(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Great Falls legislator Scot Kerns to resign, move to Pennsylvania • Daily Montanan [1] ['Nicole Girten', 'Blair Miller', 'Ariana Figueroa', 'More From Author', '- June', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar'] Date: 2024-06-12 Great Falls Republican lawmaker and pastor Scot Kerns announced he will resign from the legislature at the end of the month to move to Pennsylvania to serve a Lutheran congregation. Kerns, who was in his second term as a state representative, wrote in a June 3 resignation letter to the Secretary of State he was resigning effective June 30. “While I am establishing residence in Pennsylvania to serve a Lutheran Congregation that has called me to be their Pastor, I will continue to look at my time in Montana with great love and affection,” Kerns wrote. “Montana remains in my prayers!” Kerns made headlines last year after the Montana Free Press reported he had a driving under the influence conviction in 2021 and attempted to pass legislation to help clear DUI records and get driving privileges back in the 2023 session. The bill died in committee. The Cascade County Republican Central Committee will have 45 days to pick three replacement candidates from which county commissioners will choose a replacement. Committee Chairperson Eric Hinebauch told the Daily Montanan the committee will likely select the top three vote getters from the House District 23 primary, which would mean Eric Tilleman, John Proud and Pete Anderson would be considered. Tilleman won the primary with 61% of the vote, 39 percentage points ahead of second-place Anderson. Sandor Hopkins ran unopposed in the Democratic primary in the district. Kerns is a former U.S. Air Force captain and went to a military boarding high school in Virginia, according to his legislative biography. He told the Daily Montanan he was raised in Peoria, Illinois and first moved to Great Falls as part of the military, but eventually felt he “could do more to serve and help people in a suit and tie getting involved with politics than I could in a military uniform .” Kerns chose not to weigh in on the selection process for his replacement but hoped the commissioners selected the best person for the position. The church he is moving to is in Easton, Pennsylvania, a little more than an hour away from both New York City and Philadelphia. He said the church called on him to become their pastor and after visiting he decided to accept. “Did not plan on making a significant life changing move,” he said. “But God calls you where he wants you to be.” He served on the Transportation Interim Committee, and during the session he served on the Transportation, Local Government and Taxation Committees. Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include comment from Scot Kerns. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2024/06/12/great-falls-legislator-scot-kerns-to-resign-move-to-pennsylvania/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/