John McCain unexpectedly gave chairmanship of his Montana campaign to former U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., Saturday. The position had belonged to Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger for four weeks.

The change was announced during the final hours of the Montana Republican Party's Winter Kickoff in Billings, an event featuring high-profile speakers from three GOP presidential campaigns, but no one from the McCain camp.

In making the announcement, the McCain campaign initially stated that Burns was Montana chairman, listing Bohlinger only as a supporter.

The lieutenant governor, recently married, is on honeymoon in China and could not be reached for comment, but a spokesperson for the governor's office said Bohlinger still supported McCain. The McCain campaign appointed Bohlinger chairman last Dec. 26.

"John is honored to support McCain and is also happy to see former senator Burns jump on board," said Sarah Elliott, a governor's spokesperson.

However the Bohlinger's relationship with GOP leaders has been strained ever since the Billings Republican became lieutenant governor under Democrat Gov. Brian Schwietzer.

Montana Republicans snubbed Bohlinger in June when he requested two tickets to attend the convention dinner in Helena. Chris Wilcox, the party's executive director, told a Bohlinger aide then that tickets were no longer available and that Bohlinger wasn't invited to the convention, nor welcome, because he was no longer a Republican. Bohlinger was invited to Saturday's event to field questions from Republican delegates about his credentials. The lieutenant governor declined the invitation, citing his honeymoon.

Burns left the event early Saturday afternoon but returned in the evening to speak on McCain's behalf. He had not planned on speaking for McCain prior to the announcement. There was no mention of a McCain endorsement by anyone on the agenda.

Surrogate speakers for presidential candidates Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee addressed the audience. Many of the 300 or more people in attendance will be voting members of the Feb. 5 Montana Republican caucus, a winner-take-all event worth 25 delegates to presidential candidates. Each speaker stressed the importance of Montana's delegates in a presidential race that could be decided by a handful of delegate votes.

In a telephone interview, Burns called his appointment sudden, but said he had spoken recently with McCain about some role in the campaign.

"Well John, you know, we served together a long time and we've been in dialogue on the campaign. I've been on the fence as to who I wanted to support as president of the United States," Burns said. "The way he wants to run an administration, I think he's got the qualifications to be president."

Though Burns served with McCain, the two didn't always agree. Burns, who lost a 2006 reelection bid to Democrat Jon Tester, opposed campaign finance reform legislation by McCain. The legislation passed, though parts of McCain's plan were later ruled unconstitutional.

The campaign role Burns spoke with McCain about previously was spokesman on agriculture issues, the former senator said.