Micah Drew*Daily Montanan*
The Gallatin County Commission at its Tuesday, Dec. 16 meeting voted unanimously for 25-year-old Katie Fire Thunder to take over the remainder of former Democratic Rep. Ed Stafman’s term in the Legislature.
Stafman, a 71-year-old former trial attorney and Rabbi Emeritus, served his third Legislative session in Helena this year, representing House District 59, but resigned his post in early November.
Katie Fire Thunder, Oglala Lakota, “became an activist after witnessing the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in her own community. I’m so proud she’s joined our campaign to tackle this crisis together. #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth” Credit: Kamala Harris 2020 campaign, Twitter
The county commissioners considered three candidates for the House seat, forwarded from the Gallatin County Democrats Central Committee.
Along with Fire Thunder, the committee recommended JP Pomnichowski, who previously served in as a legislator in both chambers from 2007-2009 and 2013-2021, and Tanya Reinhardt, a trustee for the Bozeman School District for nine years.
Fire Thunder is a co-founder of Bozeman Tenants United, works as a legal assistant the Gallatin County Attorney’s Office and has been involved in politics as a student political action director at Montana State University and as a legislative aide to the Montana Budget and Policy Center in 2025.
In brief remarks to the commission, Fire Thunder said she was raised in Bozeman by a single mother in a low-income household — real-life experiences she said will ground her in the Legislature.
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“My mom is a success story. She graduated with a master’s guide to her own private practice and bought a house. However, the reality is we still live paycheck to paycheck, and I constantly question if I’m going to be able to afford to live in this community long term and continue to live in this state,” Fire Thunder said. “As an Indigenous woman, a part of the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe, my people, have been forgotten from this land that we want stewarded and called home.”
Montana currently has 12 Native lawmakers as part of the Montana American Indian Caucus, with Fire Thunder bringing the number to 13, and comprising more than 8 percent of elected legislators.
Fire Thunder will have to run for election in 2026 for a full term beginning the 2027 Legislature. She said that until then, she will spend her time “strengthening relationships across the aisle, building coalition and ensuring that the voices of House District 59 are always at the table.”
Stafman told the Daily Montanan his decision to step down during the interim came after he decided he wouldn’t run for a fourth term and wanted to spend more time with his family, including a new grandchild.
He served on the Law and Justice Interim Committee and said he wanted his replacement to have a step up, if they went on to win the seat in next year’s election.
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