The Jefferson County Commission on Tuesday chose former Whitehall School Board Trustee Mark Reinschmidt as the new representative for House District 75, replacing Marta Bertoglio, named Montana’s Commerce Director last month.
“This is a really tough decision because we’ve got three great candidates,” County Commissioner Cory Kirsch said at the July 22 meeting. He praised the other two nominees, Jefferson County Republican Central Committee Chair Terry Churchill and former HD 75 Rep. Kirk Wagoner.
Kirsch pointed out that their objective was to fill the shoes of Bertoglio, “an independent, not so much party-line thinker,” in his words. “She thinks about our county first, and its constituents…so we need to find a replacement for that,” said Kirsch. “Out of the three, to me, Mr Reinschmidt fit that the best because of his position and his newness and his openness.”
Fellow Commissioner Craig Doolittle seconded the motion and with that, Reinschmidt became the new rep for most of Jefferson County. Kirsch noted the decision was less weighty because Montana will not hold a legislative session until 2027, after its next election.
“The people will get to decide who moves forward as far as the legislative session,” he said. “But they still have this interim here to fill… and being part of that is going to help in the election, so it does have a little bit of weight.”
