by Jeanne M. Bender, Holland & Hart LLP
Lone congressman Republican Denny Rehberg was reelected by a large margin after a somewhat nasty campaign.
The big changes came with the legislative races, in which Republicans did very well and a number of incumbent Democratic legislators lost their seats. Republicans here are pretty conservative, so we don’t anticipate much in the way of new labor or employment legislation in the next session.
The most interesting race was in my own district for the state senate. After the nastiest (really, really nasty) and possibly the most expensive campaign in state legislative history, Democratic candidate Kendall Van Dyk beat sitting Republican Senator Roy Brown by 16 votes. That means Brown can request a recount. That would be mildly interesting, but most of us are just glad it’s finally over.
Jeanne M. Bender is editor of Montana Employment Law Letter and a partner with Holland & Hart LLP in the firm’s Billings office. She can be reached at (406) 896-4602.