Republican legislators disenfranchised at the June Montana GOP officers’ convention are asking a judge to restore their voting privileges and force a new election for party leadership.

State senators Jason Ellsworth , Denley Loge and Shelley Vance weren’t allowed to vote for Montana Republican Party leadership at the June 28 convention in Helena, where a new party Chair Art Wittich and Vice Chair Stacy Zinn were elected.

Ellsworth, of Hamilton; Loge, of St. Regis; and Vance, of Belgrade; say they’re being canceled for supporting policies endorsed by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte. All three lawmakers belonged to a minority of Senate Republicans who led an effort to, among other things, renew the state’s expanded Medicaid program and back Gianforte’s preferred approach to lo

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