Nels Swandal
William Nels Swandal is a former Republican member of the Montana State Senate, representing District 30 from 2015 to 2019.
Swandal did not seek re-election to the Montana State Senate in 2018.
Swandal was a judge of the Montana 6th Judicial District Court.
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Montana committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, Vice chair |
| • Ethics, Chair |
| • Judiciary |
| • State Administration |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Swandal served on the following committees:
| Montana committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation |
| • Judiciary |
| • Public Health, Welfare and Safety |
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
2018
- See also: Montana State Senate elections, 2018
Nels Swandal did not file to run for re-election.
2014
- See also: Montana State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for the Montana State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 3, 2014, and a general election took place on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for major party candidates wishing to run in this election was March 10, 2014; minor party and independent candidates had until June 2, 2014, to file. Mary Murphy was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Nels Swandal was unopposed in the Republican primary. Swandal defeated Murphy in the general election. Incumbent Jason Priest (R) did not seek re-election.[1][2]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Nels Swandal |
68.6% | 5,861 | |
| Democratic | Mary Murphy | 31.4% | 2,684 | |
| Total Votes | 8,545 | |||
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.
Judicial career
Nels Swandal was a district court judge for the 6th District Court. The 6th District contains Park and Sweet Grass counties. He was elected to the 6th District Court in 1994 and re-elected in 2000 and 2006. He retired from the court at the end of 2012.[3][4][5]
2010 Supreme Court bid
- Main article: Montana judicial elections, 2010
Swandal ran for a seat on the Montana Supreme Court vacated by William Leaphart in 2010. He ran against Beth Baker and lost in the general election.[6]
In a press release Swandal said: "Montanans deserve consistency in the law. I believe my experience as a district judge, county attorney and as a private attorney will serve the people of Montana well."[4]
Campaign advertisements
Noteworthy cases
Montana judge allows wolf hunting and trapping to continue in Park County
- See also: Montana 6th Judicial District Court
A restraining order issued by Judge Nels Swandal of Montana's 6th Judicial District allows hunters and trappers to continue harvesting wolves in Park County. Swandal's order comes after state officials closed the gray wolf season in those areas earlier last month. The state shutdown hunting in the area because of the fear that too many wolves being studied for research were being killed. A lawsuit by Rep. Alan Redfield and sporting groups opposed the closure, arguing that the public had not been given sufficient time to weigh in on the issue.[7]
Siding with the plaintiffs, Swandal said his decision allowing hunting to continue was based on the state not giving adequate public notice before discontinuing the hunt.[7]
Wildlife advocate Marc Cooke expressed his disagreement with the decision,
| “ | You have 145,000 square miles in Montana, and they're fighting over a measly 60 square miles of land that is critical habitat for these animals. To me, it's very vindictive.[7] - Wildlife advocate Marc Cooke[8] | ” |
A graduate of University of Montana law school, Judge Nels Swandal recently retired from the 6th Judicial District Court, where he had served since 1994. In 2010, Swandal ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Montana Supreme Court, losing to Beth Baker in the general election. In 2012, he did not run for re-election and was replaced by Judge Brenda Gilbert when his term expired in December.
Awards and associations
- President of the Montana Judges Association
- Past president of the Montana County Attorneys Association
- Past chair of the Southwest Montana Chemical Dependency Center and Youth Dynamics
- Past chair of the Gateway Hospice Advisory Board
- Past member of the board of trustees for Livingston Memorial Hospital
- Member of the Montana Bar Association
- Member of the Montana National Guard Association
- Member of the National Guard Association of the United States
- Past member with Big Brothers & Big Sisters
- Recipient of the Army Commendation Medal
- Recipient of the Legion of Merit[4]
- Awarded Judge of the Year from the Court Appointed Special Advocates, 2009[9]
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.
2018
In 2018, the Montana State Legislature did not hold a regular session.
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Montana State Legislature was in session from January 2 through April 28.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Montana State Legislature did not hold a regular session. |
2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Montana State Legislature was in session from January 5 through April 28.
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Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Nels + Swandal + Montana + Senate"
See also
- Montana State Senate
- Montana State Senate elections, 2014
- Montana State Legislature
- Montana State Senate District 30
External links
- Office website
- Nels Swandal on Judgepedia
- Nels Swandal on Facebook
- Profile from Swandal Law
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Official candidate list
Footnotes
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "2014 Candidate Filing List: Legislative," accessed October 29, 2014
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "2014 Statewide Primary Election Canvass," accessed June 30, 2014
- ↑ 6th District Court
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Associated Press "Livingston judge to file for Supreme Court ," February 22, 2010
- ↑ The Montana Pioneer, "An Interview with Judge Nels Swandal," Feb. 2011
- ↑ MT SOS Unofficial Results, Nov. 2010
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 The Associated Press, "Montana judge blocks wolf season closure near Yellowstone National Park," January 02, 2013
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Sixth Judicial District CASA / GAL Blog "Judge Nels Swandal named Judge of the Year by CASA of Montana," May 13, 2009
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jason Priest (R) |
Montana State Senate District 30 2015-2019 |
Succeeded by John Esp |
