CHRISTI JACOBSEN ENTERS MONTANA WESTERN CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT RACE

The political ripple effects from U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke’s decision not to run for reelection continued Tuesday, as a third Republican candidate jumped into the primary to replace him.

With only two days left to file in Montana’s 2026 elections, candidates came to the Montana Secretary of State’s Office throughout the day Tuesday – but around 11 a.m., the candidate coming in was the secretary herself, Christi Jacobsen.

Jacobsen told MTN she was surprised by Zinke’s decision not to see another term. Less than 24 hours later, she launched her own campaign for his seat in the U.S. House.

In her first campaign video and opening news release, Jacobsen highlighted her efforts to review Montana voter eligibility, talked about affordability, immigration enforcement and energy; and sought to position herself as a political outsider.

“Before becoming our secretary of state, she’d never run for office before – wasn’t part of the political crowd,” a voiceover said in her launch video. “The establishment said she couldn’t win.”

Jacobsen was first elected as Secretary of State in 2020 and reelected in 2024. She had previously served as deputy secretary under Secretary of State Corey Stapleton.

A native of Helena, Jacobsen lives outside the western congressional district – though candidates for U.S. House are only required to live in the state they’re running in, not the district. Jacobsen told MTN Tuesday that she is a western Montanan to the core, and that her family has also spent a lot of time at their cabin in Granite County.

In her launch video, Jacobsen tied herself closely to President Donald Trump, including highlighting his endorsement of her 2024 reelection campaign. However, Trump announced Tuesday afternoon on Truth Social that he would be endorsing another candidate for the western district: Aaron Flint, a conservative talk radio host. Flint launched his campaign Monday and quickly secured support from many other top elected leaders, including U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy, U.S. Rep. Troy Downing and Gov. Greg Gianforte.

The third Republican candidate for Zinke’s seat is Al Olszewski, an orthopedic surgeon and former state senator from Kalispell, who ran and narrowly lost in the 2022 western district primary.

Wednesday is the final day for anyone to file for Montana’s 2026 elections. The last chance for filing will open at 8 a.m. and close at 5 p.m.