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.
She said at the time that the existence of an opponent in the primaries showed how “messed up” the local Republican Party was.
Voters elected Grulkowski to the 3rd District Board of Supervisors in 2022.
Since then, she has been the only one to vote against high-level Commission decisions, including the revocation of the voting powers and the printing supervision of clerk and secretary 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.
According to state regulations, Grulkowski must submit a statement of intent for her write-in candidacy by September 3.
According to Terry Thompson, Cascade County elections supervisor, that request had not been submitted as of Friday morning.
