Embattled state Sen. Ellsworth files for eastern Montana legislative district

Embattled Republican state Sen. Jason Ellsworth filed to run for Montana statehouse Wednesday while he remains the subject of an ongoing criminal case following alleged misconduct as the previous Senate president.

Ellsworth was charged by the Montana Department of Justice late last year with official misconduct, a misdemeanor, after he attempted to use state funds he controlled as Senate president in 2024 to secure a no-bid contract for a longtime friend and business partner. Ellsworth and his associate backed out of the deal after it was revealed, but the scandal led to months of political fallout among Republicans and Democrats that inflamed divisions at the 2025 legislative session.

“I plan to be fully exonerated. That was always political,” Ellsworth said of the political firestorm that ensued after his contract attempts came to light.

Ellsworth pleaded not guilty in his case.

Hamilton Sen. Ellsworth pleads not guilty, argues legislative immunity

Before he was charged with a crime, the Montana Senate voted to discipline him with a lifetime ban from the Senate floor. Therefore, he’s free to campaign for and enter the state House of Representatives, but he would not be allowed to step foot in the other chamber.

Ellsworth filed to run in House District 34, a rural district that contains a huge swath of southeastern Montana.

Ellsworth has historically represented Hamilton, a town hundreds of miles away on the other side of the state from the district he is now vying for, though he also owns property in the new district.

Ellsworth's candidate registration came with a Hamilton P.O. box, but he shared with the Montana State News Bureau a partial screenshot of a driver's license with his picture and an address near Ismay in Custer County. He told the Montana State News Bureau that he plans to split his time between Hamilton and the eastern part of the state.

State law requires a candidate be a resident of the district for six months preceding the general election, meaning Ellsworth must establish residency in HD 34 by May 3. The law requires the “residence of an individual is where the individual’s habitation is fixed and to which, whenever the individual is absent, the individual has the intention of returning.”

The incumbent in HD 34 is Rep. Jerry Schillinger, R-Circle, who has been a prominent leader of the Montana Freedom Caucus, a faction of legislative Republicans whose members are farthest to the right.

Schillinger on Wednesday criticized Ellsworth’s bid in the race and invoked his affiliation with the “Nasty Nine” Republican state senators who banded with Democrats on key issues last legislative session, infuriating party loyalists and hardline GOP lawmakers.

“It’s disappointing that ‘Nasty Nine’ indicted Sen. Ellsworth has filed to run against me,” Schillinger said in a phone interview. “It’s interesting that Democrats posing as Republicans had to import someone 500 miles to even find a fake Republican to run against me. I am confident that the voters of House District 34 believe that I represent them well and will send me back to Helena for the 70th Montana Legislature.”

Ellsworth has not historically been known as a moderate Republican, but joined with Senate’s more centrist members last session. The rift between hardline and moderate lawmakers has teed up legislative GOP primaries across the state.

“I love Montana and the people deserve representation that serves them, not party bosses or splinter factions,” Ellsworth said in a statement for this story, adding that “the blood sport of politics must stop.”

In the waning days of 2024, Ellsworth attempted to use $170,100 in state money to fund a contract for his friend without going out to public bid like state law requires.

His attorneys have argued that the case should be dismissed on the grounds of "legislative immunity,” a part of the Montana Constitution that is meant to protect lawmakers, stating that "[a legislator] shall not be questioned in any other place for any speech or debate in the legislature."

Ellsworth's next hearing is set for March 13.