Art Wittich is an American politician from

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. A member of the Republican Party, he was a member of the

Montana Legislature The Montana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to t ...

, in the

Montana Senate The Montana State Senate is the upper house of the Montana Legislature, the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Montana. The body is composed of 50 senators elected for four years. Half of the Senate is up for election every two years. ...

(2011 and 2013 sessions) from Senate District 35, and then the

Montana House of Representatives The Montana House of Representatives is, with the Montana Senate, one of the two houses of the Montana Legislature. Composed of 100 members, the House elects its leadership every two years. Composition of the House In the event that the parti ...

(2015 session), from House District 68.

Early life, education, and career

Wittich is from

Englewood, Colorado The City of Englewood is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 33,659 at the 2020 United States census. Englewood is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan S ...

.Troy Carter
Senate GOP leader Art Wittich campaigns for Belgrade House seat
''Bozeman Daily Chronicle'' (October 16, 2014). He was a member of the U.S. Coast Guard from 1975 to 1979, as an enlisted

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land army, armies, a quartermaster is an officer who supervises military logistics, logistics and requisitions, manages stores or barracks, and distri ...

. He worked as a firefighter at the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

and

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

from 1980 to 1983. He graduated from

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public university, public land grant colleges, land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal ...

in 1982 with a B.S. in economics/environmental studies. He received a J.D. from

University of Montana School of Law The Alexander Blewett III School of Law is a law school at the University of Montana in Missoula. It was established in 1911 and remains Montana's only law school. Its name was changed from the University of Montana Law School to its current name ...

in 1985, and began practicing law in Montana that year.Leia Larsen
Wittich won't be disbarred or professionally disciplined for 2010 campaign violations
''Montana Free Press'' (December 5, 2018). He was legal counsel for the

Montana Power Company The Montana Power Company (MPC) was an electric utility company based in Butte, Montana, which provided electricity to Montana consumers and industry from 1912 to 1997. History The Montana Power Company was founded in 1912 by John D. Ryan, the ...

and for Governor

Stan Stephens Stanley Graham Stephens (September 16, 1929 – April 3, 2021) was a Canadian-American politician, journalist, and broadcaster who served as the 20th Governor of Montana from 1989 until 1993 as a member of the Republican Party. Biography Born i ...

. He was a civilian lawyer for the U.S. Coast Guard in Washington, D.C. from 1992 to 1994. Wittich then engaged in the private practice of law in

Bozeman, Montana Bozeman ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. The 2020 United States census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it Montana's fourth-largest city. It is the principal city of the Bozeman, Montan ...

at the Wittich Law Firm, which had five attorneys as of 2011. In 2016, he was counsel for

Greg Gianforte Gregory Richard Gianforte ( ; born April 17, 1961) is an American politician, businessman, and software engineer serving as the 25th governor of Montana since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Gianforte served as the U.S. representativ ...

in Gianforte's dispute with the

Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) is a government agency in the executive branch state of Montana in the United States with responsibility for protecting sustainable fish, wildlife, and state-owned park resources in Monta ...

over a public-access

easement An easement is a Nonpossessory interest in land, nonpossessory right to use or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B" ...

over land owned by Gianforte along the East Gallatin River.

Political career

Wittich ran for election to the Montana Senate in 2006, in Senate District 32, covering a portion of Gallatin County.2006 Primary Legislative Election Results
Secretary of State of Montana.2006 General Legislative Election Results
Secretary of State of Montana. He ran unopposed in the primary, and lost to Democratic nominee

Larry Jent Larry Jent (born December 20, 1951) is a politician and a former Democratic member of the Montana Legislature. He served in the Montana House of Representatives from 2001 to 2007, and served in the Montana Senate from 2007 to 2015. Early life, ...

in the general election. Wittich won election to the state Senate in 2010, and became state Senate majority leader in 2013.Corin Cates-Carney
Wittich Fined $68,000, Can Keep House Seat
Montana Public Radio (June 17, 2016). During acrimonious intra-party feuds within legislative Republicans over various policy issues (such as acceptance of the

Medicaid expansion Under the public healthcare policy of the United States, some people have incomes too high to qualify in their state of residence for Medicaid, the public health insurance plan for those with limited resources, but too low to qualify for the pr ...

), Wittich and Republican Senate president Jeff Essmann belonged to the more conservative faction, working together to purge moderate Republicans from the party. In 2014, Wittich was elected to the

, defeating Democratic nominee Ashley Stevick. He was elected from House District 68, an area surrounding the River Rock area near

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. 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. Wittich's effort failed in April 2015, when 13 Republicans joined the entire 41-member Democratic caucus to support the expansion. In the state House, Wittich, voting against legislation that benefited

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...

, drawing criticism from university president

Waded Cruzado Waded Cruzado (born January 16, 1960)
Accessed 2013-08-26.

. In 2015, he introduced a " nullification" bill to instruct state and local police to ignore federal gun laws. The bill passed the legislature and was

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...

ed by Governor Steve Bullock. 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 In politics, particularly the politics of the United States, dark money refers to spending to influence elections, public policy, and political discourse, where the source of the money is not disclosed to the public. In the United States, ...

group, the National Right to Work Committee and its affiliates, including the American Tradition Partnership, during his 2010

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

campaign for state Senate.John S. Adams
High Court upholds verdict in Wittich corruption case
''Montana Free Press'' (August 23, 2017). In April 2016, after a five-day trial, a jury in

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer * Saint Helena (disambiguation), this includes places Places Greece * Helena ...

found that Wittich had violated campaign finance and reporting laws. In August 2017, the

Montana Supreme Court The Montana Supreme Court is the supreme court, highest court of the state court system in the U.S. state of Montana. It is established and its powers defined by Article VII of the 1972 Montana Constitution. It is primarily an appellate court w ...

unanimously upheld the jury verdict, and Wittich paid a fine of $68,232. 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. Following the verdict, Wittich kept his seat in the state House. However, in June 2016, he lost his bid for renomination to Bruce Grubbs, who defeated him in the Republican primary. Wittich was a Montana delegate to the

2016 Republican National Convention The 2016 Republican National Convention, in which delegates of the United States Republican Party (United States), Republican Party chose the party's nominees for President of the United States, president and Vice President of the United Sta ...

, which nominated

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

for president. Wittich was Montana co-chair of the Trump's 2020 presidential campaign.Phil Drake
Trump camp files for president to be on Montana's 2020 ballot
''Great Falls Tribune'' (January 31, 2020). Wittich is also a member of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

,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). as national committeeman,Arren Kimbel-Sannit
The Republican rebuke of Marc Racicot
''Montana Free Press'' (February 22, 2023). and is also one of 13 members of the executive board of the Republican Party of Montana. In 2023, Wittich, along with the other Montana Republican Party officials, denounced

Marc Racicot Marc Racicot (; born July 24, 1948) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and former Republican politician who served as the 21st governor of Montana from 1993 until 2001. After leaving office, Racicot worked as a lobbyist for the law firm Bracewe ...

, a former Republican governor and attorney general, for opposing Trump.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittich, Art Living people People from Englewood, Colorado Politicians from Bozeman, Montana Republican Party Montana state senators Republican Party members of the Montana House of Representatives Republican National Committee members University of Montana alumni Utah State University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century members of the Montana Legislature