The 2024 Montana gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2024, to elect the

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 ...

of the U.S. state of

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 ...

, concurrently with the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as well as

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

, elections to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, and various

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and local elections. Primary elections took place on June 4, 2024. Incumbent Republican governor

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 ...

won re-election to a second term, defeating Democratic nominee Ryan Busse. Gianforte won by a 20% margin, which was larger than his 13% margin in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. Though Montana has backed Republicans in every presidential election since

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, the sparsely populated Mountain state maintained a Democratic tendency at the state and U.S. Senate levels well through the

2010s File:2010s collage v22.png, From top left, clockwise: Anti-government protests called the Arab Spring arose in 2010–2011, and as a result, many governments were overthrown, including when Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was Death of Muammar Gad ...

. This was the first gubernatorial election since 1996 that a Republican was re-elected governor of Montana.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

, incumbent governor (2021–present) **Running mate:

Kristen Juras Kristen Juras ( Gustafson; born October 16, 1955) is an American politician, businesswoman, attorney, and law professor who has been serving as the 37th lieutenant governor of Montana since 2021 as a member of the Republican Party. Early life ...

, incumbent lieutenant governor (2021–present)

Eliminated in primary

Tanner Smith Thomas F. "Tanner" Smith (c. 1887 – July 26, 1919) was an American criminal and gang leader in New York City during the early 20th century. He was the founder and leader of the Marginals, or "Irish Paddy Gang", which was active in Greenwich ...

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

(2023–present) **Running mate: Randy Pinocci, member of the

Montana Public Service Commission The Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) is a quasi-judicial regulatory board of elected officials in the U.S. state of Montana. The PSC regulates private, investor-owned natural gas, electric, telephone, water and private sewer companies doi ...

(2019–present)

Endorsements

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

*Ryan Busse, author and former vice president of sales at

Kimber Manufacturing Kimber Manufacturing is an American company that designs, manufactures, and distributes small arms such as M1911 pistols, Solo pistols, rifles, and revolvers. The USA Shooting Team, Marines assigned to Special Operations Command, and the LAPD ...

**Running mate:

Raph Graybill Raphael Jeffrey Carlisle "Raph" Graybill (born February 20, 1989) is an American attorney who served as chief legal counsel to Steve Bullock, the governor of Montana, from 2017 to 2021. Graybill was a candidate for attorney general of Montana i ...

, former chief legal counsel to Governor Steve Bullock and nominee for

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Eliminated in primary

*Jim Hunt, attorney and candidate for 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 ...

**Running mate: Jerry Driscoll, former executive secretary of the Montana

AFL-CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

Withdrawn

*Shawn White Wolf, perennial candidate

Results

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Presumptive nominee

*Kaiser Leib, software engineer **Running mate: Matt Campbell, transportation engineer

General election

Predictions

Polling

Results

By county

Source

= Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

= * Blaine (largest city:

Chinook Chinook may refer to: Chinook peoples The name derives from a settlement of Indigenous people in Oregon and Washington State. * Chinookan peoples, several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest ** Chinook Indian Nation, an organiza ...

) * Big Horn (largest city: Hardin) *

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...

(largest city:

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer * Saint Helena (disambiguation), this includes places Places Greece * Helena ...

) *

Roosevelt Roosevelt most often refers to two American presidents: * Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919, president 1901–1909), 26th president of the United States * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945, president 1933–death), 32nd president of the United State ...

(largest city:

Wolf Point Wolf Point is a city in and the county seat of Roosevelt County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,517 at the 2020 census, down 4% from 2,621 in the 2010 Census. It is the largest community on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Wolf ...

)

By congressional district

Gianforte won both congressional districts.

Notes

Partisan clients

References

External links

Official campaign websites
Ryan Busse (D) for GovernorGreg Gianforte (R) for Governor
{{2024 United States elections

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

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 ...

2024 in Montana

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Endorsements

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Withdrawn

Results

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Presumptive nominee

General election

Predictions

Polling

Results

By county

= Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

See also

Notes

References

External links