Jason Ellsworth is an American politician serving as a Republican member of 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. ...

. First elected in 2019, Ellsworth serves as the President pro Tempore of the Montana Senate.

Official Travel

In January 2021, Ellsworth was stopped for speeding on the interstate near Helena and told the trooper that he was late to a meeting with Governor

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 ...

. The trooper let him go without issuing a ticket. In May 2021, Ellsworth was stopped again by a highway patrol trooper en route to

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 ...

on suspicion of speeding, having been clocked doing 88 mph. In the encounter, Ellsworth threatened to contact the state's attorney general on the officer and claimed he couldn't be arrested because he was a lawmaker on his way to legislative work. Ellsworth was subsequently charged for speeding through a construction zone or an alternative charge of reckless driving and obstructing a peace officer.

2023 Legislative Session

After being selected President Pro Tempore of the Montana Senate around December 2022, Ellsworth gave a speech in which he said, “We're going to have an opportunity next session, because we're going to have a supermajority, to potentially pass constitutional initiatives, and give those votes to the people.” When asked by a journalist what type of constitutional amendments were being considered, Ellsworth said he did not know any specifics, and that the only reason he made the above statement was because he felt people "needed to be cognizant of that (the opportunity to pass amendments)..." It was later revealed that 38 constitutional amendments were being drafted at the time, according to the state legislature's own website.

2025

Ellsworth was a part of a moderate coalition of 9 Republicans formed with Democrats in the

69th Montana Legislature The 69th Montana Legislature is the current legislative session of the Montana Legislature that convened on January 6, 2025. The Senate is being controlled by a coalition of 18 Democrats and 9 moderate Republicans, dubbed "the nasty nine" by oppone ...

, dubbed the "nasty nine" by opponents and was censured on March 27 for his efforts.

References

External links

Official Facebook
, - 1973 births 21st-century members of the Montana Legislature Living people People from Hamilton, Montana People from Laconia, New Hampshire Republican Party members of the Montana House of Representatives Republican Party Montana state senators {{Montana-politician-stub