Montana ousted the last standing statewide Democrat in the 2024 election, marking the first time the Big Sky State will see all Republican leadership in congress in 100 years.
The general election results mark the first time in 113 years that Montana has been entirely represented by Republicans at the federal level.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte and U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke are favorites to win reelection against Democratic challengers as they seek to continue Republican dominance in the Big Sky state.
The state was one of 10 that voted on abortion-related ballot measures in the 2024 election. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the landmark Dobbs decision two years ago, a growing number of states have responded by passing their own laws codifying the right to abortion.
Tim Sheehy won Montana's Senate race on Wednesday, unseating the state's Democratic incumbent, Sen. Jon Tester, and flipping the seat Republican. Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL new to politics, took home a victory with 53% of the vote to Tester's 45.
Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D) won reelection Tuesday, assuring her return to the state Capitol in January nearly two years after her Republican colleagues censured her over language she used
Republican Tim Sheehy has flipped the closely watched U.S. Senate seat in Montana, the Associated Press projects, defeating Democrat and three-term incumbent Jon Tester. With 85 percent of votes counted, Sheehy led 52.9 percent to 45.4 percent, according to the AP, which called the race for the Trump-supporting Navy SEAL at 6:26 a.m. ET.
Montana voters chose to protect the right to an abortion in their state constitution. The ballot initiative sought to enshrine a 1999 Montana Supreme Court ruling that said the constitutional right to privacy protects the right to a pre-viability abortion by a provider of the patient’s choice.
With Roe overturned, abortion rights advocates in Montana pushed to enshrine the right within the state constitution.
Republican Tim Sheehy shaved Democratic Sen. Jon Tester’s margins in Montana’s populous counties and ran up his lead in the state’s more rural regions.
Three-term incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana is facing perhaps his toughest reelection challenge yet