Whitefish’s Don ‘K’ re-elected as state GOP chair

Whitefish businessman Don “K” Kaltschmidt was re-elected last weekend as chairman of the Montana Republican Party.

The state GOP said Kaltschmidt had unanimous support among party officers who voted June 19 at a convention in Helena. State Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway of Great Falls was re-elected as the party’s vice chairwoman.

Kaltschmidt, who owns the Don K car dealership in Whitefish, was first elected to lead the party in 2019, replacing chairwoman Debra Lamm. Kaltschmidt previously served as finance chairman for the Flathead County Republican Central Committee and was a Montana delegate to the 2012 Republican National Convention.

In a statement, Kaltschmidt celebrated the “momentum” of Republican candidates in Montana, who swept races last November to hold majorities in both chambers of the Legislature as well as seven out of eight statewide offices. The exception is Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester.

“With Montana picking up a second congressional seat, I have no doubt that next year, we will send not one but two Republican members of Congress back to Washington, D.C., to fight back on President Biden’s radical agenda,” Kaltschmidt said.