District Court Judges Dan Wilson of Kalispell and Katherine Bidegaray of Sidney Face off in Montana Supreme Court Race

District court judges Dan Wilson of Kalispell and Katherine Bidegaray of Sidney are facing off in the nonpartisan race to become associate justice on the Montana Supreme Court.

The seat is currently held by Justice Dirk Sandefur.

Both candidates practiced civil and criminal law in Montana for several years before being elected as district court judges.

Serving as a Flathead County District Court judge for the past eight years, 60-year-old Wilson also served as a justice of the peace after working stints as a prosecutor and private attorney in civil and criminal cases. Wilson was born in Billings and obtained his law degree from the University of Minnesota.

Wilson says he does not rely on his own personal views to determine the outcome of any court case, although he does apply personal values for “truth, honesty and obedience to the law” in his judicial philosophy.

“I would say I’m conservative in the sense that I rely on authority that’s outside of and higher than myself,” Wilson said. “That’s what the law was always meant to be for judges. By avoiding temptation to assert my own preferences into the outcome of the case, I follow a conservative judicial philosophy that we’re not legislating from the bench.”

Serving as the district court judge covering Dawson, McCone, Prairie, Richland and Wibaux counties, 64-year-old Bidegaray grew up in Richland County and obtained her law degree from the University of Montana in 1985.

Throughout Bidegaray’s career, she has practiced civil and criminal law as a private attorney until she became a district court judge in 2003, helping implement youth and adult treatment courts.

Bidegaray centers her judicial philosophy on fairness and impartiality and says she is not swayed by public opinion — believing every litigant is on a “level playing field.”

“My judicial philosophy is rooted in the rule of law and that nobody is above the law or below it,” Bidegaray said.

Both judges have ruled in high profile cases in recent years, including Bidegaray’s ruling last year in Meagher County District Court that the Montana Department of Environmental Quality erred in its decision to approve the Black Butte Mine near White Sulphur Springs. The Montana Supreme Court overturned that decision, saying the agency complied with state laws, as reported by the Montana Free Press.

Wilson drew attention in 2020 when he denied the state’s attempt to force businesses to comply with a COVID-era mask directive under former Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock’s administration.

Despite the traditional nonpartisan nature of the race, both candidates have received support from partisan groups throughout the campaign, which the two district court judges say they have attempted to dissociate with.

Bidegaray has received endorsements from groups like the Montana Conservation Action Fund and the Montana Federation of Public Employees while Wilson has received endorsements from the Montana Chamber of Commerce and the Montana Shooting Sports Association. He is also “strongly recommended” by the Flathead County Republic Central Committee.

“Lots of groups have a very keen interest in these races for Supreme Court and they’re weighing in the best way they feel is appropriate,” Wilson said. “I’m simply staying on my message that I’m for a Supreme Court that is fair and impartial – its rules based solely on the constitution and the law and not based on any political consideration or the interest of third parties or stakeholders.”

Bidegaray, too, says she is trying to avoid becoming “sucked into the political vortex.”

“I am alarmed at the concerted efforts we have been facing to politicize the judiciary,” Bidegaray said. “I firmly believe it should be nonpartisan and it has the potential to interfere with objectivity and it’s critical in the judiciary that we have no kind of personal agenda.”

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