HELENA — A Ravalli County Republican has resigned his seat in the Montana House.
Rep. Ron Marshall announced in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that he was quitting the Legislature, effective Monday at noon.
“The corruption is more than I can stand,” he wrote. “Lobbyists run this country.”
(Watch the video to hear Marshall explain his decision to resign.)
Marshall, who’s been in the House since 2021, told reporters Monday that he was resigning because he had concluded the public didn’t really have a say at the Capitol.
“You know, why fight?” he said. “You can't fight the machine. You know, you're up against the monster and you're standing in the belly of it right now.”
I will be resigning from my position as representative for Montana House District 87, effective @ 12 noon today. The corruption is more than I can stand. Lobbyists run this country. They people have no voice.
— Ron Marshall (@MarshallMT87) March 3, 2025
Marshall, who owns vape shops in Ravalli County and Belgrade, is particularly frustrated over the handling of two bills that would change regulations on vaping products. He sponsored House Bill 149, which would have separated vaping products from tobacco regulations and required them to be sold only in places where minors aren’t allowed, and he sharply criticized House Bill 525, which would require any vaping product for sale in Montana to be on an approved state list and applied a tobacco tax to vape products with nicotine. HB 149 was voted down on the House floor, and HB 525 has passed a House committee on a unanimous vote.
Marshall said the effect of these decisions would be to hobble businesses like his and benefit large tobacco companies. Last month, he filed a federal lawsuit, claiming that major tobacco companies had violated their 1998 settlement agreement with the state by lobbying against HB 149 and in favor of HB 525. A U.S. district judge ruled last week that Marshall hadn’t established the necessary standing to get an injunction.
Marshall said that ruling wasn’t what led him to resign. He told reporters he no longer wanted to “play the game” at the Legislature.
Marshall represented House District 87, which is centered on Victor. MTN asked him what message he wanted to give to voters in the district, who will be without representation for now.
“I’d tell them – I mean, would you stay here? That's the question I’d ask,” he said. “Would you stay here, knowing that you don't have support from leadership, you don't have support from hardly anybody – I’ve got two people up here that I trust right now. And, you know, what would you do?”
Marshall is the chair of the House Human Services Committee.
In a statement, the House Republican Caucus said Speaker Rep. Brandon Ler, R-Savage, had received Marshall’s resignation and was forwarding it to the Montana Secretary of State’s Office as required by law.
“Montana House Republicans thank Representative Marshall for his service to the people of House District 87,” they said. “Since his election, Representative Marshall has been a strong advocate for his constituents, and we appreciate his contribution to the Legislature.”
The Ravalli County Republican Central Committee will now have the task of selecting three possible appointees to fill Marshall’s seat. The Ravalli County Commission will then choose one of those people as his replacement.
State law normally gives more than a month to fill a legislative vacancy, but when the Legislature is in session, the timeline is reduced to a maximum of 15 days.
