Welcome to Quick Hits! Here are the topics I’m serving up some much-needed common sense commentary on today:

• Candidate Filing Opens
• Daines & Jeremy Carl
• No Thank You, Governor 
• Ninth Year Of Eligibility
• One More Thing

CANDIDATE FILING OPENS TODAY:

The 2026 candidate filing season in Montana opens at 8:00 a.m. today (February 17, 2026) and closes Wednesday, March 4, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.

For more information, check out the 2026 Election calendar HERE. 

If you think the 15-day window to file for office seems short, you are right. This change was enacted via House Bill 207, which was signed into law in May 2025 and took effect immediately. The new law reduced the filing window for regular and write-in candidates from roughly 60 days down to just 15 days. 

The Montana primary election is June 2, 2026. 

DAINES & JEREMY CARL: 

As I mentioned yesterday, Jeremy Carl from Bozeman has been nominated to be President Trump’s Assistant Secretary of State for the United Nations and International Organizations. Carl appeared in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations last week, and it did not go well. 

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, used an October 2024 appearance on a podcast, “Christian Ghetto,” to quote Carl’s words back to him: “Jews have loved to play the victim. The Holocaust dominates so much of modern Jewish history. Jews love to see themselves as oppressed.” (Source)

CNN reported:

A heated exchange unfolded as Cory Booker confronted Trump nominee Jeremy Carl over allegations related to racial discrimination and civil rights concerns. Booker warned that rhetoric viewed as divisive has no place in federal leadership, while Carl rejected the accusations, stating his views have been misrepresented. (Video) 

U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced Carl to the Foreign Relations Committee. Daines is also a member of that committee. 

It is odd that Daines would stick his neck out for Carl – especially during an election year. The opposition folks trying to beat Daines are undoubtedly jumping for joy that Daines introduced Carl. I can see the commercials now! 

Of course, The Western Word is providing a rough transcript of the introduction by Daines for your reading pleasure. You can view the introduction HERE. Daines begins speaking at 37:40. 

Here is the rough transcript: 

I am delighted to introduce Jeremy Carl from my hometown of Bozeman, Montana. I’ll get to his professional experience in a bit, but I’d like to first share a bit more on his personal side. 

I have gotten to know Jeremy well over the past several years.

Jeremy has a lovely family. Five children. Three sons and two daughters. 

A wonderful wife, Dr. Anna Carl, an emergency room physician.

We’ve had a lot of great discussions over the years ranging from everything very Montana stories of hunting and fishing, as well as politics.

We also share a common admiration for President Reagan. 

Jeremy has had a distinguished career where his work took him from technology to the NGO worlds. From Yale to Harvard to Stanford. As we say in Montana, go get a good education then get over it. His current role is now at the Claremont Institute. He spent almost a decade as a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University where his scholarship was frequently cited by public policy professionals including Nobel Prize recipients and political leaders from both parties.

Relevant to this committee, he was hired at Hoover directly by the late U.S. Secretary of State, George Schultz. He worked with President Reagan to win the Cold War and with whom he worked closely for a decade on numerous policy issues working with political leaders and distinguished diplomats from America to India to Israel.  While at Hoover, Schultz praised his work citing his mastery of subject matter and “the integrity he brought to his work.” He also added “his seemingly boundless capacity to explore new avenues of research.”

The clear support and respect Secretary Schultz had for Jeremy is a very strong endorsement of his candidacy for this important role. 

Jeremy also had the privilege of previously serving America as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior under Donald Trump in the first Trump administration.

I am pleased to introduce him to the committee and I look forward to him serving in this important role. (END) (SOURCE)

NO THANK YOU, GOVERNOR: 

Former Montana Supreme Court Justice Patricia Cotter has an excellent opinion piece posted in The Daily Montanan that you should read and share.

The piece is about Montana Governor Greg Gianforte and Superintendent of Public Education Susie Hedalen urging Montana students from every high school in the state to start local chapters of Club America, the TPUSA program created for high school students by Charlie Kirk.  

Check it out HERE. 

NINTH YEAR OF ELIGIBILITY:

The Associated Press (AP) recently reported that Montana linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu will return for the 2026 season after being granted a ninth year of eligibility by the NCAA.

From the AP:

The school announced Tuliaupupu’s return on social media Monday alongside sixth-year offensive lineman Dylan Jemtegaard.

Tuliaupupu, who turns 26 in March, is entering his second season at Montana after starting his collegiate career at USC in 2018. He was sidelined for his entire undergraduate campaign at USC after two surgery-requiring injuries impacting his foot (2018) and knee (2020).

The linebacker’s first season at Montana — and eighth overall — was just his second full season played and third with game action.

That ties Tuliaupupu with Cam McCormick, who last played for the Miami Hurricanes in 2024. (Source)

In case you were wondering, I have four years of eligibility left…

ONE MORE THING:

Sometimes a little rudeness to establish that you don’t fancy nonsense is important. 

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