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Art Wittich
Member of the Montana Senate
from the 35th district
Preceded byGary Perry
Succeeded byBruce Grubbs
Personal details
Political partyRepublican
SpouseCandace
ResidenceBozeman, Montana
Alma materUniversity of Montana
OccupationAttorney

Art Wittich is an American politician from Montana. A member of the Republican Party, he was a member of the Montana Legislature, in the Montana Senate (2011 and 2013 sessions) from Senate District 35, and then the Montana House of Representatives (2015 session), from House District 68.[1][2]

Early life, education, and career

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Wittich is from Englewood, Colorado.[3] He was a member of the U.S. Coast Guard from 1975 to 1979,[4] as an enlisted quartermaster.[3] He worked as a firefighter at the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management from 1980 to 1983.[4] He graduated from Utah State University in 1982 with a B.S. in economics/environmental studies.[4] He received a J.D. from University of Montana School of Law in 1985,[4] and began practicing law in Montana that year.[5] He was legal counsel for the Montana Power Company and for Governor Stan Stephens.[4] He was a civilian lawyer[3] for the U.S. Coast Guard in Washington, D.C. from 1992 to 1994.[4]

Wittich then engaged in the private practice of law in Bozeman, Montana[3] at the Wittich Law Firm, which had five attorneys as of 2011.[4] In 2016, he was counsel for Greg Gianforte in Gianforte's dispute with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks over a public-access easement over land owned by Gianforte along the East Gallatin River.[6]

Political career

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Wittich ran for election to the Montana Senate in 2006,[3] in Senate District 32, covering a portion of Gallatin County.[7][8] He ran unopposed in the primary,[7] and lost to Democratic nominee Larry Jent in the general election.[8]

Wittich won election to the state Senate in 2010, and became state Senate majority leader in 2013.[9] During acrimonious intra-party feuds within legislative Republicans over various policy issues (such as acceptance of the Medicaid expansion), Wittich and Republican Senate president Jeff Essmann belonged to the more conservative faction, working together to purge moderate Republicans from the party.[10]

In 2014, Wittich was elected to the Montana House of Representatives,[9] defeating Democratic nominee Ashley Stevick.[11] He was elected from House District 68, an area surrounding the River Rock area near Belgrade.[3] In early 2015, Wittich opposed the Medicaid expansion in Montana; as House Human Services Committee chair, he maneuvered in an attempt to block the legislation.[12][13] Wittich's effort failed in April 2015, when 13 Republicans joined the entire 41-member Democratic caucus to support the expansion.[14] In the state House, Wittich, voting against legislation that benefited Montana State University, drawing criticism from university president Waded Cruzado.[15] In 2015, he introduced a "nullification" bill to instruct state and local police to ignore federal gun laws.[16] The bill passed the legislature and was vetoed by Governor Steve Bullock.[17]

The Montana Commissioner of Political Practices filed a civil lawsuit against Wittich for illegally accepting more than $19,000 in campaign contributions from a dark money group, the National Right to Work Committee and its affiliates, including the American Tradition Partnership, during his 2010 primary campaign for state Senate.[5][9][18] In April 2016, after a five-day trial, a jury in Helena found that Wittich had violated campaign finance and reporting laws.[18][19][20][21] In August 2017, the Montana Supreme Court unanimously upheld the jury verdict,[18] and Wittich paid a fine of $68,232.[5] In October 2017, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which regulates the conduct of Montana lawyers, filed a professional misconduct complaint against Wittich, but it dropped the complaint the following month, and Wittich did not face disbarment or any professional disciplinary action.[5]

Following the verdict, Wittich kept his seat in the state House.[9] However, in June 2016, he lost his bid for renomination to Bruce Grubbs, who defeated him in the Republican primary.[22]

Wittich was a Montana delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention, which nominated Donald Trump for president.[23] Wittich was Montana co-chair of the Trump's 2020 presidential campaign.[24] Wittich is also a member of the Republican National Committee,[24][25] as national committeeman,[26] and is also one of 13 members of the executive board of the Republican Party of Montana.[26] In 2023, Wittich, along with the other Montana Republican Party officials, denounced Marc Racicot, a former Republican governor and attorney general, for opposing Trump.[26]

References

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  1. ^ "Sen. ART WITTICH (R) - SD35". Montana Legislature.
  2. ^ "Rep. ART WITTICH (R) - HD68". Montana Legislature.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Troy Carter, Senate GOP leader Art Wittich campaigns for Belgrade House seat, Bozeman Daily Chronicle (October 16, 2014).
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Utah State Today (January 13, 2011). "USU Alum Art Wittich Joins Montana State Senate". Utah State University.
  5. ^ a b c d Leia Larsen, Wittich won't be disbarred or professionally disciplined for 2010 campaign violations, Montana Free Press (December 5, 2018).
  6. ^ Phil Drake, Gianforte dispute with state over easement dogs campaign, Great Falls Tribune (June 27, 2016).
  7. ^ a b 2006 Primary Legislative Election Results, Secretary of State of Montana.
  8. ^ a b 2006 General Legislative Election Results, Secretary of State of Montana.
  9. ^ a b c d Corin Cates-Carney, Wittich Fined $68,000, Can Keep House Seat, Montana Public Radio (June 17, 2016).
  10. ^ John S. Adams, After a decade-long internal battle, have legislative Republicans buried the hatchet?, Montana Free Press (December 7, 2017).
  11. ^ 2014 Legislative General Election Canvass, Secretary of State of Montana.
  12. ^ Jackie Yamanaka, Medicaid Expansion Passes House In Saturday Vote, Now Back To Senate, Montana Public Radio (April 12, 2015).
  13. ^ Steve Jess, Democrats Cry Foul Over Medicaid Expansion Vote, Montana Public Radio (March 9, 2015).
  14. ^ Jackie Yamanaka, Republican Rep. Garner Explains Why He Changed His Mind On Medicaid Expansion, Montana Public Radio (April 10, 2015).
  15. ^ Editorial, Wittich, Cruzado spar over projects at MSU, Great Falls Tribune (September 11, 2015).
  16. ^ Lisa Baumann, Lawmakers consider bill to nullify federal gun bans, Great Falls Tribune (January 27, 2015).
  17. ^ State Rep. Art Wittich's colorful quotations from the session, Great Falls Tribune (May 1, 2015).
  18. ^ a b c John S. Adams, High Court upholds verdict in Wittich corruption case, Montana Free Press (August 23, 2017).
  19. ^ "Jury: Wittich violated campaign finance laws". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  20. ^ Dehaven, James. "Jury finds Wittich guilty of campaign violation". Helena Independent Record. Archived from the original on May 23, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  21. ^ Loranger, Erin. "Biggest stories of 2016: 10. Jury finds Wittich guilty of campaign violation". Helena Independent Record. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  22. ^ Matt Volz, Judge rules Montana legislator can remain in office, Associated Press (June 17, 2016).
  23. ^ Montana Republicans naming delegates for national convention, Associated Press via Great Falls Tribune (May 14, 2016).
  24. ^ a b Phil Drake, Trump camp files for president to be on Montana's 2020 ballot, Great Falls Tribune (January 31, 2020).
  25. ^ Reid J. Epstein and Lisa Lerer, An R.N.C. Remade by Trump Backs Away From His 2024 Campaign, New York Times (January 26, 2023).
  26. ^ a b c Arren Kimbel-Sannit, The Republican rebuke of Marc Racicot, Montana Free Press (February 22, 2023).
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