Montana GOP introduces election reform bills targeting primaries and judiciary.

Republican state lawmakers in Montana have advanced legislation that would establish a top-two primary election for the US Senate next year, when Democratic Senator Jon Tester is up for re-election. The bill would establish a version of a “jungle primary,” in which every candidate, regardless of party, runs in the same primary election. The top two vote-getters would advance to the general election, meaning third parties would almost certainly be kept off the ballot. Democrats decried the bill as a “partisan power grab,” targeting just one specific race in just one specific election.