HELENA — It took only one strange day, but Montana Democrats now have carved out tenuous majorities in both houses of the 2007 Legislature, thanks to a party-switching senator and four more votes that erased a Republican winner in a Laurel House district.

In the state Senate, tied 25-25 between Democrats and Republicans after last week’s elections, Republican Sen. Sam Kitzenberg of Glasgow said Monday he plans to switch parties, giving Democrats a 26-24 majority.

“I’m a moderate, and there is no room left in the Republican Party for moderates,” Kitzenberg said Monday, explaining his decision. “I’m not leaving the Republican Party; it has basically left me.”

And in the House, Rep. Emelie Eaton, D-Laurel, picked up four more votes Monday in the counting of “provisional” ballots, forging a tie with House District 58 opponent Krayton Kerns, a Republican from Laurel.

If the tie remains after a vote recount later this month, Gov. Brian Schweitzer would appoint the winner — and Democrats are presuming he’ll appoint the Democrat, making Eaton the apparent winner for now.

“It’s just been a roller-coaster, because everything has been so uncertain,” said Eaton Monday. “It’s hard to be upset, happy, or anything.”

If Eaton’s apparent victory holds up, Democrats will have a 50-49 edge in the House — whereas they started Monday down 49-50 to Republicans, thinking they would be in the minority.

“What else do you do?” remarked Rep. Michael Lange, R-Billings, who had been planning to compete for the job of House majority leader, and may now have to settle for minority leader. “I guess you just wait.”

A recount likely will occur in Billings on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. The result of that count will determine whether the HD58 race ends in a tie or a victory for Kerns or Eaton — and which party controls the majority in the House.

While the Democrats’ majority control in the Legislature would be by the narrowest of margins, it’s significant when it comes to controlling the political agenda.

In the Senate, Democrats now will chair all Senate committees in the 2007 Legislature, choose the committee members, have majorities on the committees and effectively control which bills make it to the floor for a vote of the full Senate.

“It gives the power that has the majority a little edge in moving forward its agenda when it wants to move it forward,” said Sen. Jon Ellingson, D-Missoula, the outgoing majority leader.

If the Senate had remained split 25-25 between the parties, chairmanship of the committees would have been split as well. The number of Republicans and Democrats on each committee would have been even.

In the House, however, a 50-49 majority for Democrats won’t be enough to write the political script entirely.

They can elect the body’s top leaders, but without 51 votes, they cannot change the rules of the House, Lange pointed out. And those rules, drafted in 2005 when the House was split 50-50 between the parties, dictate split control, with Democrats and Republicans on equal footing.

Lange said Democrats can’t change those rules without at least one Republican vote — or the vote of Rep.-elect Rick Jore of Ronan, a Constitution Party member who has said he’s more likely to side with Republicans on key votes.

“It all boils down to what happens under those rules,” he said. “It will be interesting to see how it shakes out.”

Regardless of what happens now, Monday was a wild political day in Montana, as Democrats essentially picked up two legislative seats a week after the election.

The turnaround in Laurel’s HD58 stunned longtime political observers, as Eaton ended up erasing a 14-seat deficit through the post-election counting of 20 extra ballots.

It started last Wednesday, when Yellowstone County election officials counted 16 ballots that had been rejected by vote-counting machines but were still valid. Thirteen were for Eaton, closing the gap to four votes.

On Monday, election officials opened six additional “provisional” ballots, which are cast by voters who forgot their identification on election day and then provided proof the next day that indicated the votes should be counted.

Duane Winslow, elections supervisor for the county, said Monday that two of those six weren’t counted. One of the voters was not a resident of HD58, and another already had turned in an absentee ballot that had been counted.

But of the four that were counted, all went to Eaton, forging an unlikely tie. That means an automatic recount will occur. But until then, Eaton is the presumptive winner.

Kerns, a Laurel veterinarian, was at the county election office Monday in Billings when the provisional votes were counted.

“You don’t anticipate anything like that, but that’s how it played out,” he said later. “There’s really nothing you can do. But I’m not saying I wasn’t losing any sleep over it.”

Kerns, who writes a weekly column in the Laurel Outpost called “Ramblings of a Conservative Cow Doctor,” said he doesn’t expect that Gov. Schweitzer will appoint him if the race ends up tied after the recount.

“I’m not losing any sleep over that one,” he said.

Incoming legislators will meet in Helena Nov. 27 to choose their leaders for the 2007 session. In the House, Republicans will assume they’re in the minority and Democrats will act as though they have the majority. If it all changes a few days later, after the recount, they may meet again to revise the positions.

But the Senate will be decided, once Kitzenberg makes his switch official. He said he’ll go to the secretary of state’s office on Friday and declare himself a Democrat.

Senate Republicans reacted with anger and disappointment Monday, saying Kitzenberg is betraying his northeastern district voters who supported him as a Republican.

“It’s outrageous,” Stapleton said. “I can’t speak for the northeast corner of Montana, but I imagine they feel duped.”

“It’s very disappointing, but not surprising,” added Sen. Dan McGee, R-Laurel. “He’s voted Democratic now for quite a few years. It’s just sad for the people of Montana that they’re expecting a Republican senator and they haven’t had one.”

Kitzenberg faced a Republican primary challenge in 2004, but won handily. He’s in the final two years of his second term representing District 18.

Kitzenberg, a former schoolteacher, was hired this summer as a state Revenue Department management analyst in Glasgow. He was offered the job by department director Dan Bucks, a Schweitzer appointee.

Kitzenberg said getting the job had nothing to do with his decision to switch parties, and that any suggestions to the contrary are “dead wrong.”

He said he’s changing parties because he wants to help usher Schweitzer’s agenda through the 2007 Legislature, such as full-day kindergarten for schools, property-tax rebates, more state funding for the university system and more spending on health-care programs.

He also said he’s heard from some constituents, and many have said he should do what he thinks is right: “They said, ‘We voted for you because we thought you had good judgment If you think it’s necessary to do what you’re doing, go ahead and do it.’ ”

How did Dems gain control and what now?

IR State Bureau - 11/14/06

HELENA — In a series of bizarre political twists, Democrats apparently have gained control of both Houses of the 2007 Legislature. In question-and-answer form, here’s a look at what happened, and what happens now:

Who controlled the Legislature after Election Day? Initial results showed Republicans gaining two seats in the Senate to forge a 25-25 tie. In the House, Republicans won a 50-49 edge, with Constitution Party Rick Jore of Ronan winning the remaining seat.

Who controls the 2007 Legislature now? Democrats soon will have a 26-24 majority in the Senate, and may also have a 50-49 edge in the House.

How did Republicans “lose’’ the Senate? Sen. Sam Kitzenberg, a Glasgow Republican, announced Monday he will switch parties and become a Democrat, giving Democrats a 26-senator majority.

What does party control mean in the Senate or House? The majority party appoints committee members and controls majorities on the committees, allowing them to dictate the flow of legislation. A majority party can kill any bill it doesn’t like or pass bills it does like.

How did Democrats pick up another seat in the House? Additional votes in House District 58 in Laurel forged a tie between Rep. Emelie Eaton, D-Laurel, and Republican Krayton Kerns. The governor appoints the winner in a tie, and it’s presumed that Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, would appoint Eaton.

Where did the additional votes come from? Sixteen ballots rejected by vote-counting machines were counted by hand, as were four additional ’’provisional’’ ballots. Eaton won 17 of these 20 ballots, erasing a 14-vote deficit.

Are these results final? No. An automatic recount will occur in late November or early December.

What happens if Kerns ends up winning in the recount? Republicans would have a 50-49 majority in the House.

How will House members choose leadership on Nov. 27 meetings, before the recount? They’ll proceed on the assumption that Democrats hold a 50-49 majority. If the recount changes things, leadership positions will be reshuffled accordingly.