Montana

Placeholder

Highest-power issue: Jail for regulatory offenses that require no criminal intent. Current recommendation: Toss-up.

1. Jail for regulatory offenses that require no criminal intent · power 100
2. Warrantless long-term location tracking · power 60
3. Emergency orders that criminalize peaceful trade and assembly · power 48
4. Qualified immunity when officials injure nonviolent people · power 18

Legislature

Placeholder

The legislature drafts the statute, sets the penalty and the mental state, funds the agencies, and can sunset an emergency power. On most of these issues it holds the text.

Jail for regulatory offenses that require no criminal intent

Placeholder. A business owner or a license holder can be jailed, or carry a criminal record, for breaking a rule that does not require knowledge or intent. The conduct is ordinary work. Sample entry for Montana.

Harm: 4
Reach: 5
Office impact: 5
Power: 100

Conduct 4 and penalty severity 3 (Misdemeanor, up to a year) blend 60/40 into harm 4. Power 100 = 4 × 5 × 5.

Who can act

The legislature writes the penalty, the mental state, and the budget. On the question of how severely the law punishes peaceful conduct, this is usually the office with the text in its hands. One seat matters only as part of a majority, which is what winnability has to reflect. On a missing mental-state element, the legislature is the only office that can put knowledge back into the code as a default rule. Placeholder analysis, not a description of any current officeholder.

Winnability is Helen Crowe's chance in this office, 4 of 5. It is a property of the leading score, not of the statute. Helen Crowe is fictional.

2026 legislative elections

Toss-up

Placeholder legislature race for the 2026 cycle in Montana. Candidates are fictional. Alignments come from the “close” profile so the mix of calls is reproducible.

Formula: Toss-up — The lead sits inside the toss-up gap. Leading score: Helen Crowe. (The lead sits inside the toss-up gap.)

Each segment is issue power times alignment. Alignment runs from −1 to +1. Right of zero, the candidate would narrow the penalty. Left of zero, they would keep or expand it. Fictional candidates.

Fictional candidate

Wendy Choate

Cautious-reform placeholder · Winnability 3 · Score 50

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Cautious-reform placeholder.

Fictional candidate

Helen Crowe

Incumbent-leaning placeholder · Winnability 4 · Score 57.5

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Incumbent-leaning placeholder.

Placeholder call for Montana, Legislature. The issue in this office is “Jail for regulatory offenses that require no criminal intent.” Editors mark a toss-up because the score gap between Helen Crowe and Wendy Choate sits inside the toss-up threshold. The lead sits inside the toss-up gap. Helen Crowe and Wendy Choate are fictional.

All calls for this state

Judiciary

Placeholder

Judges rule on warrants, constitutional limits, and how a penalty is applied. They do not rewrite a clear statute, and this scorecard does not ask them to.

Warrantless long-term location tracking

Placeholder. Agencies collect a person's movements for weeks without a warrant and use the file to prosecute nonviolent offenses. The tracking is the intrusion; the downstream penalty is often a felony. Sample entry for Montana.

Harm: 4
Reach: 3
Office impact: 5
Power: 60

Conduct 4 and penalty severity 4 (Felony imprisonment) blend 60/40 into harm 4. Power 60 = 4 × 3 × 5.

Who can act

Judges apply the text and the constitution. They can refuse an unreasonable search, limit a forfeiture, or strike a penalty that exceeds the charter. They cannot supply a mental state the legislature deleted. Office impact is high when the dispute is constitutional and low when the statute is plain. On location tracking, judges decide whether a warrant was required and whether the file can be used. This is their issue more than anyone else's. Placeholder analysis, not a description of any current officeholder.

Winnability is Clara Nguyen's chance in this office, 4 of 5. It is a property of the leading score, not of the statute. Clara Nguyen is fictional.

2026 judicial elections

Toss-up

Placeholder judiciary race for the 2026 cycle in Montana. Candidates are fictional. Alignments come from the “close” profile so the mix of calls is reproducible.

Formula: Toss-up — The lead sits inside the toss-up gap. Leading score: Clara Nguyen. (The lead sits inside the toss-up gap.)

Each segment is issue power times alignment. Alignment runs from −1 to +1. Right of zero, the candidate would narrow the penalty. Left of zero, they would keep or expand it. Fictional candidates.

Fictional candidate

Yves Rask

Cautious-reform placeholder · Winnability 3 · Score 30

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Cautious-reform placeholder.

Fictional candidate

Clara Nguyen

Incumbent-leaning placeholder · Winnability 4 · Score 34.5

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Incumbent-leaning placeholder.

Placeholder call for Montana, Judiciary. The issue in this office is “Warrantless long-term location tracking.” Editors mark a toss-up because the score gap between Clara Nguyen and Yves Rask sits inside the toss-up threshold. The lead sits inside the toss-up gap. Clara Nguyen and Yves Rask are fictional.

All calls for this state

Attorney general

Placeholder

The attorney general decides appeals, civil enforcement, and often whether the state will defend a statute. Charging power over ordinary crimes may sit with county attorneys. The entry says so when that split matters.

Emergency orders that criminalize peaceful trade and assembly

Placeholder scenario. During a declared emergency, an order makes it a crime to open a peaceful business or hold a peaceful gathering, with no separate violent act required. Sample entry for Montana.

Harm: 4
Reach: 4
Office impact: 3
Power: 48

Conduct 4 and penalty severity 3 (Misdemeanor, up to a year) blend 60/40 into harm 4. Power 48 = 4 × 4 × 3.

Who can act

An attorney general rarely rewrites a statute. The office decides which cases to bring, which appeals to pursue, which settlements to accept, and, in many states, whether to defend a statute at all. That is power over how a penalty is used, not over the fact that it exists. On an emergency order, the attorney general defends or declines to defend the order and advises agencies on how hard to enforce it. Placeholder analysis, not a description of any current officeholder.

Winnability is Miles Ortega's chance in this office, 4 of 5. It is a property of the leading score, not of the statute. Miles Ortega is fictional.

2026 attorney general election

Toss-up

Placeholder attorney general race for the 2026 cycle in Montana. Candidates are fictional. Alignments come from the “close” profile so the mix of calls is reproducible.

Formula: Toss-up — The lead sits inside the toss-up gap. Leading score: Miles Ortega. (The lead sits inside the toss-up gap.)

Each segment is issue power times alignment. Alignment runs from −1 to +1. Right of zero, the candidate would narrow the penalty. Left of zero, they would keep or expand it. Fictional candidates.

Fictional candidate

Xenia Vale

Cautious-reform placeholder · Winnability 3 · Score 24

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Cautious-reform placeholder.

Fictional candidate

Miles Ortega

Incumbent-leaning placeholder · Winnability 4 · Score 27.6

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Incumbent-leaning placeholder.

Placeholder call for Montana, Attorney general. The issue in this office is “Emergency orders that criminalize peaceful trade and assembly.” Editors mark a toss-up because the score gap between Miles Ortega and Xenia Vale sits inside the toss-up threshold. The lead sits inside the toss-up gap. Miles Ortega and Xenia Vale are fictional.

All calls for this state

Governor

Placeholder

The governor signs or vetoes statutes, issues and withdraws executive orders, appoints agency heads, and proposes the budget. The office does not write a criminal penalty on its own.

Qualified immunity when officials injure nonviolent people

Placeholder. An official uses force or a seizure against a person who was not violent, and immunity ends the civil case before a jury sees it. The severity score treats the lost remedy as a property-level harm, not a prison term. That is an editorial judgment, and it is labeled as one. Sample entry for Montana.

Harm: 3
Reach: 3
Office impact: 2
Power: 18

Conduct 4 and penalty severity 2 (License, property, or forfeiture) blend 60/40 into harm 3. Power 18 = 3 × 3 × 2.

Who can act

A governor does not write the statute. The office can veto a penalty, refuse to expand it, appoint the people who enforce it, and propose the budget that feeds it. Where the harm lives in an order or an agency rule, the governor's pen is the direct instrument. On qualified immunity, a governor can set training and discipline inside the executive. The immunity doctrine itself is not an executive order. Placeholder analysis, not a description of any current officeholder.

Winnability is Pauline Cho's chance in this office, 4 of 5. It is a property of the leading score, not of the statute. Pauline Cho is fictional.

2026 gubernatorial election

Toss-up

Placeholder governor race for the 2026 cycle in Montana. Candidates are fictional. Alignments come from the “close” profile so the mix of calls is reproducible.

Formula: Toss-up — The lead sits inside the toss-up gap. Leading score: Pauline Cho. (The lead sits inside the toss-up gap.)

Each segment is issue power times alignment. Alignment runs from −1 to +1. Right of zero, the candidate would narrow the penalty. Left of zero, they would keep or expand it. Fictional candidates.

Fictional candidate

Victor Alm

Cautious-reform placeholder · Winnability 3 · Score 9

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Cautious-reform placeholder.

Fictional candidate

Pauline Cho

Incumbent-leaning placeholder · Winnability 4 · Score 10.4

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Incumbent-leaning placeholder.

Placeholder call for Montana, Governor. The issue in this office is “Qualified immunity when officials injure nonviolent people.” Editors mark a toss-up because the score gap between Pauline Cho and Victor Alm sits inside the toss-up threshold. The lead sits inside the toss-up gap. Pauline Cho and Victor Alm are fictional.

All calls for this state