Two Former Libertarians Look To Challenge Republicans In 2026
Party Switchers Shake Up Cascade County Race
The 2026 midterms are still about eight months away here in Montana, but that hasn’t stopped a couple of new faces from jumping into the race.
What’s grabbing people’s attention, though, isn’t just the candidates, it’s the party they’re running under.
READ MORE:
Local GOP Skeptical of Newcomers
Montana, like the rest of the country, is pretty much a two-party state these days.
Republicans on one side, Democrats on the other, and third-party candidates usually struggle to get noticed.
That’s why it’s raising eyebrows that two former libertarians, Kevin Leatherbarrow and Tony Rosales, are now running as Republicans. They’ve joined former Democrat Josh Racki, who switched parties last year.
Can Party-Switchers Win Over Republican Voters?
Cascade County has been trending more Republican over the past few elections, but that doesn’t mean the local GOP is rolling out the welcome mat for these newcomers. George Nikolakakos, a legislator from Great Falls, didn’t hold back on Facebook:
“These guys aren’t Republicans,” he commented. “They are perennial candidate Libertarian crackpots who are tired of losing elections so they’re hypocritically playing games.”
For now, the Cascade County Republican Party is sitting back and letting the primaries play out. Erich Heinbach, the chair of the GOP central committee and a county commissioner, told Montana Free Press:
“After the primary is over, we have a formal process to vet candidates and potentially make contributions to the campaign.”
It looks like we’ll have to wait and see if these party-switchers can actually win over Republican voters or if the locals aren’t buying what they’re selling.
KEEP READING: Celebrities who vowed to leave the United States after the election
Gallery Credit: Jeff Deminski