This story was updated at 10:42 p.m. with additional developments.
In yet another twist in Montana’s western U.S. House District contest, Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen announced Tuesday that she will be running to replace U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke.
Jacobsen made her announcement on Facebook with a campaign video portraying her as both a political outsider and a favorite of President Donald Trump, who endorsed Jacobsen’s 2024 reelection campaign. In the ad, Jacobsen chops wood, rides a horse and drives an all-terrain vehicle in a forested area, before ending with a video of Trump repeatedly endorsing her for secretary of state. The Trump footage is from an August 2024 rally in Bozeman to promote U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy’s 2024 election.
“Montana deserves a fighter who delivers America First leadership, lower costs, secure borders, and unleashed energy. No career politicians. Just results,” Jacobsen wrote on Facebook. “Are you with me?”
Jacobsen’s announcement follows Zinke’s statement Monday that he won’t seek a third term in Montana’s western U.S. House District, citing health problems. The development tees up a three-way primary with conservative statewide radio talk show host Aaron Flint and former Kalispell legislator Dr. Al Olszewski, who both joined the race Monday shortly after Zinke bowed out.
In 2024, during her race for secretary of state, Jacobsen led all Republican statewide candidates in raw votes, including Donald Trump. She did the same as a first-time candidate in 2020. Term limits prevent Jacobsen from running for reelection.
Hours after Jacobsen’s video was posted touting her 2024 Trump endorsement, Flint’s campaign produced a letter from President Trump endorsing Flint’s congressional campaign. On Monday, Flint also touted his high-profile Republican endorsements, claiming support from Zinke, Gov. Greg Gianforte, Sen. Tim Sheehy, Eastern Montana Congressman Troy Downing and Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen.
Flint’s campaign manager, Heather Swift, posted a photo of Jacobsen fishing Monday off the coast of New Zealand, before the secretary of state announced her candidacy. Jacobsen had shared the same on Facebook. Swift, who is Zinke’s chief of staff, commented that Jacobsen’s fishing trip occurred when hundreds of candidates were registering their campaigns with Jacobsen’s office, which handles elections and business registrations.
“This week is the filing deadline for candidates across Montana. Christi Jacobsen is the MT SOS. One would expect the SOS to be in the freaking office for it. It didn’t exactly sneak up on her,” Swift said on X.
“But no! After spending taxpayer money on election mailers …she disappeared on a luxe vacation in New Zealand. Now she is trying to launch a campaign for MT-01, a district where she doesn’t live. Poor excuse for a doomed pre-governor run.”
The mailers Swift mentioned sparked controversy among Republican and Democratic state legislators in January over political messaging and cost. As previously reported by Montana Free Press, Jacobsen issued 467,000 postcards to Montana households with pictures of herself and Trump, promoting their attempts to identify non-citizen voters. The mailers cost $196,829 to produce and mail, according to the Montana Department of Administration.
The secretary of state’s staff had declined to disclose how much was spent.
Flint indicated months ago that he had moved from Billings to the Kalispell area in 2025 between school years. Kalispell is within the western congressional district.
One Democratic observer, 50-year Montana campaign veteran Joe Lamson, told MTFP Monday that while Flint and Olszewski offered his party a less difficult opponent than Zinke, he cautioned that a successful statewide candidate like Jacobsen, would present less of an opening for Democrats.
“Neither of them, they have not run statewide races, and that’s important,” Lamson said. “I would think either Jacobsen or Knudsen are experienced and would be interested.”
Four Democrats — Ryan Busse, Russ Cleveland, Sam Forstag and Matt Rains — have announced their intentions to run in the primary in the western district.
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