Jason Ellsworth
Jason Ellsworth (Republican Party) is a member of the Montana State Senate, representing District 43. He assumed office on January 7, 2019. His current term ends on January 4, 2027.
Ellsworth (Republican Party) ran for election for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court. He lost in the Republican primary on June 4, 2024.
Ellsworth served as President of the Senate from 2023 to January 2025.
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Ellsworth was assigned to the following committees:
- Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee
- Fish and Game Committee
- Senate Rules Committee, Vice Chair
- Legislative Audit Committee
2021-2022
Ellsworth was assigned to the following committees:
- Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee
- Fish and Game Committee
- Senate Local Government Committee
- Senate Rules Committee
2019-2020
Ellsworth was assigned to the following committees:
- Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee
- Fish and Game Committee
- Senate Local Government Committee
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court election, 2024
General election
General election for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court
Incumbent Bowen Greenwood defeated Erin Farris-Olsen and Roger Roots in the general election for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Bowen Greenwood (R) | 56.9 | 330,503 |
 | Erin Farris-Olsen (D)  | 38.9 | 226,105 | |
 | Roger Roots (L) | 4.2 | 24,639 | |
| Total votes: 581,247 | |||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court
Erin Farris-Olsen defeated Jordan Ophus in the Democratic primary for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Erin Farris-Olsen | 82.8 | 75,038 |
 | Jordan Ophus | 17.2 | 15,612 | |
| Total votes: 90,650 | |||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court
Incumbent Bowen Greenwood defeated Jason Ellsworth in the Republican primary for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bowen Greenwood | 52.6 | 83,379 |
| Jason Ellsworth | 47.4 | 74,999 | ||
| Total votes: 158,378 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Libertarian primary election
The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Roger Roots advanced from the Libertarian primary for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Ellsworth in this election.
2022
See also: Montana State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Montana State Senate District 43
Incumbent Jason Ellsworth defeated John Schneeberger in the general election for Montana State Senate District 43 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Jason Ellsworth (R) | 67.6 | 7,868 | |
 | John Schneeberger (D) | 32.4 | 3,766 | |
| Total votes: 11,634 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Montana State Senate District 43
John Schneeberger advanced from the Democratic primary for Montana State Senate District 43 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Schneeberger | 100.0 | 1,515 |
| Total votes: 1,515 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Montana State Senate District 43
Incumbent Jason Ellsworth defeated Joede Vanek in the Republican primary for Montana State Senate District 43 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Jason Ellsworth | 67.9 | 3,474 | |
| Joede Vanek | 32.1 | 1,643 | ||
| Total votes: 5,117 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2018
- See also: Montana State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Montana State Senate District 43
Jason Ellsworth defeated Laura Garber in the general election for Montana State Senate District 43 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Jason Ellsworth (R) | 62.1 | 6,990 | |
| Laura Garber (Independent) | 37.9 | 4,274 | ||
| Total votes: 11,264 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Montana State Senate District 43
Jason Ellsworth defeated incumbent Patrick Connell and Scott Roy McLean in the Republican primary for Montana State Senate District 43 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Jason Ellsworth | 40.9 | 1,822 | |
 | Patrick Connell | 35.0 | 1,558 | |
 | Scott Roy McLean | 24.1 | 1,071 | |
| Total votes: 4,451 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jason Ellsworth did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Jason Ellsworth did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Montana scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Montana State Legislature was not in session. |
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Montana State Legislature was in session from January 2 to May 2.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Montana State Legislature was not in session. |
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Montana State Legislature was in session from January 4 to April 29.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Montana State Legislature was not in session. |
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Montana State Legislature was in session from January 7 through April 25.
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Noteworthy events
Charges of misconduct and suspension (2025)
On December 19, 2025, the Montana Attorney General's office charged Ellsworth with misconduct following the findings of the February 2025 ethics investigation. The charges alleged that Ellsworth acted outside the scope of his authority and wasted state resources. [1] The attorney general's office requested that Ellsworth be suspended from public office until a final judgment in the case.[2] The presiding judge, Kathy Seeley, granted the request and suspended Ellsworth from public office during the judicial proceedings. [3] January 20, 2026, Ellsworth appeared remotely at his first court hearing where he pleaded not guilty and attempted to have his case dismissed. He appeared before a new judge, District Court Judge Chris Abbott, who took over the case from Judge Seeley. [4] Ellsworth's legal defense argued that he is subject to legislative immunity. Judge Abbot has scheduled a hearing to address the claims of legislative immunity on March 12, 2026. Abbott also scheduled a tentative jury trial to address the misconduct charge on July 14 2026 [4]
Ethics investigation and censure (2025)
On April 1, 2025, Jason Ellsworth was censured by the Montana State Senate in a 44–6 vote, following an ethics investigation into his role in awarding a $170,100 government contract to a longtime associate without disclosing their relationship. The censure included a permanent ban from the Senate floor, removal from all committee assignments for two years, and a prohibition on initiating verbal communication with legislative staff.[5][6]
The ethics investigation, conducted in March 2025, concluded there was credible evidence of ethical misconduct. According to the legislative auditor, Ellsworth split the contract to avoid competitive bidding requirements. Although Ellsworth denied wrongdoing and argued the process was legal, the committee found his conduct violated legislative ethics. A separate vote to expel him from the Senate failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority, prompting the censure as an alternative disciplinary measure.[7][8]
Montana Republican Party censure of nine state senators (2025)
In a statement released on April 4, 2025, the Montana Republican Party (MTGOP) executive committee censured nine Republican state senators: Jason Ellsworth, Butch Gillespie, Gregg Hunter, Joshua Kassmier, Gayle Lammers, Denley Loge, Wendy McKamey, Russel Tempel, and Shelley Vance.[9]
A press release published on the MTGOP website on March 13, 2025, stated, in part, "The Montana Republican Party (MTGOP) is strongly rebuking nine Republican state senators who have frequently aligned with Democrats, creating obstacles for the Republican majority in the Senate. Montana voters elected a strong Republican majority last November, expecting leadership that reflects their choices. On Jan. 6th, 2025, the first day of the 69th Legislative session, and continuing to this day, nine Republican Senators have partnered with the Democratic minority to overrule Republican leadership. ... The MTGOP calls on these senators to cease obstructing key Republican priorities and return to the faithful representation of their constituents and the Republican platform. If their actions continue to damage the integrity of the Republican majority, the party will consider additional steps to address the situation."[10] [11][9]
According to the MTGOP, the party's executive committee unanimously voted to censure the senators during a meeting held on March 27, 2025.[12] As part of the censure, the MTGOP said the senators would no longer be acknowledged as Republicans and the party would not grant political funding to them in the future.[11]
In response, the censured senators, with the exception of Sen. Ellsworth, published an open letter to the citizens of Montana saying, "We were elected to serve you, not to follow orders from political insiders. ... Let’s be clear: this censure is nothing more than a distraction—meant to cover up the fact that party leaders have failed to deliver on the core priorities you sent us here to address. ... This censure changes nothing. We’ll keep showing up. We’ll keep delivering. And we’ll keep putting Montana first."[13]
During the 69th legislative session, Republicans held a majority in the Montana State Senate with 32 of the 50 seats, and Democrats held the remaining 18.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court |
Officeholder Montana State Senate District 43 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ The Daily Montanan, "AG’s office charges former Senate President Ellsworth with official misconduct", accessed December 23, 2025
- ↑ KGVO Newstalk radio, "Montana Senator Faces Misconduct Charges Over Contract Deal," accessed December 23, 2025
- ↑ The Daily Montanan, "Judge orders Sen. Ellsworth supended during misconduct," accessed January 14, 2026
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 KBZK News, "Ellsworth pleads not guilty to official misconduct charge, seeks to dismiss case", accessed January 23, 2026
- ↑ Montana Free Press, "Ethics hearing into former Montana state Senate president’s actions ends," March 15, 2025
- ↑ Montana Free Press, "Ellsworth receives lifetime ban from Montana Senate floor for ethics violation," April 1, 2025
- ↑ Montana Free Press, "Montana state senator backs off controversial contract," January 20, 2025
- ↑ Montana Free Press, "Ethics committee starts investigation into former state Senate president," March 7, 2025
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 NBC Montana, "Montana GOP censures 9 Senate Republicans for working with Dems", April 4, 2025
- ↑ Montana Republican Party, "Montana Republican Party Rebukes Nine Republican Senators for Aligning with Democrats," March 13, 2025
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Daily Montanan, "Montana Republican Party censures nine GOP senators; no longer considers them Republicans", April 4, 2025
- ↑ Montana Republican Party, "Montana Republican Party Rebukes Nine Republican Senators for Aligning with Democrats", March 13, 2025
- ↑ NBC Montana, "Censured Montana Republican senators respond", April 7, 2025
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Patrick Connell (R) |
Montana State Senate District 43 2019-Present |
Succeeded by - |
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