MONTANA 3 Electoral Votes 
link to clickable map
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, MT Secretary of State)
Total Resident Population, July 1, 2012                        1,005,141
Total Registration, Nov. 2012                                               681,608
Montana has: 56 counties,126 incorporated cities and towns.
Largest counties: Yellowstone, Missoula, Gallatin, Flathead, Cascade. >
Largest cities: Billings, Missoula, Great Falls. >

Government
Governor: Brian Schweitzer (D) elected in Nov. 2004; re-elected in 2008; term-limited in 2012.
State Legislature: Montana Legislature   House: 100 seats  Senate: 50 seats
Local: Counties, Cities and Towns, Native American  NACO Counties
U.S. House: 1R - Denny Rehberg (R)
U.S. Senate: Max Baucus (D) re-elected in 2008, Jon Tester (D) elected in 2006; re-elected in 2012. 
2012
Governor: In the race to succeed Gov. Schweitzer, Attorney General Steve Bullock (D)/Adjutant General, General John Walsh (ret.) defeated former U.S. Rep. Rick Hill (R)/state Sen. Jon Sonju, and Ron Vandevender (L)/Marc Mulcahy by 236,450 votes to 228,879 and 18,160.
U.S. Senate: In one of the most hotly contested Senate races Sen. Jon Tester (D) surprised many observers in fending off a challenge from Rep. Denny Rehberg (R) and Dan Cox (L) by 236,123 votes (48.58%) to 218,051 (44.86%) and 31,892 (6.56%).  More votes were tallied in this race (486,066) than in the presidential race (483,932).
U.S. House: In the race to succeed Rep. Rehberg, Steve Daines (R)
, an executive at RightNow Technologies and the 2008 Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, defeated Senate Minority Whip Kim Gillan (D), and Dave Kaiser (L) by 255,468 votes (53.25%) to 204,939 (42.72%) and 19,333 (4.03%).
State Legislature: All 100 House seats and 25 of 50 Senate seats were up.  Republicans kept control of both chambers of the state legislature; the House went from 68R, 32D to 63R, 37D and the Senate from 28R, 22D to 27R, 23D.
Ballot Measures: Montanans voted on a number of hot button issues.  They approved by wide margins LR-120 (parental notification prior to an abortion for a minor), LR-121 (denying certain state-funded services to illegal aliens), and LR-122 (prohibiting the state or federal government from mandating the purchase of health insurance); and also approved IR-124 an initiative referendum enacting a new medical marijuana program, and I-166 (corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights). 

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Big Sky Country
General Election -- Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Voting Eligible Population*: 773,147.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 62.6%.


Absentees sent: 
314,329
Absentees rec'd: 289,920 (92.23%)
Total Votes: 491,966
Absentees received as a percentage of total  votes 58.93%.
Official Results >

 
Obama/Biden (Dem.)
201,839
(41.71)
Johnson/Gray (Lib).
14,165
(2.93)
+Romney/Ryan (Rep.)
267,928
(55.36)
Total........483,932

total votes cast 491,966
Overview: The Romney/Ryan ticket won with a plurality of 66,089 votes (13.65 percentage points), carrying 48 counties to eight for Obama/Biden (Big Horn, Blaine, Deer Lodge, Glacier, Hill, Missoula, Roosevelt and Silver Bow).  None of the Democratic principals visited during the fall campaign; Mitt Romney attended a fundraiser in Hamilton on July 11; Jim Gray attended a meet and greet in Corvallis on Aug. 20 and did rallies in Bozeman on Oct. 31 and Dillon and Missoula on Nov. 1.
Obama  |  (Romney)
BALLOT [PDF]

Presidential Preference Primary -- Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Registered Voters: 642,308.   Votes Cast: 238,771...   Turnout: 37.17%.
The presidential preference primary was held the same day as the state primary.
Democrats

Official Results
+Barack Obama
79,932
89.44%
No Preference
8,270
9.25%
Total
88,202

Republicans
26 Delegates: 3 RNC; 20 at-large; 3 by CD (3 x 1 CD). 
1.14% of the 2,286 Delegates.

Official Results 
Newt Gingrich
6,107
4.33%
Ron Paul
20,227
14.36%
+Mitt Romney
96,121
68.22%
Rick Santorum
12,546
8.90%
No Preference
5,456
3.87%
Total
140,457

State Republicans, who in 2008 held a presidential caucus in February, voted at their Central Committee meeting in June 2010 to revert to using the June presidential preference primary.  See Mike Dennison.  "GOP abandons primary caucuses." Independent Record.  June 18, 2010.


General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Voting Eligible Population*: 741,538.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 66.3%.


Total Registration: 668,085.

                        Official Results >


Paul/Peroutka (Const.)
10,638
(2.17)
Obama/Biden (Dem.)
231,667
(47.27)
Nader/Gonzalez (Ind.)
3,686
(0.75)
Barr/Root (Lib.)
1,355
(0.28)
+McCain/Palin (Rep.)
242,763
(49.53)
Total........490,109


497,599 total votes cast.

2008 Overview
In the face of an intense effort from the Obama campaign, the McCain/Palin ticket largely ignored Montana and still won the state by a thin margin of 11,096 votes (2.26 percentage points).  McCain/Palin carried 43 counties to 13 for Obama/Biden. 
General Election Details
Obama/Allies  |  McCain/Allies  |  Nader

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Voting Eligible Population: 699,114.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 64.4%.

Total Registration:  638,474.


Peroutka/Baldwin (Const.)
1,764
(0.39)
Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)
173,710
(38.57)
Cobb/LaMarche (Grn.) 996 (0.22)
Nader/Sanchirico (Ind.) 6,168
(1.37)
Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.)
1,733
(0.38)
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
266,063
(59.07)
Total........450,434
 




456,096 total votes cast
649 polling places ... 856 precincts
2004 Overview
The Bush-Cheney ticket won with a plurality of 93,353 votes (20.50 percentage points), carrying 51 of the 56 counties.  Kerry won in Missoula, Silver Bow, Glacier, Big Horn and Roosevelt Counties. 

In terms of campaign activity, Kerry's younger sister Diana visited the state July and mid-October.  Nader campaigned at the University of Montana in Missoula on Sept. 5 and Cobb appeared in Great Falls on Aug. 10.  First Lady Laura Bush vacationed at Glacier Park in July.  Also of note, former Montana Governor Marc Racicot chaired the Bush campaign.

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000
Voting Eligible Population: 667,525.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 61.6%.

Total Registration: 698,260.



Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
 1,718
 (0.42)
Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)
 5,697
(1.39)
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
240,178
(58.44)
Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
137,126
(33.37)
Hagelin/Goldhaber (NLP)
675
(0.16)
Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)
24,437
(5.95)
Phillips/Frazier (Const.)
1,155
 (0.28)
Forrest C. Laible (w/in)
11
Total........410,997

Total votes cast: 417,916

2000 Overview
Montana, a very close state with Perot on the ballot in 1992 and 1996, went to Bush by a wide margin in 2000.  The Bush-Cheney ticket won with a plurality of  103,052 votes (25.07 percentage points), carrying all but 4 of the state's 56 counties.  The state did see a number of closely fought races, however.  In the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Conrad Burns (R) defeated Brian Schweitzer (D) 51% to 47%.  In the U.S. House race, Dennis Rehberg (R) defeated Nancy Keenan (D) 51% to 46%.  In the governor's race, Judy Martz and Karl Ohs (R) defeated Mark O'Keefe and Carol Williams (D) 51% to 47%.

1992 and 1996 General Elections

1992
Clinton (Dem.)........154,507 (37.63)
Bush (Rep.)...........144,207 (35.12)
Perot (Ind.).............107,225  (26.11)
Others (2+2 w/ins).....4,672
(1.14)
Total........410,611
1996
Dole (Rep.).............179,652 (44.11)
Clinton (Dem.)........167,992 (41.23)
Perot (Ref.)..............55,229 (13.56)
Others (2+4 w/ins)......4,458
(1.09)
Total........407,261
Archive Pages: 2008 | 2004 | 2000