HELENA — The Montanan Republican Party Executive Committee has approved a resolution rebuking former Governor Marc Racicot.
Racicot, who has always run as a Republican, served one term as Montana Attorney General from 1989 to 1993 and two terms as governor serving from 1993 to 2001. After serving as governor, President George W. Bush appointed Racicot to become the Chairman of the Republican National Committee. The 165-member RNC unanimously ratified the Montanan for the position in 2002.
The new resolution from the Montana GOP says Racicot's actions in recent years disqualify him from calling himself a Republican.
The actions cited in the resolution include endorsing candidates, including Supreme Court Justice Ingrid Gustafson and Democrat Monica Tranel over GOP-backed candidates in those 2022 races. Racicot also endorsed President Joe Biden over former President Donald Trump in 2020, and supported Biden's Supreme Court justice nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.
The Montana GOP says in taking these actions Racicot has done harm to the party, that he no longer speaks in any official capacity for Montana Republicans, and that he and the media should no longer refer to him as a Republican.
Read the full resolution:
Editor's note: The headline of this article has been changed from "censure" to "rebuked" upon the request of the Montana Republican Party due to the official language they use in the organization's resolutions. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, "censure" means to formally reprimand someone, and "rebuke" means to criticize sharply. The two words are synonyms.
