Montana Supreme Court candidates Jerry Lynch, left, and Katherine Bidegaray answer questions during a Q&A at City Club Missoula on Monday.
Candidates for Montana’s two open Supreme Court seats made their pitches to Missoula voters on Monday, offering commentary on ethics, judicial independence and questions around women’s health care that have become ubiquitous in the post-Roe era.
Former federal magistrate Jeremiah “Jerry” Lynch, vying for Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, and Richland County District Court Judge Katherine Bidegaray, seeking the associate justiceship, spoke and took questions at Monday’s City Club Missoula luncheon.
Both candidates in the nonpartisan races have framed the current tension between the state’s three branches as unprecedented attacks on the judiciary by a Republican party that controls the Legislature and executive offices. Indeed, the Republican legislative supermajority is currently working to channel its frustrations with the courts into new oversight proposals. Hardly a week earlier, Republicans amended their party platform to identify the judicial branch as “not an equal” to the partisan branches.
Your Trusted Source for Accurate and Timely Updates!
