PSC Commissioner, self-proclaimed 'RINO hunter' gunning for the Montana Legislature

GREAT FALLS — Montana Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci, a pugnacious Republican from Sun River, has filed to return to the Montana Legislature.

Pinocci's last eight years on the PSC have been marked by infighting, investigations and the occasional mutiny. In other words, Pinocci is no stranger to confrontation, and the race he’s filed for in Senate District 12 is bound for conflict.

To understand his approach to this election, it’s important to quickly learn that RINO stands for “Republican In Name Only."

"I’m the senior RINO hunter," Pinocci said when asked what his legislative priorities would be if elected to the state senate.

The incumbent in the race, Cascade Republican state Sen. Wendy McKamey, is part of a group of Republicans who have become loathed within the state GOP for building a coalition with Senate Democrats last legislative session during votes on key issues like Medicaid expansion, abortion restrictions and property tax reform.

In an interview at the Montana Republican Party Winter Kickoff event in Great Falls on Saturday, Pinocci ranked his past primary opponents in degrees of RINO-ism (“Roger Hagan? The next-lowest rated RINO,” he said). McKamey, Pinocci noted, was the lowest-scoring female Republican legislator as rated by the Montana Family Foundation, the apex Christian conservative organization in Montana politics.

“So who do they reach for? Pinocci. Because he’s the guy,” Pinocci said in the third-person.

The district covers much of Great Falls’ southside neighborhoods and the Fox Farm residential area on the southwest side of town. Neither candidate claims to live inside the district but are allowed to run there because their residences and the district all fall within the same county.

Pinocci said Saturday his time on the PSC would give him a leg up on the Senate Energy Committee. He was also assigned to the House Energy Committee during his single term in the state House in 2015.

Pinocci’s also working to shake off a 2023 felony arrest for witness tampering that precipitated from a property dispute with one of his tenants, charges later dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

He was first arrested for failing to appear in court on a disorderly conduct charge for allegedly bumping his chest against the tenant in October that year, and he was arrested a month later when he reportedly urged that tenant to recant his story to police, leading to the witness tampering charges.

Pinocci claimed in an interview that the felony charges were improper because, in the text exchange, the tenant contacted him first. However, the witness tampering statute says nothing about which party must initiate contact.

He also had during the Great Falls event several copies of a court document bearing a large red “exonerated” stamp; however, this document indicates that the cash bond posted to spring him from jail was returned to him following the conclusion of his case. In the plea agreement signed by Pinocci on April 9, 2024, he agreed to plead “no contest” to the disorderly conduct charge, a misdemeanor, and pay a $100 fine, while prosecutors agreed to dismiss the two felony witness tampering charges.

“I think what (voters) should be concerned about is (law enforcement) changed the law to arrest me. Was I arrested simply because they wanted to take a Republican and embarrass him?” Pinocci said when asked what voters should think of the episode.

He maintained on Saturday that he did not break the law. He also provided a copy of the complaint he filed against the judge in his case.

Pinocci is also quick to note: His decision to enter the race came before the public became aware in July that McKamey had suffered a stroke.

In a phone interview on Wednesday, McKamey disregarded any criticisms from Pinocci.

"He's always been one to voice opinions," she said. "So this is nothing new."

Campaign finance records show she’s raised a little more than $700 since filing for reelection.

Pinocci opened his first fundraising report with his own $4,000 loaned to his campaign.

Candidate filing opens next week.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comment from Sen. Wendy McKamey.