LTE: Judges should run on their records not party

Montana has had nonpartisan elections for local and state judges since 1935. There is no good reason to stop now, so vote yes for Constitutional Initiative 132 on the November 2026 ballot.

Judges should run on their records and statements, not whether they have an R, L, or I behind their names. Keeping the elections nonpartisan will make the candidates present their background and views in campaign materials and voter guides to the people of Montana.

Recently, the Republican Party of Montana has published an op-ed in Lee Newspapers supporting partisan judicial elections (Montana Standard Jul 11, 2026). Their position was clearly based solely on the Montana Supreme Court election. However, they seem to ignore the fact that keeping elections nonpartisan will allow for judges at every level to express their judicial viewpoints in both the primary and general election. 

Instead of finalizing elections in November, they seem to be wanting the primaries to give the final word. This partisan shenanigan is what left-leaning states like New York and California want.

Instead, we should force judicial candidates for local and state-wide races to display their records to the voters of Montana. Of all the electoral races, we should keep the judiciary full of people with robust experience, clear writing skills, and records of fair treatment of people in the judicial system.

Larry N. Smith

Butte

Originally published in the Montana Standard on 7/28/26