8 June 2022 — 1043 mdt

Three PACs spent more than $100,000
in Republican primaries in Flathead County

By James Conner

Two of the PACs — Flathead First and Conservatives4MT — were formed by moderate Republicans trying to defeat the neo-John Birch Society candidates endorsed by the Flathead Republican Party. One, the Americans for Prosperity PAC financed by the Koch operation, spent approximately $27,000 on behalf of far right Rep. John Fuller’s effort to win the GOP nomination for SD-4 (Kalispell).

Conservatives4MT raised more than $60,000 from several current and former Republican state legislators, among them Duane Ankney, Walter McNutt, and Bruce Tutvedt, spending it on modererate Republican candidates around the state. In the Flathead, the PAC supported SD-4 moderate Lee Huestis.

Flathead First raised more than $80,000 from moderate Republicans, among them from former governor Marc Racicot and former MT SecST Bob Brown.

Here’s how Flathead First’s candidates were doing as of the time of this post:

I’ll post a follow-up this evening or tomorrow morning.