HELENA, MT — Over the weekend, the Montana Libertarian Party (MTLP) held its 2026 Delegate and Platform Convention in Helena, bringing together candidates, delegates, and party leaders from across the state. The convention featured candidate engagement, platform amendments, and critical deliberation on the MTLP’s strategic direction heading into the 2026 election cycle.
Following extensive vetting and unanimous support from convention delegates and the executive board, the MTLP officially announces its endorsement of Tom Jandron for U.S. Senate.
A Standard-Bearer for Libertarian Principles
The MTLP is distinct from the two major parties; it is grounded in a consistent philosophy of individual liberty, non-aggression, and constitutionally limited government. As such, the MTLP expects its statewide candidates to demonstrate a clear understanding of, and commitment to, these foundational ideas.
Tom Jandron meets that standard. A disciplined advocate who became a libertarian during the Ron Paul campaigns of 2008 and 2012, Jandron has served as an MTLP Region Representative and represented Montana at the 2022 Libertarian National Convention. A veteran of the Montana National Guard, he has earned the respect of the party for his unwavering commitment to the Defend the Guard Act and his ability to articulate complex libertarian positions on foreign policy, federal spending, entitlements, and monetary policy.
The Vetting Process
In preparation for this endorsement, the MTLP conducted a structured, rigorous vetting process, including town hall-style discussions with both U.S. Senate primary candidates.
This assessment was further informed by our history with candidate Kyle Austin. In 2024, the MTLP launched a Freedom Scorecard to assess candidates across all parties. Even when running as a Republican for the U.S. House, Austin ranked poorly in his alignment with libertarian principles—a fact previously shared with him privately.
Following a recorded town hall with Austin this cycle, the MTLP gathered written evaluations from attendees. These responses revealed a troubling pattern of concerns, including:
Lack of Ideological Grounding: Austin was unable to identify libertarian thinkers or influences, citing figures like Bill Clinton and George W. Bush as influences on his political views.
Weak Command of Libertarian Positions: Evaluators reported that Austin struggled to answer questions appropriately regarding monetary policy, entitlement spending, and federal budgeting.
Foreign Policy Deficiencies: Participants noted an uncertainty regarding libertarian non-interventionism and basic war-powers debates.
Absence of a Cohesive Framework: Evaluators consistently observed that Austin’s responses lacked a unifying philosophical foundation, often appearing ad hoc or underdeveloped.
These findings were echoed across numerous independent member submissions, with attendees noting that Austin seemed “unfamiliar with basic federal policy” and failed to present a “cohesive ideological framework.”
Further, our findings were influenced by Kyle Austin’s several media appearances, his own radio show, and reports from public officials and media contacts about how he conducts himself during campaigns.
Organizational Integrity
These concerns were reinforced during the convention. Tom Jandron participated fully in all delegate selection and platform discussions, demonstrating his deep alignment with party goals. Kyle Austin, by comparison, had limited participation in the convention and failed to meaningfully engage with the party’s proceedings. During an informal straw poll of delegates, Tom Jandron received unanimous support.
The MTLP’s vigilance is a direct result of past experiences. In a previous U.S. House race, Montana’s open primary system allowed a candidate, Sam Rankin, to defeat a principled party-endorsed nominee despite Rankin’s lack of alignment with our views. That experience initiated our transition toward a more rigorous vetting process and the aggressive use of our Liberty Scorecard, which, again, is ironically how we first met Mr. Austin. It also prompted us to begin external outreach, which is how we built coalition relationships with candidates from other parties, including Matt Rosendale on ‘End the Fed’ legislation, and both Republican Tim Sheehy and Democrat Ryan Busse on the ‘Defend the Guard’ Act.
Additional 2026 Endorsements:
Pat McCracken, U.S. House
Nick Sheedy, U.S. House
Dru Koester, Montana Senate - Dru’s Website
JC Windmueller, Montana House
Left to right: JC Windmueller, Nick Sheedy, Tom Jandron, Dru Koester, Pat McCracken
Platform Amendment: Party Autonomy and Elections
The 2026 U.S. Senate primary underscores the core issue we face: Montana’s open primary system allows candidates to co-opt the Libertarian label without demonstrating any commitment to the MTLP’s philosophy.
In response, the MTLP adopted a critical platform amendment this weekend:
3.9 Party Autonomy and Elections
The Montana Libertarian Party affirms that political parties are voluntary associations with the right to define their own membership and make their own endorsements.
Montana’s primary system undermines this principle by allowing non-members to participate in a party’s nomination process, diluting the voice of party members and weakening the party’s message by enabling candidates with no commitment to the party’s principles to use the party as a vehicle for ballot access.
The MTLP opposes state interference in the internal affairs of political organizations and supports the right of parties to determine their own endorsement processes, including limiting participation to members and selecting their own standard-bearers.
We also recognize that a very few political parties are granted an unelected role in the electoral process, which disenfranchises those whose views are not aligned with one of these privileged parties. Our goal as Libertarians is to remove barriers to political participation rather than reinforce them.
We call for a more open process for qualifying candidates for the ballot. This benefits both political parties (by empowering them to control their own messaging), voters (by giving them choices in alignment with their own values, rather than those of political parties), and candidates (who will be empowered to express their own views independent of party dogma).
Looking Ahead
The Montana Libertarian Party enters the 2026 election cycle with a renewed commitment to principle, clarity, and organizational integrity. We believe that we are a party of principle, willing to work with anyone—across all party lines—who is willing to advance the cause of liberty.
With Tom Jandron as our endorsed candidate for U.S. Senate, and a slate of other endorsed candidates for local and state office, the MTLP is confident that we are advancing the individuals who can best represent the principled, consistent alternative that Montana voters deserve.