Who's running? Here's everyone who filed for legislative races in Yellowstone County

Yellowstone County residents will have no shortage of choices when entering the ballot box this year. Every race for state Legislature in the county is contested, and some longtime Republicans are facing challengers from their own party.

The primary election is June 2, while the general election is Nov. 3.

Senate District 19

In the last two hours of election filing, longtime Yellowstone County Republican State Sen. Barry Usher saw a last-minute primary challenge from Chris Rindal of Lewistown.

Usher was first elected to the Montana State Legislature in 2016 as a representative in Billings. After three consecutive two-year terms as a state House representative and time as a Majority House Whip, he successfully ran for state Senate in 2022. In Billings, Usher owns two vehicle dealerships, including Beartooth Harley Davidson and Royal Enfield.

Rindal is a Lewistown native who runs Rindal Oil there, a family business established in 1954. He also serves as deacon at Central Baptist Church in Lewistown.

The sole Democrat running in the expansive district north of Billings is Deanna Daigrepont, a doctor in Roundup.

Senate District 22

Billings Republican and incumbent Daniel Zolnikov is running for reelection to the Montana State Legislature. Zolnikov first served four two-year terms in the state House and then took a position with energy developer Broad Reach Power. Broad Reach Power was sold in 2023.

Zolnikov, who's running for his second term in the state Senate, was elected to his first four-year term in 2022. He’s called the tax relief passed in the past legislative session a “failure.”

Running against him is Democrat Lyle Hedin, a Billings resident and local retired social studies teacher, according to his Facebook.

Senate District 23

In the area including several of Billings’ medical facilities, Montana State University Billings and Rocky Mountain College, two Democrats are running.

Incumbent Emma Kerr-Carpenter was appointed in December 2024 by Yellowstone County Commissioners. She previously served as a state House representative for three sessions in 2019, 2021 and 2023.

The other Democrat running in the district is Justin Kucera, who works as an environmental specialist at the Bureau of Reclamation in Billings.

The sole Republican in the race is Joanna Oblander. She’s the wife of former state Rep. Greg Oblander, who runs a chiropractic practice in Billings.

Senate District 25

Two Republicans have entered the race to represent a district covering the West End of Billings.

Incumbent Republican Sen. Dennis Lenz served in the state Legislature for four terms in the House starting in 2013. He then successfully ran for state Senate in 2022.

Lenz has previously encouraged placing a forensic mental health facility in Yellowstone County for which the state Legislature has allocated $26.2 million. It’s a project that has grown controversial in Laurel, with some residents there expressing a desire for it and others opposing it. It's also led to a recall petition around Laurel’s Mayor.

Republican Tom Bick decided to file against Lenz in the final hours before filing closed. He works for One Health as a clinic site manager, after a decades-long stint at Billings Clinic.

Democrat Julie Hippler will run in the general election against either of the two. Hippler has previously worked as a reading intervention specialist within the Billings Public Schools district.

“Julie Hippler spent over 30 years in Montana's public schools, fighting for kids who needed extra support and families who deserved better. Now she wants to bring that same tenacity to the State Senate to protect what makes Montana worth fighting for,” a campaign bio reads.

House District 39

In the district covering most of the Billings Heights, Republican Kerri Seekins-Crowe is running for reelection after winning her first race back in 2020 and has won by decent margins since.

A local realtor, her past bills that have cleared the Legislature have focused on firearm advocacy, targeting transgender people and real estate transparency measures.

In November, she will run against Democrat Mellissa Smith. On her campaign page, Smith said her opponent “focuses on national culture wars that don’t impact our daily lives.”

Smith is a local artist and currently works as a website developer, according to her campaign page.

House District 40

Two Republicans are running for the House seat covering the Lockwood area.

Republican Mike Vinton was first elected in 2024 and is now running for a second term. Vinton heads a local construction firm and has previously been in leadership of construction associations. His past successful bills have been seemingly informed by his work experience, including revising well and electrical contractor laws, though those bills ended up breaking down on partisan lines.

His primary opponent is Robert (Gunner) Cesnik, who seems to have little presence online. He is associated with assessed real estate company Gunner Cesnik, Inc. His Facebook cover photo shows him holding a Trump Vance sign at a rally with his children.

Gabriel Bradshaw is the sole Democratic entrant in the race. He currently works at McDonald's in Billings and is advocating for improvements to health care, education, labor unions and public transportation.

House District 42

Democratic incumbent and Crow Agency resident Sidney “Chip” Fitzpatrick is running uncontested in the primary for the expansive district that includes southern portions of Yellowstone County.

Part of the Montana American Indian Caucus, Fitzpatrick won narrowly by 52% replacing a termed-out Democrat. He was spotlighted nationally by Democrats as part of the party’s effort to exert influence in state Legislature.

He'll run against Republican Jeremiah Jabs of Hardin. Little information about Jabs can be found online. He works at his family’s farm near Hardin. A past family member of his, Reinhold Jabs, previously served in the state Legislature in the 1990s.

House District 43

In a portion of the Billings Heights neighborhood including Alkali Creek, two entrants are running. Incumbent Republican Larry Brewster is running for a rare fifth term. Brewster served on the Billings school board in the 1990s and has served multiple terms on Billings City Council.

He first was appointed as a state representative in 2017 by Yellowstone County Commissioners to fill the remaining few months of the Republican representative who had died in office. He has won every election he’s run in since 2020.

Brewster is running against Democrat Rudolf Haden. Haden previously made an unsuccessful run for House District 49 in 2024. A past Navy intelligence officer, Haden in his 2024 run prioritized affordability, lowering crime and improving education and teacher pay.

House District 44

Republican incumbent Katie Zolnikov is running unchallenged in the Republican primary. It will be her fourth time running for office after being appointed to replace her husband Daniel Zolnikov in 2020, who left to take a renewable energy developer job for Broad Reach Power. That position had ties to EnCap Investments, which is now looking for a customer to build a data center north of Billings.

Her most recent successful bills included legislation regulating how power may be sold from data centers, partisan revisions to the state’s environmental review process and bipartisan regulations on renewable energy.

After running uncontested in past races Zolnikov, is seeing a Democratic challenger in Michael Eaton of Billings. Eaton is an owner of Sentinel Mental Health, a business that provides various forms of therapy in both Billings and Helena.

House District 45

Incumbent Democrat Denise Baum is running for reelection in the area that covers MSUB and Rocky Mountain College. She previously served in the legislature in 2023 and 2025 and worked as a detective for the Billings Police Department for 21 years, according to her campaign website.

“I am running for reelection, so I can continue serving Billings HD 45 in the Montana House of Representatives focusing on public safety, funding DPHHS, supporting our public schools and maintaining access to our public lands,” her Facebook states.

She will run in November against Republican Bryce Walston. Walston, who previously resided in Columbus before moving to Billings several years ago, works in “Montana’s mining industry,” his campaign bio stated.

“Bryce is running for the Montana House to bring steady, practical leadership back to Helena. He believes government should live within its means, respect taxpayers, protect individual freedoms and focus on strengthening local communities,” his website states.

House District 46

Democrat Denise Joy is running against Democrat Erin Tate in the primary. Joy was the first ever Billings City Council member to be part of the Democratic Socialists of America. She served nearly two full terms before being tapped to replace past representative Emma Kerr-Carpenter in December 2024. This will be Joy’s first time running for Legislature.

Tate is a Billings social worker who promises to focus on affordability, accountability and sustainability.

The only Republican running in the district is Kim Welzenbach. She currently works as the executive director of the Home Builders Association of Billings. Alongside recent opposition to the ballot initiative to ensure nonpartisan judicial elections, her priorities on her campaign page focus on crime, inflation, taxes and quality of life.

House District 47

Democrat James Reavis is running unopposed in the primary, but could face two Republicans in the district that covers much of downtown Billings.

Reavis is a criminal defense attorney, who testified before the Legislature for years in Montana before deciding to run in 2024, according to his campaign bio. He regularly posted daily updates online during the past Legislative session.

Two Republicans are running in a primary to challenge him. John Maxwell works for local construction firms.

As of Tuesday, Republican Ron Stevens’ website says he is running for House District 45, though he told the Gazette he is running for House District 47. That is reflected in election filings too. Stevens has been publicly critical of the targeting of kratom by RiverStone Health recently.

“Ron believes small businesses are essential to Montana’s economy,” his website states. “He supports efforts that reduce unnecessary barriers, protect businesses from theft, and promote a strong environment where local employers can thrive.”

House District 48

Republican Curtis Schomer is running for reelection after being elected first in 2024. An underground miner, he successfully sponsored 16 bills in his first term. Some included more partisan efforts like exempting climate-warming greenhouse gasses from analysis or workforce housing on state lands, while others garnered more unanimous support like property tax assistance for first responders injured in the line of duty.

Schomer is running against Democrat Tucker Colvin who has worked in Billings for the past five years as a research scientist for the Southwest Environmental Finance Center. He is part of Billings Stronger Together, a group that recently rallied against hate incidents in Montana. On his Substack, Colvin wrote that he wanted to see the Yellowstone Art Museum prioritized instead of further reallocations by county commissioners in the name of public safety.

House District 49

Two Republican contenders are running for a seat left open by state Rep. Sherry Essman, who decided not to run for a fourth term in the state House. A self-described “common sense conservative,” she described herself as tired of the division from Republican hardliners she experienced even with the Republican majority in the Legislature.

“To be very frank and honest, my tolerance level for the constant fighting within the party, the purity testing to determine one's level of conservatism, and the petty scheming for relevance or power has reached its breaking point,” Essman wrote on her campaign page. “Public service should be about advancing ideas that make Montana better, not about endless internal battles, litmus tests or personal score setting that distract from the real work."

Candidate and Republican Ole Hedstrom is a captain with the Billings Fire Department and is part of the Montana State Professional Firefighters Association, a group that regularly lobbies before the Legislature.

Republican Charlie Loveridge has twice unsuccessfully ran for Billings City Council and was one of three candidates that Yellowstone County Commissioners considered to replace Commissioner John Ostlund following his death in June. Commissioners ultimately went with someone else.

Democrat Rebecca Noel previously got into a quarrel with former Rep. Matt Rosendale in Washington D.C. She’s currently part of Billings’ Community Development Board and the parental advisory board with Billings Public Schools. She works at Costco.

House District 50

The district on the West End is another district without an incumbent. Single-term Republican state Rep. Anthony Nicastro decided to not run again.

In his place are two options. Republican Stewart Harris is a vice president of Yellowstone Bank and has been part of the Montana Bankers Association.

Democrat Mark Peters has previously worked as an education coordinator at The Home Center, a nonprofit that helps people through the homebuying process. He currently works as a facility manager. Before that he ran an insurance company, according to his LinkedIn.

House District 51

Republic Jodee Etchart is running for a third term as a Billings state representative. A physician assistant, some of her most recent bills have focused on trying to address the ongoing health care workforce shortage in Montana, garnering bipartisan support in the process. She most recently tried to push forward regulation of kratom before the Montana Board of Pharmacy, but the board thought the regulation would be more appropriate for the next Legislative session.

Etchart is running against Lana Tibbets in the Republican primary. According to business records, Tibbetts is associated with Tibbetts Ranch in Terry. She’s also associated with the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association; she was a goat-tying champion for MSU in 1993.

Either of them will run against Democrat Precious McMckenzie, who works as an associate director of tutoring and writing for MSUB.

“A Billings resident since 2011, Precious understands the challenges Montanans face — from rising housing and healthcare costs to the challenges facing public schools and building an economy that works for everyone,” her campaign page states. “Precious wants to create a safe and secure Montana for all.”

House District 52

Two Republicans will vie in a race to permanently take former state Rep. Bill Mercer’s position after he was appointed to a federal judgeship.

Stacy Zinn was appointed by the county commission to fill the spot vacated in December. A former Drug Enforcement Agency agent, she told commissioners at the time that the biggest threat facing Yellowstone County is the “unknowns moving into our communities.” She currently serves as the vice chair of the Montana Republican Party.

She'll run against Republican Ed Walker, who previously served as a Montana State Senator for one term in Billings from 2011 to 2015. He’s been the Montana chairman for a group targeting U.S. term limits.

“Let’s pass term limits and ban former members of Congress from lobbying,” he wrote to the Gazette in 2024. “Let’s secure our borders, get control of government spending and unleash American energy.”

Both Republican candidates unsuccessfully ran in the Republican primary in 2024 against current Rep. Troy Downing, though Walker ultimately withdrew in April.

Either of the candidates will run against Democrat Elizabeth Heald. A former Navy service member and longtime Billings resident, she has previously served as a voting delegate for the Democratic National Convention and has worked for the Social Security Administration. She currently works as a Billings caregiver and has expressed frustration with the current political environment.

House District 53

Incumbent Republican Nelly Nicol was first elected in 2022 and is now running for her third term in the state House. She has worked for Victory Insurance Company in Billings. Some of her most recent bills include requiring police officers to check immigration status during stops and an attempt to regulate kratom in Montana.

Nicol’s primary opponent is Republican Troy Charbonneau, an unexpected entrant in the race. Charbonneau has worked in law enforcement for more than two decades. Currently, he's a paramedic for Laurel Emergency Medical Services.

According to his campaign page, Charbonneau is running “to bring steady leadership, real public safety experience and practical solutions to Helena. His priorities include strengthening public safety, protecting and improving emergency medical services, lowering property taxes and ensuring state government remains accountable to the people it serves.”

Either candidate will run against Democrat Matthew Hankins. He works as a local DJ in Billings, with past experience as a photographer. Hankins and his wife previously raised funds for a billboard supporting LGBTQ+ communities, telling them, “You Are Loved.”

House District 54

Incumbent Republican Lee Deming will ultimately run against Democrat Janine Coole to represent Laurel.

Some residents in the city are currently revolting against the planned forensic mental health facility planned west of Laurel. Deming originally supported it, stating publicly in October that he would welcome the facility in Laurel if Yellowstone County is to be considered by the state. He’s since flipped his position after learning of its location and seeing the opposition of nearby residents.

Democrat Janine Coole is running against Deming. Ex-Air Force and currently working for BNSF, she's lived in Laurel for 27 years. Coole told Yellowstone County Democratic Central Committee why she's running Wednesday night: "I didn't like what's going on, and nobody was going to run against this Lee Deming character, but somebody had to do it and no one else was going to step up for it. So, here we go."