GREAT FALLS – After losing a Republican primary in June, Cascade County Commissioner Rae Grulkowski will run as a candidate in the general election to retain her seat.
Grulkowski confirmed her intention to the Montana Free Press on Friday. She made the announcement during a meeting of the Great Falls Pachyderm Club on Thursday.
Grulkowski lost the June 4 primary by 14 points to fellow Republican Eric Hinebauch, a businessman, former Great Falls city councilman and chairman of the Cascade County Republican Central Committee. Grulkowski said at the time that having an opponent in the primary showed how “screwed up” the local Republican Party had become.
Voters elected Grulkowski to the 3rd District Board of Supervisors in 2022. Since then, she has been the lone dissenting vote on high-profile commission decisions, including eliminating voting requirements and removing printing supervision from Secretary and Recorder Sandra Merchant.
Hinebauch, who will run as a Republican candidate for the county commissioner seat in the fall, is seen as a more mainstream option, while Grulkowski has supporters from a more conservative wing of the party.
The Democratic candidate is Don Ryan, a former Cascade County commissioner, state senator and school board member.
Under state regulations, Grulkowski must submit a notice of intent for her write-in candidacy by Sept. 3. It had not been submitted as of Friday morning, according to Terry Thompson, the Cascade County elections supervisor.
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