GALLATIN COUNTY — Last month, former member of the Montana State House Ed Stafman – who represented South Bozeman – resigned.
Now, the process to fill his role is underway.
“It doesn’t happen that often,” said Jennifer Boyer, chair of the Gallatin County Commission.
“It’s rare,” said Joe Hancock, chair of the Gallatin County Democratic Central Committee, which he says “entails a lot of community organizing and learning abstract rules and bylaws in case something weird comes up.”
The Gallatin County Commission will choose Rep. Stafman's replacement next Tuesday from three qualified candidates
Given former representative Stafman’s resignation, Hancock says the Gallatin County Democrats now have to step in.
“The process for replacing a legislature, especially if the district is entirely in one county, falls on that county’s party city committee, be it Republican or Democrat,” said Hancock.
Once the Gallatin County Democrats learned Stafman resigned, they have 45 days to present the Gallatin County Commission with three nominees. Hancock says they received seven applications, which were narrowed down to three candidates by precinct representatives.
“In that time, I need to set a meeting date and notify all precinct representatives so they can attend,” said Stafman. “They’re the real key to the process.”
Once the precinct representatives narrow down the candidates, those names are given to the Gallatin County Commission, which is what stage the county is in right now.
“The county commission has 15 days to notify the Secretary of State of the person they have chosen to fill the vacancy,” said Hancock.
MTN asked Gallatin County Commission Chair Jennifer Boyer why this process is important for the public to know about.
“Normally, folks living in Representative Stafman’s district would have the opportunity to vote. In this case, we are not offering an election process to fill the seat,” said Boyer.
“Since people don’t have the opportunity to cast a ballot, they can make a public comment in support of the candidate they are most excited about,” Boyer added.
Commissioner Boyer says the new appointee will complete the duration of Stafman’s term and duties.
“That’s why this process is in place: to make sure that representation isn’t vacant for the duration of the term,” said Boyer.
The three candidates selected are Katie Fire Thunder, co-founder of Bozeman Tenants United, JP Pomnichowski, former Montana Senator, and Tanya Reinhardt, an army veteran.
The decision of which candidate is appointed will be made at a meeting next Tuesday.
If you’re interested in providing a public comment, visit this link. Candidate application materials will be added to the Gallatin County Commission website on Thursday.
