Incumbent U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke will face a familiar opponent in the Republican primary for Montana’s western congressional district: retired pastor Mary Todd.

Todd, a Kalispell Republican who challenged Zinke in the 2022 race for Montana House District 1, is again running for the seat, citing disappointment with Zinke’s track record in Congress. 

“I supported Ryan Zinke after the last primary. We gave him a lot of money,” Todd said last week. “I just hoped and prayed he would be an effective congressman and do the right thing, but several of the things he has done I don't agree with.”

Todd placed third in a three-way primary to secure the Republican Party’s nomination for the then newly created congressional district in 2022. Zinke took 41.7% of the vote, Al Olszewski, now chair of the Flathead County Republican Central Committee, came away with 39.7% of the vote and Todd secured 10.4%. 

Zinke went on to defeat his Democratic opponent, Missoula’s Monica Tranel, in the general election by three points in November 2022. Tranel, like Todd, is taking another shot at representing the western congressional district this election cycle. 

Todd is a retired pastor, business owner and mother from Kalispell. She did not plan to run for Zinke’s seat this year, but said she felt strongly that change was in the best interest for Montana and the nation.

Todd cited Zinke’s recent vote on a continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown as one such example. She criticized him for funding the government ahead of securing the border. 

Todd also took issue with Zinke’s vote on the National Defense Authorization Act, which included a short-term extension of the portion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that gives the government the authority to review without a warrant the information of Americans swept up in investigations.

A Zinke campaign spokesperson, though, pointed to the congressman’s vote for H.R. 2, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives’ border security bill, when it passed the House in May 2023. The legislation included money to hire more border agents, funding for the border wall and place limits on asylum seekers as well as reimpose a Trump-era policy requiring migrants to remain in or be returned to Mexico. 

Zinke also voted for the Homeland Security appropriations bill in September and the Border Security and Spending Reduction Act, another piece of legislation designed to keep the government funded in the short-term but included border security proposals found in H.R. 2. 

Todd said that she plans to broaden the issues she focuses on in this campaign to include the border crisis, the World Health Organization and the Chinese Communist Party. 

“I just really believe that we are in a battle for the survival of our nation,” Todd said. “I just really want to preserve the American way of life and our Constitution and get back the great nation that we are.” 

THE RIVALRY between Todd and Zinke has already allegedly grown hot. Zinke’s team released a Feb. 12 statement, which was posted on the congressman’s Facebook page, accusing Todd’s husband, Rick, of punching a member of Zinke’s staff at a GOP event in Helena in February.

The Todds denied the allegations, saying that “no punches were ever thrown.”

The incident occurred after Rick Todd allegedly removed an enlarged picture of a check that Mary Todd wrote to Zinke after he won the primary in 2022. When Rick Todd saw the displayed check, with the family’s address, banking information and Mary Todd’s signature, he allegedly grew upset and attempted to take the check.

A member of Zinke’s staff attempted to grab the check, according to Zinke’s account, and “when [Rick was informed] that he was destroying Zinke campaign property and instructed to leave, he grew aggressive with my staff.” 

“This is not the first time Mr. Todd has acted aggressively on the campaign trail. During the 2022 campaign he verbally accosted my wife and my female staff. This behavior is simply unacceptable,” Zinke wrote in the post. 

Todd described Zinke’s version of the situation as misleading and incorrect. She said that she is no longer upset about it, rather the situation just “kind of reveals who Zinke is.”

“It was a setup from the beginning,” Todd said. 

With the close of the filing period on March 11, Todd and Zinke are the only Republicans running for the seat. Monica Tranel is the only Democrat who has filed. Libertarians Dennis Hayes and Ernie Noble are also vying for the House seat. 

Montana’s primary election will be held June 4. 

Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.

    Ryan Zinke, Republican candidate for Montana's western district congressional seat, speaks during a grassroots rally at the Flathead County Republican Headquarters on West Reserve Drive in Kalispell on Friday, Oct. 28. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)