From the Missoulian:
In the House caucus, Republicans elected Rep. Austin Knudsen, an attorney from Culbertson, as the next speaker. Knudsen defeated Reps. Steve Fitzpatrick of Great Falls and Randy Brodehl of Kalispell.
“Montana voters care about more jobs, the economy and responsible resource development,” Knudsen said. “Those are three things that Republicans and the Legislature can all unite behind.”
He said it’s natural that there will be internal party disagreements in the Legislature because of personalities and egos.
“I think we need to focus on the things that unite us,” he said.