Sales is the first person, to be elected by his peers, to serve as the presiding officer of both bodies of the Montana Legislature.
[1] As of 2007, Sales raised a small number of cattle and grew about 60 acres of hay near Bozeman, although he did not "consider himself a farmer or rancher.
"[5] At the time Sales was selected by his Republican colleagues in 2006 to serve as speaker of the House, the Billings Gazette described him as "easily one of the body's most conservative members.
[3] At the time Sales became House speaker, he was relatively inexperienced; he assumed leadership of the chamber in just his second term and had never served as a committee chair.
In the ensuing special session, the budget was approved after Governor Schweitzer negotiated a compromise with several moderate House Republicans,[11] effectively circumventing Sales.
[9] He unsuccessfully ran for Gallatin County Commission in 2010, being defeated by incumbent commissioner Joe Skinner in the Republican primary election.
[13][14] In an op-ed, Sales criticized U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations to combat climate change (calling them a "power grab") and expressed strong opposition to a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions.
[15] In 2015, Sales successfully introduced legislation, which he co-drafted the year before, to raise the speed limit on highways such as Interstate 90 to 80 mph.
[16][17][18] Also in 2015, Sales voted against privacy legislation introduced by Senator Daniel Zolnikov to restrict the state government's digital collection and use of individuals' data.
[20] Sales' choice to break from tradition was publicly criticized by former State Senate president Jon Tester.
In debate, Sales harshly attacked cyclists, calling them "some of the most self-centered, rude people navigating on the highways and county roads I’ve seen" and saying that there were "too many of them" in Montana.
In late December 2014, Sales negotiated a settlement with COPP, in which he agreed to pay a $500 fine and expressed "regret" for "lack of judgment regarding my association with, and campaign use of," the group.