The Flathead County Republican Central Committee has been in shambles for years. I left the committee when then-chair John Fuller announced an edict that members could not publicly support Republican candidates during the primary. Under the guise of “fairness,” the directive was intended to pave the way for Greg Gianforte’s election. During that primary, I refused to support candidates with recent criminal pasts like Greg Gianforte and Troy Downing, preferring to support Montana folks like Tim Fox. John Fuller and I squabbled as he believed all members should stay silent when asked who we endorsed in the Republican primary. I objected on free speech and Republican principle grounds. It was clear to me that he sought to use the chair to persuade the committee of his ideals, whether those ideals were steeped in the Republican platform or not. Thus, I and several others resigned.
Nothing has changed since the exodus of myself and other conservative Republicans. Now, the chair is Ronalee Skees, Derek Skees’ wife. Ronalee has been chair twice, both times while running for office. There is no irony in that fact; her chairmanship is part of a political strategy to seek election. The chair has significant influence over how candidate funds are spent. The chair can direct funds to herself as a candidate, to the chagrin of her opponents, who are also Republicans, and direct those funds to her husband, who is now a candidate for the Public Service Commission.
During her previous tenure as chair, Ronalee was a candidate for the Flathead County Commission, running against Randy Broedehl. Despite being asked by committee members to resign as chair due to the clear conflict of interest, Ronalee waited two months before resigning. Now, Ronalee is a candidate for election to her husband’s former state House seat, and while she has several Republican opponents, she has not given up the reigns. Her ploy is evident to anyone paying attention; she wants “credibility” and the ability to redirect campaign funds from Central Committee to both her and Derek’s campaigns for elected office. And no one from the state party, which has oversight of the local central committees, has said a word. Why? Because Derek Skees has also positioned himself as the state party Treasurer. So these shenanigans go on unchecked, hoping no actual Republican will recognize the conflict of interest.
The irony of so-called Republican legislators – including Derek Skees – parading faux concerns about election integrity all the while trying to rig the vote by obtaining positions where campaign dollars can be jerry-rigged to their benefit is not lost on any of us actual Republicans paying attention. A word to the wise: donate directly to your candidate of choice and not the state party or local central committee.
Tammi Fisher is an attorney, former mayor of Kalispell and host of the Montana Values Podcast.