Partners
Who's already doing the work
All over Montana, groups are already teaching people how the Legislature works, training candidates and knocking doors. They deserve more reach and more help, and we want to learn from them.
Rebuilding the Democratic Party in Montana doesn't mean starting from scratch. The groups below already run trainings, track bills and organize in their towns. If you want to get involved, joining one of them is a great first step. If you lead one, we want to send people your way.
Training and running for office
Free and low-cost training for candidates, staff and volunteers.
Montana Democrats: Blue Bench Project
The state party's program for electing Democrats and progressives to city and county office. It recruits candidates and trains them on building a team, messaging, fundraising, budgeting, voter contact and compliance, and it buys walk cards, mail and digital ads in bulk so local races pay less.
Get involved: Call the state party at (406) 442-9520, and find your county party in the directory.
National Democratic Training Committee
Free campaign training for Democrats: on-demand courses, live virtual classes with a trainer, and small-group cohorts that run 8 to 12 weeks.
Get involved: Make a free account and start any course.
Run for Something
Recruits and supports young progressive candidates, with endorsements, a guide to local offices and an online community of first-time candidates.
Get involved: Tell them you're thinking about running.
Arena
Trains and places campaign staff. Arena Academy is a five-day program for new and experienced staff, and summer sessions run mostly on Zoom.
Get involved: Check the training page for the next application window.
Emerge
Trains Democratic women to run. Its six-month Signature Program runs only in states with a chapter, and Montana isn't one of them yet, so Montana women can look at its candidate boot camps instead.
Get involved: Ask about a boot camp, or about starting a Montana chapter.
Legislative advocacy
Groups that teach people how the Legislature works and help them show up.
Catalyst Montana
Formed in 2024 when the Montana Human Rights Network and Montana Women Vote merged. Its Navigating the Legislature series is running in person and online ahead of the 2027 session. During the 2025 session it held weekly drop-in office hours on Zoom and helped people write and practice testimony, then held debriefs in five towns.
Get involved: Sign up on its get-involved page and watch the events page for the next session near you.
Montana Farmers Union
Has advocated for family farmers, ranchers and rural communities since 1915. It publishes a legislative scorecard and brings members to the Capitol to meet their legislators. The next Legislative Drive-In is Jan. 5, 2027, in Helena.
Get involved: Join as a member and register for the Drive-In.
Northern Plains Resource Council
Organizes Montanans to protect water, land, air and working landscapes. Its local groups take on local fights like zoning and planning. During a session it sends a weekly bulletin, tracks bills, explains how to testify online and reports how legislators voted.
Get involved: Find the local group nearest you and join.
League of Women Voters of Montana
A nonpartisan voter education group with local Leagues in four cities. Its Legislature page walks through following a bill from sponsor to final vote, including how to send public comment.
Get involved: Join your local League.
Organizing and outreach
Local, volunteer-run groups that turn people out.
Indivisible Missoula
A grassroots group that organizes, speaks out and backs up members who get targeted. It keeps a resource hub with trainings and sends calls to action.
Get involved: Volunteer, or sign up for calls to action.
Indivisible Bozeman
Runs protests, organizing and advocacy, with local projects through Bozeman Rising and events posted on Mobilize.
Get involved: Send in the volunteer form or join an event.
Indivisible Helena
Holds member meetings, forums, rallies and a reading group. Volunteers handle social media, yard signs and event recruiting.
Get involved: Come to a member meeting or pick a volunteer job.
Other Indivisible groups
Indivisible groups are active in other Montana towns too, and new ones keep starting.
Get involved: Search the national group finder for one near you, or start one.
Native voter work
Organizing led by and for Native Montanans.
Western Native Voice
Trains emerging Native leaders through a culturally grounded organizing approach, recruits interns from tribal colleges, and teaches civic participation from school boards to statewide office. It also helps people apply for state boards and commissions.
Get involved: Volunteer, become a member, or ask them to bring a workshop to your community.
Montana Democrats: Tribal committees
Since 2021 party rules give each reservation, plus the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe, its own Democratic committee with its own bylaws and two voting delegates at state party conventions.
Get involved: Ask the state party how to reach the committee for your reservation: (406) 442-9520.
Labor
Unions that train members and fight for working people at the Capitol.
Montana Federation of Public Employees
Montana's largest union, formed in 2018 when MEA-MFT and the Montana Public Employees Association merged. It represents teachers, school staff, state workers and university faculty, publishes a legislative scorecard and runs a Worker Power and Organizing Program.
Get involved: Join if you work in public service, or apply to the organizing program.
mfpe.org →
Montana AFL-CIO
The state federation of unions. It tracks the Legislature, publishes scorecards and helps workers form unions, with central labor councils in Missoula, Helena, Billings, Great Falls, Kalispell and southwest Montana.
Get involved: Find your labor council, or take the next action alert.
What we're learning from them
Here's what these groups say about how they work, in their own materials.
- Teach the Capitol before the session starts. Catalyst runs its Navigating the Legislature sessions in the months before lawmakers arrive, so people know the process when hearings begin.
- Keep a standing door open. In 2025 Catalyst held office hours every Tuesday on Zoom, with no registration, for anyone with a question about a bill.
- Go back and report. After the 2025 session Catalyst held debriefs in Missoula, Butte, Billings, Bozeman and Helena, and Northern Plains sends members a summary of how legislators voted.
- Organize locally, act statewide. Northern Plains members join one of 13 local groups that work on local issues, and the statewide group carries their concerns to Helena.
- Find leaders one person at a time. Western Native Voice uses one-on-one interviews to learn each person's skills and interests, and recruits interns from tribal colleges.
- Bring people face to face with legislators. Montana Farmers Union's Drive-In puts members in the Capitol to tell lawmakers what's happening on their farms and ranches.
- Pool the costs of small races. The Blue Bench Project buys walk cards, mail and digital ads in bulk for local candidates.
Get your group listed
Does your Montana group train volunteers, teach civics, organize voters or help people take on the Legislature? We'd like to add you to this page and point people your way.
Sources: each group's own website, checked Nov. 6, 2026, linked on its card; Daily Montanan on the Tribal committees; Emerge states list.