by Travis Mateer

After decades of one-party rule in Missoula there exists a golden opportunity for Republicans to make gains, but this opportunity will NEVER be realized. Why? Because, in Missoula, political failure has a name, and that name is Vondene Kopetski.

Here’s an excerpt from Roy McKenzie’s article:

Missoula County Republican Central Committee Chair, Vondene Kopetski, called the police on yet another Republican during Tuesday night’s monthly Central Committee meeting. In 2021, Kopetski called the police on another individual at a committee meeting, a new member, claiming to police that the person had committed elder abuse because of a difference of opinion.

Kopetski’s recent target was a person who was a long-time Party member and current Central Committee member. This person, and other members, were asking for the minutes from a past meeting. The meeting that members wanted minutes for was one where bylaws were allegedly approved that amended how endorsements were to be made and party resources expended.

Vondene Kopetski is pathetic, and has a long record of losing to prove it. She also has a son in politics in the same way one has a dog in a dog show. Is it time to run the agility course yet, Mike?

The 2021 claim of ELDER ABUSE is particularly funny when you know what I know about a REAL case of elder abuse connected to someone in the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office. If Missoula Republicans are grooming former Sheriff, T.J. McDermott, to be Missoula’s “conservative” candidate for Mayor, this elder abuse situation could become a problem. Is that why McDermott hasn’t announced his candidacy yet?

To keep any semblance of democracy from happening within the Missoula Republican Central Committee’s “vetting” process, Kopetski has effectively stopped anyone outside the Executive clique from having influence. Here’s more from the article:

According to the person, in the past, the Central Committee members would vote on who the party would endorse and how much party resources to provide each candidate. Kopetski told the committee member that the bylaws had been changed so only the “Executive Committee” or a portion of it would vet the candidates. She explained that any change to expand what she called the “vetting committee” would require a change to the bylaws.

After this admission, additional members also expressed interest in the minutes for the meeting for which the bylaws had changed. Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, a discussion of the endorsement process was promised to be placed on the agenda by the Chair, but was not included, resulting in additional support from other members to make public the meeting minutes.

What a joke. No wonder Missoula Republicans have never been able to get their shit together in this valley. Vondene’s political acumen is no better than a deranged “Karen” trying to dominate a PTA meeting.

To highlight the consequence of Vondene’s incompetence, two critical positions this last election cycle saw NO CANDIDATE even file. This gave the Sheriff (Jeremiah Petersen) and County Attorney (Kirsten Pabst) unopposed paths of victory. Pathetic.

For a full list of Kopetski enablers, here are the names of the board from the Republican Committee website:

A familiar Republican name NOT seen on this list, Brad Tschida, was also at this meeting where law enforcement was called. What did he do? Sounds like nothing other than wait for the inevitable to happen.

With skyrocketing violent crime, I would think Missoula cops have better things to do. Instead, they had to babysit a bunch of pathetic Republicans who have allowed Vondene Kopetski to pull this kind of bullshit for years. Here’s more from the link:

Many members were baffled and despondent at Kopetski’s action to call the police. Former Montana House Representative and current Executive Director of the Montana Public Service Commission, Brad Tschida, was at the meeting and sat with the person as they waited for police to arrive to escort them from the building.

The police came and left after Tschida spoke with a Missoula Police Department officer and a groundskeeper for the church where the committee meetings are held.

Notably, in 2017, Kopetski also went “scorched earth” for political power and control and was involved with a lawsuit where the deposits of the Missoula County Republican Women’s bank account were completely withdrawn in an obvious coup attempt after the GOP woman’s group voted to replace Kopetski.

Kopetski also went ballistic during a recent Pachyderm meeting in mid-February that was hearing a presentation on election integrity. Kopetski starting yelling at the presenter, shocking many in attendance. The outburst could be related to the fact that only Democrats and the Republicans looking to follow the Chair up the clout ladder are buying the excuses for the 4,592 extra ballots that were counted in Missoula County’s 2020 election.

If Republicans ever want to take advantage of the extensive mismanagement stemming from one-party rule in Missoula, they must first rid themselves of Vondene Kopetski. If they don’t, this bullshit will just keep happening.

I appreciate McKenzie calling this out–great article Roy! And if you appreciate THIS content, please consider making a financial donation at my about page.

Thanks for reading!