Lisa Bennett Settles Lawsuit with and is Expelled from Republican Party

Bennett settled her case with Montana Republican State Central Committee; her claims and counterclaims with Carbon County continue

By Denise Rivette

At 9:00 a.m. on Monday, June 23, the Carbon County District Courtroom was unusually full for a civil hearing. The atmosphere was filled with anticipation as the April 2024 case filed by the Montana Republican State Central Committe aka Montana Republican Party (MTGOP) against Lisa Bennett et al. was finally to be given a fair trial in the courtroom of the Honorable Matthew J. Wald.

The observers waiting for the trial were mostly members of the local Republican Party. The Party had at first embraced Bennett and her enthusiasm for conservative issues when she moved to Carbon County from Colorado a few years ago, but soon would begin distancing themselves from her as her actions proved more and more problematic. After instigating disruptions to the workings of the Carbon County Republican Central Committee and Carbon County Republican Women’s groups, making accusations against County officials that would result in an ongoing lawsuit, diverting official documents from the State of Montana meant for MTGOP, and being referred to the Carbon County Attorney for violating campaign practice laws, she was officially expelled from the Republican Party on June 5, 2025.

The hearing on June 23, took place just weeks after Patrick HagEstad filed a motion to remove himself as legal counsel for Lisa Bennett et al. (Bennett Plaintiffs) on May 28. HagEstad was representing the Bennett Plaintiffs in the MTGOP’s case and Bennett in her lawsuit against, and the counterclaim by, Carbon County et al. His motion to withdraw cited ethics. HagEstad had taken over as Bennett’s attorney in October 2024 in both cases after Del Post bowed out after taking over her case against Carbon County from Chris Gallus. Despite having almost four weeks to retain new counsel, Bennett appeared in court on Monday pro se (representing herself).

The hearing opened with MTGOP stating they previously reached a settlement with the other defendants in the case, Karla Johnson and Levi Mceuen, but not Bennett. Judge Wald insisted that the parties take ten minutes to attempt to reach a settlement before he officially began the trial. The parties retreated to the jury room for discussions. After considerably more than ten minutes had passed, the parties returned to announce they had reached a settlement.

Without admitting wrongdoing, Bennett agreed to stop all activities relating to MARCCo (Montana Association of Republican Central Committees), an organization established by Bennett and not affiliated with the Republican Party; to refrain from holding herself out as a representative of a Republican central committee or organizing a group claiming to be affiliated with the Republican Party; to refrain from illegal fundraising or engaging in any other deceptive activity designed to undermine Republicans or deceive the public; and to refrain from operating any unincorporated and unregistered political committee. Each party agreed to pay their own attorneys fees and court costs.

While the observers in the courtroom were disappointed not to see the evidence and hear the witnesses the trial would have produced, both parties to the action stated they were pleased with the result and were glad to put the case behind them.