More than 60 candidates for state and federal offices are on ballots for consideration by voters across Montana as the state conducts its June 4, 2024, primary election, which selects party nominees to advance to the November general election.
Polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday evening. Montana Free Press staff will update this story periodically as results become available. For results as they’re reported in all races, see our live results dashboard, courtesy of the Associated Press. For more information on specific candidates, see MTFP’s 2024 election guide.
According to the Montana secretary of state’s office, county election officials had already received 248,536 absentee ballots by Tuesday evening — 55% of the total number of ballots sent out via mail statewide. Additional votes were also cast at polls Tuesday.
Note: Election results are not official until county election offices complete the post-election canvass process.
U.S. Senate | U.S. House MT-01 (Western District) | U.S. House MT-02 (Eastern District) | Governor | Secretary of State | Attorney General | Superintendent of Public Instruction | State Auditor | Montana Legislature | Montana Supreme Court | Montana Public Service Commission
FEDERAL DELEGATION
U.S. Senate
Incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, has overcome a nominal primary challenge from U.S. Navy veteran Michael Hummert, capturing more than 97% of the vote at the time the Associated Press called the race Tuesday evening.
On the Republican side, Bozeman businessman Tim Sheehy, who has the backing of the national GOP establishment, easily defeated former Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson and Helena environmental contractor Charles Walkingchild with almost 75% of the vote.
Helena resident Michael Downey led Billings resident Robert Barb by about 100 votes in the Green Party Senate primary as of Tuesday evening at around 9:20 p.m. Libertarian Sid Daoud, a Kalispell City Council member, does not have a primary competitor and will advance to the general election.
Background reading
- Tim Sheehy and the scrum for Tester’s Senate seat
U.S. House MT-01 (Western District)
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke was declared the Republican nominee by the Associated Press at 8:39 p.m. Zinke fended off a challenge from Kalispell pastor Mary Todd in his pursuit of a second consecutive term.
Zinke will face Democrat Monical Tranel, a Missoula attorney, in a rematch of their 2022 race. Tranel has an uncontested primary this year.
Dennis Hayes and Ernie Noble are both on the Libertarian ballot, though Noble said in April that he was suspending his campaign and endorsing Hayes.
U.S. House MT-02 (Eastern District)
State auditor Troy Downing has defeated a broad array of GOP candidates in the race for Montana’s strongly Republican eastern U.S. House district, according to an AP race call. With 44% of ballots counted as of the AP’s call at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Downing had received about 38% of the vote, easily defeating former Congressman Denny Rehberg, former Drug Enforcement Agency official Stacy Zinn, and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen. The rest of the field comprised Billings pharmacist Kyle Austin, state Sen. Ken Bogner, former state Sen. Ric Holden, and former state Rep. Joel Krautter. Former state Sen. Ed Walker was also on the ballot, though he announced the end of his campaign in April.
On the Democratic side, the party nomination is a four-way contest between Billings resident Ming Cabrera, former Public Service Commissioner John Driscoll, Helena resident Kevin Hamm, and Broadus resident Steve Held.
Background reading
- The GOP scrum for Montana’s second House district
STATE OFFICIALS
Governor
The Associated Press called the Republican primary campaign for incumbent Gov. Greg Gianforte just before 8:40 p.m. Gianforte faced a challenge from state Rep. Tanner Smith, who has sought to capitalize on discontent with the governor among some in the party’s hard-right flank.
Democrat Ryan Busse, a former firearms sales executive, emerged as his party’s nominee shortly before 8:50 p.m., based on an Associated Press race call. He faced a nominal primary challenge from Helena attorney Jim Hunt.
Helena tech entrepreneur and standup comedian Kaiser Leib is unopposed on the Libertarian ticket.
- Why Gianforte’s reelection bid has drawn a challenge from the right
- Democrat Ryan Busse launches 2024 campaign for governor
Secretary of State
Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, Democrat challenger Jesse Mullen and Libertarian candidate John Lamb will each advance to the November general election without contested primaries.
Attorney General
Incumbent Attorney General Austin Knudsen, a Republican, has thwarted a primary challenge from Daniels County attorney Logan Olson, according to an AP race call around 9:30 p.m.
With 37% of the ballots counted, Knudsen had captured more than 82% of the votes.
Democratic candidate Ben Alke has no primary opponent.
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Susie Hedalen has defeated rival Sharyl Allen for the Republican nomination to fill outgoing state Superintendent Elsie Arntzen’s seat. The Associated Press called the race shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday, at which point Hedalen had claimed 64% of the vote.Hedalen will now face Democratic candidate Shannon O’Brien, a current state senator, in November’s general election. O’Brien ran unopposed in her party’s primary.
Background reading
- Lining up to lead the Office of Public Instruction
State Auditor
Public Service Commission President James Brown has bested Helena-area insurance salesman John Jay Willoughby for the GOP nomination, having secured 68% of the vote as of 9:45 p.m. Tuesday night. Democratic candidate John Repke, a retired business executive, is unopposed in his primary.
Brown told MTFP Tuesday evening he is “very pleased with the results of the election, particularly the margin of victory.” He attributed the outcome to his tenure at the PSC, which regulates monopoly utilities to balance the financial health of utilities with the interests of their captive ratepayers. Brown said he’s looking forward to addressing the rising costs of health insurance and representing the state’s agricultural interests on the Montana Land Board, which oversees management of state trust lands.
MONTANA LEGISLATURE
Primary ballots include 44 contested Republican and 15 contested Democratic primaries in state house and senate districts. In many cases, those primaries cover areas that have overwhelmingly favored a single political party in past elections, meaning many of tonight’s winners will likely cruise to easy victories in November.
As primary results come in, MTFP staff are paying particular attention to Republican contests featuring clear rivalries between the party’s hardline and comparatively moderate Solutions Caucus wings. With Democrats likely to remain in the legislative minority heading into the 2025 session, a swing toward one wing of the state’s Republican Party could tilt the Legislature’s political balance on key issues, including renewal of the state’s expanded Medicaid program in the 2025 session.
Gov. Greg Gianforte, who has been criticized by some Republicans for cooperating with prominent Solutions Caucus lawmakers, endorsed candidates in 24 contested GOP primaries. Additionally, the Solutions Caucus-aligned Conservatives4MT political committee has spent about $240,000 trying to influence Republican primaries, backing a list of 27 candidates that has substantial overlap with the governor’s endorsements.
Here’s where those races stand:
Notable Democratic primaries include contests between SK Rossi and Pete Elverum in central Helena’s House District 82, as well as a three-way primary between Anne Woodland, Emily Harris, and Luke Muszkiewicz in southwest Helena’s House District 79.
Other competitive Democratic primaries include:
- House District 3, north Whitefish and West Glacier, where Debo Powers is facing Guthrie Quist.
- West Missoula’s House District 97, where Melody Cunningham and Lisa Verlanic Fowler are competing.
- West Bozeman’s House District 62, where Rio Roland and Josh Seckinger are competing.
- West Bozeman’s House District 63, where Peter Strand and John Hansen are competing
- Central and north Bozeman’s House District 65, where Anja Wookey-Huffman and Brian Close are competing.
- Downtown Missoula’s House District 100, where current state Rep. SJ Howell faces a challenge from Tim Garrison.
- Senate District 21, which spans the Crow and Northern Cheyenne reservations, where current lawmaker Sharon Stewart-Peregoy faces a challenge from former lawmaker Rae Peppers.
- Butte and Anaconda’s Senate District 36, where Jessica Wicks and Sara Novak are competing.
- North Missoula and Ronan’s Senate District 46, where CB Pearson is competing with Jacinda Morigeau.
MONTANA SUPREME COURT
Broadwater County Attorney Cory Swanson and former federal magistrate court judge Jerry Lynch both advanced from the primary election in the race for chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court, according to an AP race call.
With 40% of ballots counted, Swanson had received about 44% of the vote and Lynch had received about 41%. The top two vote-getters in each nominally nonpartisan Supreme Court primary advance to the November general election.
Swanson and Lynch defeated Doug Marshall, an attorney in Carbon County.
The candidates for this year’s other open Supreme Court justice position, Seat 3, are State District Court Judge Katherine Bidegaray, former State Sen. Jerry O’Neil and State District Court Judge Dan Wilson. According to the AP’s race call, Bidegaray won first place in that race’s primary, but it’s too early to determine whether O’Neil or Wilson will advance to the general election alongside her.
Ballots also include partisan elections for the position of Clerk of the Montana Supreme Court. Incumbent clerk Bowen Greenwood, a Republican, is facing a primary challenge from Senate President Jason Ellsworth. On the Democratic side, Helena attorney Erin Farris-Olsen is competing against U.S. Navy veteran Jordan Ophus. Libertarian candidate Roger Roots is unopposed in his primary. That race was too close to call as of Tuesday at around 10 p.m.
MONTANA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
PSC District 2
On the Republican side, former commissioner Kirk Bushman is running against state senator and former commissioner Brad Molnar.
Democratic candidate Susan Bilo is unopposed in her primary.
PSC District 3
The Republican primary features a three-way contest between Harlowton IT professional Rob Elwood, metallurgical engineer Suzann Nordwick and state Sen. Jeff Welborn.
As of 10:45 p.m., with about 57% of votes counted, Welborn had 40% of the vote to Nordwick’s 37.8%. Elwood trailed with 22%.Democratic candidate Leonard Williams is unopposed in his primary.
PSC District 4
Incumbent Commissioner Jennifer Fielder is unopposed in the Republican primary. She also has no Democratic challengers for the District 4 seat, though Elena Evans of Missoula is mounting a campaign as an independent.
