Tempel selected to fill the space in state Senate District 14

Liberty County Commissioner Russ Tempel will be moving to work in Helena next month after representatives of the county commissions from Liberty, Cascade, Chouteau and Hill County selected him to be the next senator from state Senate District 14.

Tempel said he hasn't had the time to even think about what he will be advancing as a senator in Helena - the selection came less than three weeks after Sen. Kris Hansen, R-Havre, announced she was resigning to take the position of chief counsel in the state Auditor's Office.

"I've never seen government move so fast," Tempel said.

He said Friday he will try to represent his constituents in Helena but has not looked closely at the issues as yet.

"I don't have an agenda," Tempel said.

Tempel was one of three people nominated by the Republican Central committees from Cascade, Chouteau and Hill counties. The other county the district is in, Liberty, does not have a Republican Central Committee.

The other candidates were Havre businessman and former Republican Central Committee Chair Brad Lotton and Hingham farmer and aviator Darrold Hutchinson, a two-time candidate for the state House of Representatives who lost in the primaries in 2014 and 2016.

Lotton, who received the most votes from the central committees to be listed as a candidate, received three votes from Chouteau County Friday for a total of 32.499 percent with the weighted average.

Hutchinson did not receive any votes.

Hill County Central Committee Chair Andrew Brekke said this morning that the committees noted that the commisisons once again did not follow the recommendation of the committees by voting for their top selection.

"While we congratulate Sen.-designee Tempel on his selection, we would hope that he would remember the questions and concerns of the those present at the committee selection, and we would also hope that he will serve out Sen. Hansen's term as she would by serving the needs of the entire district and not just the needs of Liberty County or the desires of county commissioner," Brekke said.

The votes from each county were weighted based on how many votes Hansen received from each county in her win in the 2014 election.

Each Hill County vote was worth 15.588 percent of the total, while a vote from Chouteau County was worth 10.833 percent, a vote from Liberty County was worth 4.756 percent and from Cascade 2.165 percent.

Tempel won 63.1367 percent with three votes from each Hill and Liberty counties and one vote from Cascade County.

Cascade County Commissioner Joe Briggs was the only member of that commission to attend, saying Friday that the Cascade County Attorney recommended only one attend because the commission was not able to provide enough advance notice of the meeting. He only cast one vote for the Cascade County Commission.

Tempel abstained from the vote but the Liberty County Commission cast three votes in the process.

Representatives of the county Republican committees cast votes Wednesday night to advance the three nominees to the county commissions.

Hill County Commission Chair Mike Wendland, who presided over the meeting as the representative of the county that cast the most votes for Hansen, said the commissions would forward the decision to the Montana secretary of state.

This is the second time in six years the process has been used to select a local senator.

In 2011, Sen. Rowlie Hutton, R-Havre, announced during his first legislative session he was resigning to move to Nebraska following the session.

The district at that time included part of Havre and northeastern Hill and northern Blaine Counties.

The committees nominated Harlem insurance agent Don Richman of Harlem as their top candidate, followed by Havre businessman Craig Tilleman and retired state employee Les Bender of Havre.

The committees, led by the votes of the Hill County Commission in a split vote, bucked the recommendation of the committees and picked Tilleman.

Tilleman filed as a candidate in the 2012 election, then pulled from the race in March.

Former Senator and Public Service Commission Chair Greg Jergeson beat Richman in the 2012 election. After losing his chance to run again due to redistricting, he moved to Havre and ran against Hansen in the 2014 race for Senate District 14. Hansen defeated Jergeson in that race.