Gov. Steve Bullock’s presidential campaign has agreed to pay for the travel, lodging and meals of the Montana Highway Patrol security detail accompanying him on out-of-state campaign travel. Bullock’s official staff signed-off on an agreement earlier this month to pay for the expenses after Attorney General Tim Fox ordered a stop to the security. As of publication time the exact cost of the security detail has not been made public.

This weekend Montana Democrats will convene in Helena to begin strategizing how to appeal to voters in the 2020 election. They’ll elect party leadership, who will guide fundraising and candidate recruitment. State Democrats have struggled to gain significant political ground in recent elections. Next year will be another big test of the party’s appeal to voters.

Montana’s Libertarian Party is starting its 2020 election planning this weekend with a convention in Great Falls. Montanans have never elected a Libertarian to a legislative or statewide public office.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester echoed a call by many democrats for Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta’s resignation Wednesday during a Facebook Live town hall.

Montana’s Medicaid expansion now covers more than 92,000 people. Its future was in question earlier this year when state lawmakers debated whether to continue it, and if so, how. Conservative lawmakers campaigned to scrap expansion altogether. More moderate Republicans pushed for adding work requirements for enrollees — something not allowed under the Obama administration but OK'd by President Trump.

U.S. Census officials speaking in Missoula Monday avoided commenting on whether a citizenship question will be added to the 2020 Census and what it could mean for Montana. It comes at a time when the Trump administration is assembling a legal team determined to ask the country about its citizenship status.

Gov. Steve Bullock is heading back to Iowa this week for what his campaign says will be his sixth swing through the state in just under two months. After being excluded from the first Democratic primary debate stage last month, Bullock’s campaign continues to pour on efforts in the early-caucusing state and to seek national media attention.

Candidates for statewide office in Montana’s 2020 election raised more than $1.4 million since the start of the year, most of that coming over the last three months. Candidates were required to file campaign finance reports by Friday. Most of the early money coming in is taking sides in the contested Republican primary for governor.

Governor Steve Bullock says he could support the controversial Keystone XL pipeline “if it’s done right.” As a Democratic Governor of a red state Bullock often straddles issues that others in his party can take a clearer stance on, like the TransCanada Keystone XL oil pipeline. In an online town hall event where Bullock pledged making Montana’s electric grid carbon-neutral by 2035, Bullock got a question from Crow Tribal member Avery Old Coyote. Old Coyote said, "My question is just a simple one

A third Republican has joined the race for Montana’s lone U.S. House seat.