Montana GOP Chairman Candidate Looks to Build Upon Kaltschmidt’s Accomplishments
Stacy Zinn is running to be the next Montana Republican Central Committee Chairman.
Stacy Zinn, who is running to be the Montana Republican Central Committee Chairman, told The Montana Chronicles that she wants to build upon the current chairman’s accomplishments.
At the end of June, Don Kaltschmidt, who has been the state GOP chairman since 2019, will step down from his position.
He told The Daily Montanan earlier this month that the state GOP has accomplished a great deal since he became its leader. Going forward, he stated it will be up to the “next chairman to take it to the next level, which would be learning how to be a red state.”
During Kaltschmidt’s six-year tenure, the state GOP was able to turn the state government, state legislature and federal congressional delegation completely red.
Zinn, the former leader of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Montana, said Kaltschmidt did a great deal of work leading the state GOP.
She told The Chronicles that one of the things she would like to build upon that Kaltschmidt did was fundraising. The former DEA leader called fundraising critical to support Republican candidates at the federal, state and local levels who are running for office.
Zinn stated a person who is a good fundraiser is someone who is not afraid to ask people to donate and organize fundraising events.
Furthermore, another thing she would like to build upon is selecting strong candidates to run for office.
Due to the wide variety of politics within the state party, Zinn said the party needs to be able to identify candidates who are well-positioned in the areas they are running to win their races.
Examples of this would be having a conservative candidate run in a conservative district and a moderate candidate run in a moderate district.
According to the former DEA leader, a key to doing this is having a strong central committee.
Central committees play an important role in the state GOP. These county and city committees establish the rules governing the Republican Party's operations within their jurisdiction and play a crucial role in supporting the Montana GOP’s statewide central committee.
Zinn, a former congressional candidate, said the GOP central committees have done a “good job” identifying candidates, but she added that they sometimes will talk people into running for office, but then they don’t give them “the guidance needed.”
She explained the party needs to “identify and determine” that a person running for office has “good conservative values” and can “take the time to campaign.” The former DEA leader stated these candidates need to be supported to be successful.
As for an improvement, Zinn said she thinks the state GOP needs to communicate more effectively.
To help with this, Zinn suggested building a database for the party’s central committee to get information in a “timely manner.” Furthermore, she added that the state GOP needs to strengthen its websites and put people in place who want to help the central committee, legislators and voters.
Regarding specific policies, Zinn stated if she were to secure the chairman position, she would review the issues and delve deeper into them.
She noted being the state GOP chairman will not be a “glamorous position.”
“It is going to be a hard lift when it comes to trying to make positive changes,” she explained.
Zinn is not the only person running to lead the Montana GOP. Three other people are also running: Troy Miller, Tanner Smith and Art Wittich.
Miller is the Gallatin County Republicans’ finance chairman, Smith is a former gubernatorial candidate and Wittich is a RNC National Committeeman and former state legislator.
Regarding what sets her apart from the other candidates, Zinn said she has spent many years overseeing people. She was in charge of the DEA in Montana from 2018 to 2023.
Zinn also highlighted her experience in law enforcement as a key factor that sets her apart from her opponents. She pointed to her good “attention to detail” as well as the ability to bring people together and resolve conflicts.
Moreover, she said her law enforcement experience has given her the ability to react quickly to situations as they arise.
To determine who will replace Kaltschmidt, Republican legislators, congressional members, government officials, state central committee members and Public Service Commission members will vote on who becomes the next state GOP chairman.
Zinn told The Chronicles she feels like she is in a good position headed into this weekend’s vote. However, she is still cautious going into it.
“You never know until the very end. You don't know if any under-the-table deals are being made. You go in with an idea of how many votes you have, but again, you just don't know until those votes are cast. We have a lot of proxies, meaning people are asking people to vote for them,” Zinn said.
“Are those people really going to vote for the way that they've been asked to? Or, are they gonna put their own two cents in? I can see that being an issue, but we'll just have to see. We'll just have to roll with it,” she added.
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Zachery Schmidt is the founder of The Montana Chronicles. If you have any tips, please send them to montanachronicles@proton.me.
Photo “Stacy Zinn” by Stacy Zinn for Congress.