Democratic coalition blocks expulsion of GOP Sen. Ellsworth; leaders to broker discipline

The Montana Senate was at an impasse on Monday over how to punish Hamilton Republican Sen. Jason Ellsworth after he attempted to use state money he had control over to arrange a contract for his longtime friend and former business partner.

The chamber considered two punishments: One to expel him from his post and another that some lawmakers and staff described as “censure-plus,” which would have censured Ellsworth and revoked a few legislative powers.

Senate Republicans this session have been working toward removing Ellsworth, with one attempt to do so nearly two months ago. Democrats, meanwhile, contend they are protecting the Republican from political retribution for joining them on major votes.

Democrats have a stake in preserving Ellsworth's place in the chamber, too, as his vote helps maintain their working coalition with nine moderate Republicans who have sided with the Democrats over majority leadership.

Most Democrats argued Monday that expulsion would be disproportionate to the ethics violation, and put forward a censure option that Republicans asserted didn’t meet the severity of Ellsworth’s actions.

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Ellsworth voted against his own expulsion and for the censure motion that would have allowed him to return to the Senate in full after three weeks. Neither motion succeeded.

Both motions needed a two-thirds majority, a tally of 34 votes. The expulsion motion came seven votes short and the censure motion failed by 11 votes. All but four Democrats joined nine Republicans in voting against the expulsion.

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“Facts speak for themselves here,” said Sen. Forrest Mandeville, R-Columbus, who chaired the ethics proceedings into Ellsworth’s conduct. “There was a deliberate attempt to grab $170,100 for a buddy on the way out the door. That is wrong.”

Ellsworth, chiming in during the hearing, continued to deny violating any rules, regulations or laws, but said he regretted creating the appearance of a conflict of interest.

“I fear the appearance that I’ve fallen short,” he said. “While I have not had and do not have a personal or private interest in this matter, I understand the appearance of one may exist. And the appearance of impropriety may impugn the integrity of this body.”

Ellsworth later declined to comment on the vote or if he’ll continue to appear at the Capitol in person. He began voting remotely in early March, claiming the ethics saga had created health problems that precluded his in-person participation.

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Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, and Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, both said they would next sit down and negotiate how to move forward with addressing Ellsworth’s actions. Flowers is staunchly against expulsion while Regier is in favor of it, and neither one indicated following the floor debate they would soften on their stances. But both said they are not comfortable with Ellsworth going unpunished.

Immediately after the stalemate, both parties began jockeying to control the narrative.

Senate Democrats put out a press release titled “Senate Republicans Fail to Hold Senator Ellsworth Accountable,” and minutes later, Sen. Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, sent out a press release titled “Senate Democrats Vote to Protect Republican Corruption.”

When the motion to outright expel Ellsworth failed on the Senate floor, Sen. Josh Kassmier, a Fort Benton Republican and a leader of “the Nine” GOP legislators who have partnered at times with Democrats this session, offered a detailed censure option.

The motion would have permanently removed Ellsworth from the powerful Senate Finance and Claims Committee; removed him from the idle Executive Branch Review Committee; disqualified him from any interim committees in the coming biennium; and revoked his floor privileges through April 12, maintaining his ability to vote but blocking him from engaging in policy debates or appearing on the Senate floor.

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Some Republican legislators opposed to the censure noted the motion would allow Ellsworth to remain on several key committees, including Business and Labor, Fish and Game, and Local Government.

On the floor Monday, Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, called the proposed censure “a joke” and “a slap on the hand,” while Sen. Chris Pope, a Bozeman Democrat and ethics committee member who voted against expulsion, called it a “very, very serious and indelible black mark on a senator’s record forever.”

Four Democrats voted to expel Ellsworth. Sen. Emma Kerr-Carpenter, D-Billings, said Ellsworth had failed to meet the high expectations of his office and was only apologizing now that “his back is against a wall.”

“As I read the ethics committee report, the most troubling thing to me was that the senator in Seat 31, by virtue of his position of power, very nearly stole tens of thousands of dollars from Montana taxpayers,” Kerr-Carpenter said during the debate.

Flowers has repeatedly reminded members that the ethics committee’s work was focused to the lone charge of failing to disclose his relationship with Bryce Eggleston, the Stevensville contractor and Ellsworth’s friend who ultimately obtained the contract, and then canceled it once the business deal was out in plain view.

Flowers also pointed out that the contracts were cancelled before Eggleston received any money. However, the Legislative Audit Division found Ellsworth’s actions were an abuse of his government position and a waste of state resources. The Department of Justice is also currently investigating any criminal wrongdoing in connection with the contracts.

Ellsworth has been embroiled in multiple public controversies over the years, and Democrats expressed opposition to bringing those into the discussion, again attempting to narrowly focus the matter.

Some Democrats urged the chamber to consider a punishment that would allow Ellsworth to regain the trust of the chamber.

“This is not a sledgehammer. We’re not a mob. We’re a deliberative body,” Pope said Monday. “Even someone who has fallen can rise again and … reconstruct their life, so let’s be mindful.”

Nonetheless, Hertz went through a timeline of Ellsworth’s past offenses on the floor.

In 2023, Ellsworth’s ex-fiancée requested a protective order and accused him of shoving and choking her, pushing her down a flight of stairs and pointing a gun at her.

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The request for the protective order was ultimately withdrawn and Ellsworth was not charged in connection with the case.

Before that, he pleaded guilty to obstructing a peace officer after claiming legislative privilege during a traffic stop; he was clocked driving at 85 miles per hour in a 55-mph construction zone in Broadwater County.

During that traffic stop, Ellsworth implored the Montana Highway Patrol trooper to release him because the senator was familiar with Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen.

Still, Senate Republicans elected him as president to lead the upper chamber in 2023.

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“We should have done something to this senator long ago. That’s our fault,” Hertz said. “This behavior will not stop unless we stop it today.”

And one of those past issues has eked its way into Ellsworth’s ethics case.

Before Ellsworth held elected office, he was ordered by a judge in 2009 to pay the Federal Trade Commission $600,000. The FTC accused Ellsworth of charging customers without their consent via his magazine telemarketing company. The ethics committee used this case to initially tie Ellsworth to Eggleston, a general manager of the company.