Hill County Democrats elect new leadership

The Hill County Democrats Central Committee elected new leadership Monday, selecting Krystal Steinmetz to take the place of Jacob Bachmeier as chair and Cullen Hinkle to replace Susan Somers as vice chair.

“I am very excited to hand the central committee off to a very competent, passionate, energetic, and hardworking leader,” Bachmeier said in a press release. “Krystal has many great ideas on where to take the central committee. I am thrilled to watch the central committee grow and head in an exciting new direction under Krystal’s leadership.”

The release said Bachmeier followed a new job opportunity that took him out of the community and required him to step down, but he recruited Steinmetz to take the position.

Steinmetz said in the release that Bachmeier has left big shoes to fill, but she’s hoping she’s up for the challenge.

“While we do have a lot of work to do, Jacob has helped lay the foundation for success,” Steinmetz said. “Democracy isn’t a spectator sport and we need to make sure the hardworking folks here in Hill County have a voice and feel heard.”

Hinkle, a Louisiana native who started at Havre High this school year, was elected to take the vice chair position vacated by Susan Somers when she recently resigned from the central committee’s executive board.

Hinkle said he hopes to bring a fresh perspective to the group, the release said.

“I’m looking forward to being able to bring a different set of perspectives to the central committee, along with potentially being able to recruit some of the many different personalities that Havre has to offer,” he said in the release.

Bachmeier made history in 2016 when he became the youngest elected official in the country when won the election to represent House District 28 in the Montana Legislature.

Bachmeier had to wait for his birthday to register for the race in 2016 — he still was 17 when registration opened.

He was re-elected in 2018, but did not run for re-election last year.

Steinmetz, the marketing and events director at Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line, ran for the open seat in House District 28 as a Democrat, but lost to Havre Republican Ed Hill in the general election.

Bachmeier said in the release he is confident Steinmetz “will make a great chair.”

“Stepping down as chairperson is bittersweet,” he added. “I have greatly enjoyed serving as chairperson. For me, the job was about listening to the hearts of the people, connecting Democratic candidates with the hearts of the people from Hill County, and making elected leaders listen to the hearts of the people of Hill County. It has been very rewarding. But the time has come for me to hand the central committee off to someone with fresh ideas and someone who can advance the central committee even further.”