The several-day scurry to find a new lawmaker for House District 87, the Ravalli County post vacated March 3 by former Republican legislator Ron Marshall, culminated March 10 in the appointment of Terry Nelson.
The unanimous decision by Ravalli County’s three commissioners came after two rounds of nominations from various factions of the Ravalli County Republican Central Committee.
The other nominees who went before the county commission for consideration were former Republican lawmakers Wayne Rusk and Michele Binkley, who both served in the House in 2023. Nelson has not previously been in the Legislature.
Commissioners interviewed all three candidates in a public meeting Monday afternoon, discussing topics spanning past political experience, exempt wells and tax revenue that impacts local services.
A broader tension about a power struggle within the local Republican party hung over the commission’s decision. Binkley and Rusk both lost their Republican primaries in 2024 to candidates further right of them on the GOP spectrum. Nelson formerly chaired the local GOP central committee.
One of the last questions the commissioners posed to the nominees: If we send you to the Legislature, who will you represent?
Nelson responded with a hierarchical list.
“First and foremost, I represent my God. After that, I believe the citizens in my district are the ones that should be represented,” Nelson said. “In this case, again, I think that representing the central committee that put us up here and you three is probably even higher than that because that’s the ones who put us in.”
This story originally appeared in the Montana Free Press, which can be found online at montanafreepress.org.