Hyperpartisanship has poisoned our politics and society. Every disagreement becomes a war, and every neighbor who votes differently becomes an enemy. With ballots arriving in mailboxes this weekend, Montanans can protect one of the last institutions that hasn’t been swallowed by it. CI-132 would write into our constitution what has been true for about 90 years: Montana’s judicial elections stay nonpartisan.
What would party control of the courts look like? Look no further than this past year. State GOP Chairman Art Wittich and party leadership censured Republican legislators over their votes, disowned longtime Republicans as insufficiently loyal, and poured money into attack ads against their own members in a vile purge effort. Now point that machinery at judges. Picture loyalty tests to a party platform, pressure campaigns over individual rulings, and primary challenges against any judge who reads the law differently than party bosses would like. That is swamp politics, and our judges belong as far from it as we can keep them.
Nonpartisan courts fit Montana’s good-government tradition. We have an independent redistricting commission, term limits, and a balanced-budget requirement because Montanans know that power needs guardrails. I’m confident Montanans of all political stripes want to keep party politics out of the courtroom, yet for years, a shrinking group of Republican legislators has held off an intense push to make judicial races partisan. I’ve learned that in politics, courage is the exception, not the rule. The intense pressure campaign from powerful special interests and party leadership will only increase. CI-132 settles the question with the people rather than leaving it to the Legislature.
Many conservatives are frustrated, and I get it. Our Supreme Court has issued rulings over the years that looked more political than judicial. But a court that frustrates the passions of the moment and resists any faction’s consolidation of power is doing its job. That is a feature of our system, not a bug, even when it stings.
The answer to a court you disagree with is to win elections, not change the rules. Conservatives did exactly that in 2024 by electing Cory Swanson, a common-sense conservative, to the Supreme Court. That is the model. As the founders envisioned, courts are designed to evolve slowly and resist the political passions of the day. Yet under our current system, over time, the courts have gravitated and will continue to gravitate toward lasting popular will.
Nobody should pretend our judicial races are free of partisanship. They aren’t. Every judge, however independent, has personal preferences and biases. But a nonpartisan system tempers those tendencies instead of inflaming them. Party labels would turn court races into a circus of partisan primaries, purity tests, and witch hunts, and every ruling would be scored as a win or loss for a team.
Judges should answer to the constitution and the people of Montana, not to a party chairman. Vote yes on CI-132.
George Nikolakakos, R-Great Falls, represents House District 22.