the local central committee reluctantly. He said he’s aligned with much of the Freedom Caucus ideology, but not with its means.
“My hope and prayer is that all conservatives in the valley come back to the table and have a good heartfelt discussion of how we move forward in 2026,” Roth said.
How the state GOP moves ahead is another matter.
Order appealed, found moot
The case went to the Montana Supreme Court, and last month, the justices issued an order finding the matter was moot; the original controversy over the election in Ravalli County had ended.
It said Stoltz had not demonstrated the disputed part of the state Republican Party bylaws — “subject to amendment or clarification by the Party” — were likely to be applied in the same manner again.
“(Stoltz’s) suggestion that the other central committees might so apply the bylaws is speculative,” the order said.
The state Supreme Court also said the statute the district court relied on remained in place.
“The county central committee shall meet prior to the state convention of its political party and organize by electing a presiding officer and one or more vice presiding officers,” says the state statute.
In Ravalli County, the central committee bylaws require the local convention to take place between Feb. 1 and April 1 of odd-numbered years, the order said.
Lawyer Abby Moscatel represented Stoltz in the appeal, and when reached by phone about Hudson vs. Stoltz, Moscatel stated she had no comment and hung up.
The Montana Republican Party did not answer questions about the guidance it gave to central committees, but a July 14 email and memo from Wittich told central committees that Montana GOP bylaws “trump county bylaws.”
In the email, Wittich said any county bylaws that conflict should be amended to be in compliance with state GOP bylaws.
“Please be advised that no county conventions will be called until December 1, 2026,” the email said.
The attached memo, also dated July 14 and marked “draft,” said GOP rules had been subject to “conflicting interpretations” and central committees may be “confused.” It did not reference the district court order or appeal.
Wittich did not answer questions for this story, including about any subsequent guidance the state GOP has given central committees.
“MT GOP wasn’t a party to the case and didn’t appear in the case, so we don’t have comment to provide,” Wittich said through a spokesperson.
Moving forward
Some Ravalli County Republicans believe the results of the state GOP convention in June could be called into question if other counties also should have held local elections and had the chance to select state delegates.
In other words, if county central committees sent illegitimate delegates to the state convention, what does that mean for the results of elections at the state GOP?
“That’s a serious issue within the GOP that needs to be looked at,” Franklin said.
Mell said in the lawsuit, the party was trying to override statute and take the will of the people away.
She said not every county has “a Tony,” but Republicans shouldn’t sit on their rights and assume those in control of the state party are controlling precincts as well.
A breadth of voices is needed to fairly represent the party, but people need to work for it, Mell said.
“Complacency is death,” Mell said. “People need to know their rights and get involved and question — and not be afraid to question — the leadership of the GOP.
“It’s not a foregone conclusion. The local voices matter. And participation really matters.”
Hudson believes that without some change at the state GOP, a powerful minority will retain dominance at the expense of a party that once boasted about a big tent.
“(But) this is not their private club,” Hudson said.
Freedom Caucus Chairman Jerry Schillinger, a Republican legislator from Circle, said every party and group has different factions, and he isn’t concerned some members of his group may have besmirched its cause.
He said to be a member of any group is to accept the bumps and bruises it brings along the way and to be willing to have the backs of others despite their imperfections.
“If it ever came to an issue, whether it’s a Freedom Caucus or any other group, that some member is totally out of step with the goals and the ideals of that group, then likely that person will find themselves sitting on the outside,” Schillinger said.
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