Working for a Better Montana

Kelly Kortum is a lifelong Montanan. He grew up in rural Ekalaka, and has been learning, working, and living here in Bozeman for the last 23 years.

Kelly has served three terms in the Montana House of Representatives, focusing on affordability for Montanans and accountability for state government. He is also the legislative expert on technology, broadband, data centers, AI, and more.

In 2025, he successfully passed a bill to refund rental application fees to unsuccessful applicants.

As your state senator, Kelly will continue to focus on what Montanans need most: affordable housing and utilities, strong and safe communities, and the fairness and freedom to live your life how you want.

Endorsements and Community Support

Proud to be endorsed by the following amazing humans and organizations: Kim Abbott - Former House Minority Leader; Emma Kerr-Carpenter - MT SD23 Senator; Joey Morrison - Current Bozeman Mayor; Peter Strand - HD63 House Rep.; Andrea Olsen - MT SD48 Senator; Emma Bode - Bozeman City Commissioner; Alyson Roberts - Former Executive Director of Gallatin County Democrats; Elizabeth Marum - Former Chair of Gallatin County Democrats; Julia Shaida - Community Member; Montana Federation of Public Employees

About Kelly

Kelly grew up in Ekalaka, a small town in eastern Montana, where he learned the value of hard work and community. He moved to Bozeman to attend Montana State University in 2003. After graduating with a degree in Computer Science, he began working for the Community Food Co-op, and has been there ever since. He served two terms in leadership of the Gallatin County Democrats, which prepared him for public service by teaching him how to build community, form consensus, and communicate openly and honestly with Montanans.

Kelly has been a House Representative for the past 5 years representing the hard-working people of north and west Bozeman (House Districts 64 and 65). You have most likely met Kelly on your doorstep, at a community event, or have chatted with Kelly on the phone or through email. Contact him! He loves to hear from constituents.

Now more than ever, we need regular people in office who are willing to speak truth to power. Kelly works every day for his living, and rents an apartment with his spouse, Rebecca, in west Bozeman just like many of you. A lot of people in the Capitol building may not like it, but he is consistently one of the legislators who is most willing to call out right and wrong, and hold people accountable whenever they try to put the interests of their wealthy friends over the well-being of the rest of us.

All of his work has been driven by the strong conviction that every Montanan has the right to housing, healthcare, and a good quality of life. With your support, he hopes to continue working to make sure every Montanan gets what he he had: a great public education, a strong community, and the opportunity to succeed and thrive.

Montana Senate District 32

Check out the map to the right.

If you live in this district, you can vote for Kelly!

If you don’t live in this district, you can help Kelly by donating to the campaign and signing up for Kelly’s email list!

Guest Columns, Scorecards, Articles

Guest Columns and Letters to the Editor

Read some of Kelly’s guest columns and hear constituent support for Kelly through Letters to the Editor.

• NEW! Letter of support from Alyson Roberts, Former Executive Director of the Gallatin County Democrats

• NEW! Letter of support from HD63 Representative Peter Strand

• Gambling industry self-regulation exploiting addicted Montanans

• GOP is driving the ship into the rocks

• Veterans deserve answers, not excuses

• Republican lawmakers don’t trust or care about you

• Our right to vote is on the line

• Montana GOP’s broadband bill favors big corporations

• Elect public servants like Kortum to lead

• Kortum, a leader for the time, deserves your vote

• Key issues need to be addressed during Montana Legislature

Legislative Score Cards

See how Kelly scored on issues important to specific organizations and non-profits.

• Forward Montana Scorecard

• Montana Environmental Information Center Scorecard

• Montana Federated Public Employees Scorecard

• Montana Conservation Voters Scorecard

• Montana AFL-CIO Scorecard

• Montana Audubon Scorecard

• Planned Parenthood of Montana 2023 Scorecard

• Montana Free Press Capitol Tracker

News Articles

A list of news articles about Kelly and his work in the legislature and Montana communities.

• Kortum bill to return housing application fees signed into law

• Rep. Kelly Kortum blasts GOP on housing, budget, and pitches Dems as party of “stability”

• Bill to stop election day registration tabled in committee

• About that political postcard you got from the Secretary of State

• MT Secretary of State political mailers cost $197,000

• Kortum brings bill to raise the state’s minimum wage (2021, 2023, & 2025)

• Rep. Kortum’s bill seeks to ban ‘killer robots’ in Montana

• Lawmakers consider bill for state to pay for absentee ballot postage

• Bill aimed at funding emergency rental program fails in committee

• Bridger Peak renters demand landlord meeting

Healthcare

Healthcare is a human right. We have the means, as a country and state, to provide better health outcomes for our fellow Montanans. The health and happiness of our people are essential to the success of our state. Limiting access to a basic level of care is both cruel and unnecessary. Everyday Montanans should be able to keep their families healthy without worrying about crushing medical debt and bankruptcy.

Housing

Montanans deserve to live in the community in which they work. Areas where housing is available and affordable have much better economic prospects than those with limited options. Our state must enact housing policy that fosters a vibrant community and strong economy.

Public Lands

Public lands are a blessing and responsibility for all of us. We must ensure that public lands will benefit each of us — today AND tomorrow. They must be treated with respect and shared fairly, not reserved for the wealthy few. Privatizing public lands is theft from future generations.

Voting

Voting is an essential right of all American citizens and we must exercise and defend that right to remain a free and democratic nation. Voting for our leaders and government is fundamental to properly ensuring opportunity, justice, and human progress. Efforts to restrict any citizen's ability to vote directly threatens our freedom, liberty, and shared future.

Local Business

Local businesses provide goods and services with a much smaller burden on our shared infrastructure. Local food growers produce less waste and ensure resilience to external conflicts and shortages. Jobs created by local businesses keep money local and strengthen our communities by providing a prosperous culture and personal relationships that make us better neighbors.

The Internet

The internet is an essential part of our economy, our education, and our daily lives. It was funded and created with public money and should be treated like our interstate highway system or our national parks: we all share the upkeep and we all can utilize its many benefits. We must prevent a small number of people from extracting or exploiting this shared space, or America will fall behind the rest of the world in innovation, economy, and education. The Internet must be free, open, and neutral.

Government

A healthy government is free of corruption. Corporations aren't people. People are people, and their rights should be protected equally. Transparency, free elections, and shared common ethical standards ensure that our government serves those people. Until recently, Montana led the nation in combating corruption in politics and securing transparency in government, and we must recommit to those values.

Education

Providing all citizens a quality education is essential to having a successful and prosperous state and country — not to mention a right guaranteed to each person by our Montana Constitution. Public education is our best investment in American democracy and prosperity, so we must make sure its doors are open to all. We should ensure that continued education doesn’t bury our students in a lifetime of debt by supporting our universities and vocational schools.

Your support will help Kelly communicate with voters in Senate District 32
so he can be elected to the Montana Legislature.

RSVP for the Meet and Greet on Wednesday, May 6, 2026.

Sign up for Kelly’s campaign email list here
to stay informed of events and news!