Another round of thoughts and prayers from political leaders. The Supreme Court race turns explicitly partisan. The commissioner of political practices says state leaders need to join the fight against election disinformation. And the health department issues an emergency rule to keep trans Montanans from changing their birth certificates.

Congress is once again debating how to regulate firearms as gun violence and mass shootings plague the country. MTPR reached out to both the Republican and Democratic candidates vying for Montana’s western district House seat to ask them how Congress should address gun violence.

Montana’s top political watchdog made an impassioned plea on Wednesday for state officials to combat election misinformation and hostility.

Congressional bargainers are celebrating a deal they say could pave the way for passage of legislation that would help millions of veterans exposed to toxins from burn pits during their time in the military. The deal could help roughly two-thirds of Montana veterans.

The state health department has enacted an emergency rule to restrict transgender Montanans from amending the gender marker on their birth certificates. The move clashes with a court order that blocks a new law aimed at regulating the process.

Four of the five Republican primary candidates for Montana’s western U.S. House seat met in a debate hosted by Montana Farmers Union Friday. The candidates generally agreed they want to limit big government, but differed on how to address specific issues.

Former vice president Mike Pence makes an unannounced visit to the Capitol. New restrictive voting laws are back in effect. Democrat Cora Neumann rails against "rich outsiders." Schools superintendent Elsie Arntzen wants to cut the number of required school counselors.

Supreme Court campaigns are non-partisan, but this year’s races are taking place amid an unusually charged political atmosphere. Meet the candidates running for Montana's open Supreme Court seats.

That means the two laws, which eliminate same-day voter registration and require voters to show photo identification when they cast a ballot, will likely regulate voting in the primary election on June 7. A lawsuit challenging the laws is still making its way through district court.

The governor’s spokesperson Brooke Stroyke said in an email that Gianforte invited the vice president and that he and Pence have been friends for six years. She said the visit did not relate to official state business.