Montana Meat Day and Seniority in D.C.

By Micah Drew, Jordan Hansen and Keila Szpaller

"With 100 years of experience and having hosted over 120 million visitors over that time, I trust that the park staff have developed these exhibits and their content based on what our visitors want to know.” – Jeff Mow, former superintendent of Glacier National Park, of erasure of science and history in the park. More park exhibits in Montana are on the chopping block.

It’s turnover time.

With the announcements earlier this month that Montana’s two longest-serving members of Congress — Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Ryan Zinke — would retire and not seek re-election, comes a shift in hierarchy for the two remaining elected officials. 

Sen. Tim Sheehy, the second-youngest sitting U.S. Senator, will assume the mantle of Montana’s senior Senator at the start of the next Congress. 

That title, which Daines has only held for two years, has no official standing, but in general seniority in Congress can provide preferential treatment for things such as committee assignments or office spaces, especially if both senators from a state represent the same party. 

On the official seniority ranking of the U.S. Senate, which goes off of when they assumed office with a few tie-breakers in place, Sheehy is 97th in seniority. With changes expected in this fall’s election, he could bump out of the 90s, while Daines’ replacement will become one of the most junior elected officials in the U.S. Senate — a big drop from Daines’ current rank of 52. 

Sen. Jon Tester, Montana’s last elected Democrat who lost to Sheehy in 2024, was at the time the 25th most senior Senator. 

That means that within two years, Montana will have collectively dropped somewhere around 117 spots of seniority, assuming Daines’ replacement ends up roughly where Sheehy is now. 

Prior to Tester’s election in 2006, Montana sat 11th (Sen. Max Baucus) and 33rd (Sen. Conrad Burns) on the list. 

I’m sure there’s a great way to take the data of a state’s cumulative senate seniority status to visualize changes over time — so maybe in a few weeks you’ll all be treated to that — but the thesis of this little blurb is that Montana will have one of the least experienced delegations in Congress starting in 2027. 

And that’s because with Rep. Troy Downing starting his tenure in 2025, and Zinke getting a replacement, the whole delegation will have turned over in just two elections. Zinke is currently 240th in seniority, while Downing sits in 379th. 

That’s not a common feat, but it does happen more regularly with small delegations than, say, Texas, which will see at least 12 new members of Congress next year, but has a total of 40 seats in D.C.

A quick perusal of other small delegations, namely those bordering Montana, show the Dakotas have gone through similar turnovers in the last 50 years. 

North Dakota elected a new Senator in 2010, and again in 2012, and elected new, at-large representatives each year as well. 

 South Dakota did the same thing in 1978 and 1980, bringing on two new senators in successive elections and new representatives for each of its two districts in successive elections as well. 

~Micah Drew

The weather people said the end of the week would warm up, and it surely did.

Are you getting ready to fire up the grill?

Yesterday, Gov. Greg Gianforte celebrated Montana Meat Day to recognize farmers and ranchers and their high quality livestock.

“Every day is meat day in Montana,” Gianforte said. “Our farmers and ranchers produce some of the highest quality beef and other livestock in the world.”

I’ve mentioned this before, but in Missoula, you can go on a field trip and buy meat and veggies from local vendors at their self serve stands. Neat.

The picture is a roast my SO made. Delicious. (I don’t remember where the recipe is from but I’ll share another one he made recently that some friends recommended, for short ribs with soy and star anise and ginger.)

Of course, meat is pricier now too. On March 13, Nerdwallet said beef and veal prices rose 14.4% in the past year, even though they fell 1.5% from January to February.

Gas prices are still going up too. A reader from Augusta pointed out that I mixed up some earlier national vs. Montana gas prices in this newsletter, and I’m sorry about that.

Here’s the right information for today, according to AAA:

One year ago, the average cost of regular was $3.129 nationally. Now, it’s $3.925.

One year ago in Montana, the average cost of regular was $3.118. Now, it’s $3.531.

Hold onto your shorts for this one - in California, it’s $5.70.

Puts a gal in the mood for walking.

If you’re looking for some protein but don’t want to pay the higher prices, here’s a black bean dish in Smitten Kitchen’s “budget” category. Yum.

~ Keila Szpaller

It’s an oldie but a goodie, I think. In 1915, a bunch of people including Charlie M. Russell went through Glacier National Park on horseback. It was an adventure, and Mary Roberts Rinehart wrote about it.

A got a text yesterday with a story that said Canadians aren’t going to be heading to the park like they have in the past. I don’t mean to be uncharitable, but the park can be busy, and there are silver linings here.

About the book, one thing Rinehart said is this:

“This year I hope the Superintendent of National Parks will go out to Glacier Park, not by automobile but on a horse, and ride over his great domain. Then I hope he will go back to Washington and arrange for enough rangers to make the park safe and to save its timber from forest fires. Yellowstone Park has soldiers. It is not soldiers, but woodsmen, trail-riders, rangers, that are needed.”

Rinehart, the author, and CMR, the artist, became friends on that trip. It would have been great to listen to their campfire stories.

Got another old book to recommend? [email protected].

~ Keila Szpaller

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