In what has proven to be an embarrassing situation for the entire party, Max Johansen resigned as vice chairperson of the Montana Democratic Party days after his election, due to his abusive and inappropriate criticism of former U.S. Sen. Jon Tester.
For context, Johansen went after Tester for not aggressively opposing Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy, who defeated Tester in 2024, and urged Democrats to embrace “socialist” policies. Tester not only blasted this entitled comment but also called Johansen uninformed and dangerous to the party.
Beginning his controversial remarks, the disgraced Democrat attacked his own side. “A lot of people are upset with Tester for not being as aggressive as he could be in opposing Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy, who ousted him,” Max Johansen whined.
Digging the hole deeper, the irritating Democrat dipped into left-wing radicalism, saying, “We want to see direct aid being given to the most vulnerable groups. These are things that are often called socialist. We got to stop running away from that word because the voters that are entering the electorate or just entered the electorate don’t find that term as radioactive as a lot of people in that room — that have been in it for 30, 40, sometimes 50 years — may find it.” Adding, “Democrats need to stop running from the word ‘socialist’ in reference to direct aid to vulnerable groups.”
Firing back, Jon Tester, the former Democratic Senator at the center of this scandal, demolished these weak arguments. “Johansen doesn’t know Jacks–t, he doesn’t know Montana, and he’s dangerous to Democrats,” he pointed out.
Building on this point, he made it clear that this rhetoric was dangerous to his own party. Laying out his argument, he said, “The Democrats have a fox in the henhouse, and if they don’t clean it up, there won’t be any eggs to pick.”
As a result of the debacle, Johansen was forced to resign in disgrace for his actions. “This morning, I accepted the resignation of Max Johansen, creating a vacancy on the Montana Democratic Party Executive Board. Mr. Johansen resigned after acknowledging that certain comments he made following the convention were disruptive and inconsistent with the direction of the executive board,” party official Shannon O’Brien announced.
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After the announcement was made public, Tester endorsed Mike Jopek, a Whitefish farmer with eight years of legislative experience, to take his role. He declared, “The Democratic Party is in trouble. We have done it to ourselves. We have focused on blue districts and not on other districts throughout the state. We are seen in polling as woke and weak.”
Wrapping up the story, O’Brien made it clear that her party would have to approach their situation carefully. “We don’t just provide lip service for our rural Democrats, we really travel, go out and get to them — listen to them — and recruit candidates,”
Building on her previous comments, she acknowledges the grim situation. “We had a rough November last year. I was on the ticket. It was a gut punch for all of us, And we’re ready to get together and go into the black hole,” she noted.