The 2012 Montana gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2012, to elect the

governor of Montana A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

. Incumbent Democratic governor

Brian Schweitzer Brian David Schweitzer (born September 4, 1955) is an American farmer and politician who served as the 23rd Governor of Montana from 2005 to 2013. Schweitzer served for a time as chair of the Western Governors Association as well as the Democr ...

was term-limited and could not run for re-election to a third term.

Montana Attorney General The Montana Department of Justice is a state law enforcement agency of Montana. The Department is equivalent to the State Bureau of Investigation in other states. The Montana State attorney general, Attorney General, currently Republican Austin ...

Steve Bullock won the Democratic primary with 87% of the vote and former U.S. representative

Rick Hill Richard Allan Hill (born December 30, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Montana. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of Montana in 2012. Early life ...

won the Republican primary with 34% of the vote. In the general election, Bullock won by 7,571 votes, taking 48.9% of the vote to Hill's 47.3%. With a margin of 1.6%, this election was the second-closest race of the 2012 gubernatorial election cycle, behind only the election in Puerto Rico. Due to the close margin, media outlets did not call the race for Bullock until the next day. This was the last time anyone other than

Greg Gianforte Gregory Richard Gianforte ( ; born April 17, 1961) is an American politician, businessman, and software engineer serving as the 25th governor of Montana since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Gianforte served as the U.S. representativ ...

was the Republican nominee.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

* Steve Bullock,

:*Running mate: John Walsh, Brigadier general and former adjutant general in the

Montana National Guard The Montana National Guard consists of the Montana Army National Guard and the Montana Air National Guard. Structure and mission When National Guard troops are called to federal service, the President serves as Commander-in-Chief. The federal ...

* Heather Margolis, Montana representative for community service organization ServeNext :*Running mate: Steve Nelsen, founder of the Montana Conservation Corps

Withdrew

Larry Jent Larry Jent (born December 20, 1951) is a politician and a former Democratic member of the Montana Legislature. He served in the Montana House of Representatives from 2001 to 2007, and served in the Montana Senate from 2007 to 2015. Early life, ...

, state senator

Declined

John Bohlinger John Bohlinger Jr. (born April 21, 1936) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 33rd Lieutenant Governor of Montana from 2005 to 2013. He ran for the office as a Republican on a bipartisan ticket headed by Democratic gube ...

Lieutenant Governor of Montana The lieutenant governor of Montana is an elected official in the State of Montana that ranks just below the governor of Montana. List of lieutenant governors ;Parties References {{DEFAULTSORT:Lieutenant governors of Montana * Monta ...

* Carl Borgquist, president of Grasslands Renewable Energy of Bozeman * Dave Wanzenried, state senator * Pat Williams, former U.S. representative

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

* Bob Fanning, retired businessman :*Running mate: Joel Boniek, former state representative :*''Former running mate:''

Chuck Baldwin Charles Obadiah Baldwin (born May 3, 1952) is an American right-wing politician, radio host, and founder-former Independent Baptist pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. As of 2024 he is leading pastor of Liberty Fellowship ...

, pastor and Constitution Party nominee for president in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

(dropped out February 2012) *

, former U.S. representative :*Running mate: Jon Sonju, state senator *

Neil Livingstone Neil C. Livingstone (born August 3, 1946) is an American business executive, author, political candidate, television commentator and security and terrorism expert. He was the founder, chairman, and CEO of GlobalOptions Inc., an international r ...

, terrorism and national security analyst :*Running mate:

Ryan Zinke Ryan Keith Zinke ( ; born November 1, 1961) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Zinke served in the Montana Senate from 2009 to 2013 and as the U.S. re ...

, state senator * Jim Lynch, former Montana Department of Transportation director :*Running mate: Al Olszewski, orthopedic surgeon and

Carroll College Carroll College is a private Catholic college in Helena, Montana. The college has 21 buildings on a 63-acre campus, has over 35 academic majors, participates in 15 NAIA athletic sports, and is home to All Saints Chapel. The college motto, in L ...

Trustee * Ken Miller, former state senator and former chairman of the

Montana Republican Party The Montana Republican Party (MTGOP) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Montana. It is headquartered in Helena. It is the dominant ruling party of the state. The party is chaired by Don Kaltschmidt. The national committeeman Art Witti ...

:*Running mate: Bill Gallagher, Public Service Commissioner * Jim O'Hara, Chouteau County

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

:*Running mate: Scott Swingley, private investigator and former trooper in the Montana Highway Patrol *

Corey Stapleton Corey Stapleton (born September 17, 1967) is an American politician and musician who served as the Secretary of State of Montana from 2017 to 2021. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he served as a member of the Montana Senate, Monta ...

, former state senator :*Running mate: Bob Keenan, former president of the

Montana Senate The Montana State Senate is the upper house of the Montana Legislature, the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Montana. The body is composed of 50 senators elected for four years. Half of the Senate is up for election every two years. ...

Withdrew

* Jeff Essmann, Majority Leader of the

* Drew Turiano, real estate investor

Declined

Denny Rehberg Dennis Ray Rehberg (born October 5, 1955) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party. He served as the lieutenant governor of Montana from 1991 to 1997 and as the U.S. representative for from 2001 to 2013. Rehberg was the Rep ...

, U.S. representative ( ran for the U.S. Senate)

Polling

Results

2012 Montana gubernatorial Republican primary county map

General election

Candidates

* Steve Bullock (D), Montana attorney general :*Running mate: John Walsh, brigadier general and former adjutant general in the Montana National Guard *

(R), former U.S. representative :*Running mate: Jon Sonju, state senator * Ron Vandevender (Libertarian), businessman :*Running mate: Marc Mulcahy

Debate

Complete video of debate

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

, October 10, 2012

Predictions

Polling

Aggregate polls
With Bohlinger With Bullock With Jent With Wanzenried

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Notes

References

External links

Elections and Government – Montana Secretary of State
Official campaign websites (Archived)
Steve Bullock for Governor

Rick Hill for Governor

Ron Vandevender for Governor
{{2012 United States elections

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Steve Bullock (American politician) November 2012 in the United States