“There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother.” George Orwell’s 1984
“They will be vetted, and if we determine that they are good for the party, we will endorse them.” Art Wittich, 2025
As we head into primary season, the political noise – billboards, robocalls, attack ads, and misinformation on social media – is already at full volume.
Montanans deserve leaders focused on delivering results, not serving party bosses, national special interest groups, or their own ambitions. My voting record matches the promises I campaigned on: cutting taxes for Montanans, improving education, sound fiscal policy, protecting our freedoms, and ensuring responsible, transparent government.
We passed a conservative budget that increases state spending by just 0.35% per year despite false claims to the contrary. Montana is the only state in the nation without an S&P Bond rating because we paid off our bond debt in 2023.
Montana families, small businesses, farms and ranches will see lower property taxes thanks to homestead exemptions and income tax rate reductions that prioritize working Montanans and long-term residents. Out-of-state corporate entities that enjoyed flat or reduced taxes as residential property values spiked in value over the past four years are upset that the tax shift onto the backs of Montana residents is over.
Yet, those that won’t blindly follow the Montana Freedom Caucus and Party Boss Wittich have been targeted with attack ads and smears – often coordinated by or with messaging from operatives with deep ties to Washington, D.C. to support special interests over Montanans.
I didn’t run to serve a faction. I ran to serve the people of Carbon County.
I have not and will not support partisan judicial elections because I don’t believe it is good for Montana. Like our conservative, Montana Supreme Court Chief Justice Cory Swanson, I believe that partisan races would take us further in the wrong direction and further undermine the credibility of our courts. Like our founders, I believe in separation of powers, an independent judiciary, and preventing dangerous consolidations of power.
We can work to improve voter knowledge of the candidates, but we don’t need to turn courtrooms into campaign events. Just imagine the current Republican State Party leadership under Art Wittich using his “Conservative Governance” and “Red Policy” committees to sanction judges when they don’t make the “right” decision in a case.
As George Washington warned, “Political parties may now and then answer popular ends, but they are likely… to become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people…”.
I’ve taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States throughout my career in the US Army and more recently an additional oath to the Montana Constitution – not a party, not a boss in Florida, or scorecards created by political operatives.
Thank you for the trust you’ve placed in me.
Brad Barker is a Republican state representative from Carbon County.