Montana was admitted to the Union on November 8, 1889 and elects U.S. Senators to Classes 1 and 2. Its current U.S. Senators are Democrat Jon Tester (serving since 2007) and Republican Steve Daines (serving since 2015), making it one of nine states to have a split United States Senate delegation.
Montana is a state in the Northwestern United States. Montana has several nicknames, although none are official, including "Big Sky Country" and "The Treasure State", and slogans that include "Land of the Shining Mountains" and more recently "The Last Best Place".
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City. Most of the country is located contiguously in North America between Canada and Mexico.
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the United States House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the legislature of the United States. The Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol Building, in Washington, D.C.
Class 1 Class 1 U.S. Senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in 2000, 2006, 2012, and 2018. The next election will be in 2024. | C o n g r e s s | Class 2 Class 2 U.S. Senators belong to the electoral cycle that has recently been contested in 1996, 2002, 2008, and 2014. The next election will be in 2020. | ||||||||||
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# | Senator | Party | Years in office | Electoral history | T e r m | T e r m | Electoral history | Years in office | Party | Senator | # | |
Vacant | November 8, 1889 – January 1, 1890 | Montana elected its first Senators two months after admission to the Union. | 1 | 51st | 1 | Montana elected its first Senators two months after admission to the Union. | November 8, 1889 – January 2, 1890 | Vacant | ||||
1 | Wilbur F. Sanders | Republican | January 1, 1890 – March 3, 1893 | Elected in 1890. Lost re-election. | Elected in 1890. Retired. | January 2, 1890 – March 3, 1895 | Republican | Thomas C. Power | 1 | |||
52nd | ||||||||||||
Vacant | March 3, 1893 – January 16, 1895 | Legislature failed to elect. | 2 | 53rd | ||||||||
2 | Lee Mantle | Republican | January 16, 1895 – March 3, 1899 | Elected to finish vacant term. Lost renomination. | ||||||||
54th | 2 | Elected in January 1895. [1] Lost re-election. | March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1901 | Republican | Thomas H. Carter | 2 | ||||||
Silver Republican | 55th | |||||||||||
3 | William A. Clark | Democratic | March 4, 1899 – May 15, 1900 | Elected in 1899. Resigned to avoid claim of election fraud. | 3 | 56th | ||||||
Vacant | May 15, 1900 – March 7, 1901 | Clark was appointed to continue his vacant term, but did not qualify. | ||||||||||
57th | 3 | Elected in 1901. Retired. | March 4, 1901 – March 3, 1907 | Democratic | William A. Clark | 3 | ||||||
4 | Paris Gibson | Democratic | March 7, 1901 – March 3, 1905 | Elected to finish Clark's term. [2] [3] Retired. | ||||||||
58th | ||||||||||||
5 | Thomas H. Carter | Republican | March 4, 1905 – March 3, 1911 | Elected January 16, 1905. [4] Lost re-election. | 4 | 59th | ||||||
60th | 4 | Elected January 16, 1907. [5] Lost re-election as a Progressive. | March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1913 | Republican | Joseph M. Dixon | 4 | ||||||
61st | ||||||||||||
6 | Henry L. Myers | Democratic | March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1923 | Elected March 2, 1911. | 5 | 62nd | ||||||
63rd | 5 | Elected January 14, 1913. | March 4, 1913 – March 2, 1933 | Democratic | Thomas J. Walsh | 5 | ||||||
64th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1916. Retired. | 6 | 65th | ||||||||||
66th | 6 | Re-elected in 1918. | ||||||||||
67th | ||||||||||||
7 | Burton K. Wheeler | Democratic | March 4, 1923 – January 3, 1947 | Elected in 1922. | 7 | 68th | ||||||
69th | 7 | Re-elected in 1924. | ||||||||||
70th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1928. | 8 | 71st | ||||||||||
72nd | 8 | Re-elected in 1930. Died. [6] | ||||||||||
March 2, 1933 – March 13, 1933 | Vacant | |||||||||||
73rd | ||||||||||||
Appointed to continue Walsh's term. Lost nomination to finish Walsh's term. | March 13, 1933 – November 6, 1934 | Democratic | John E. Erickson | 6 | ||||||||
Elected to finish Walsh's term. [7] | November 7, 1934 – January 3, 1961 | Democratic | James E. Murray | 7 | ||||||||
Re-elected in 1934. | 9 | 74th | ||||||||||
75th | 9 | Elected to full term in 1936. | ||||||||||
76th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1940. Lost renomination. | 10 | 77th | ||||||||||
78th | 10 | Re-elected in 1942. | ||||||||||
79th | ||||||||||||
8 | Zales Ecton | Republican | January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1953 | Elected in 1946. Lost re-election. | 11 | 80th | ||||||
81st | 11 | Re-elected in 1948. | ||||||||||
82nd | ||||||||||||
9 | Mike Mansfield | Democratic | January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1977 | Elected in 1952. [8] | 12 | 83rd | ||||||
84th | 12 | Re-elected in 1954. Retired. | ||||||||||
85th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1958. | 13 | 86th | ||||||||||
87th | 13 | Elected in 1960. [9] | January 3, 1961 – January 12, 1978 | Democratic | Lee Metcalf | 8 | ||||||
88th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1964. | 14 | 89th | ||||||||||
90th | 14 | Re-elected in 1966. | ||||||||||
91st | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1970. Retired. | 15 | 92nd | ||||||||||
93rd | 15 | Re-elected in 1972. Died. | ||||||||||
94th | ||||||||||||
10 | John Melcher | Democratic | January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1989 | Elected in 1976. | 16 | 95th | ||||||
January 12, 1978 – January 22, 1978 | Vacant | |||||||||||
Appointed to finish Metcalf's term. Lost nomination to full term. Resigned early to give successor preferential seniority. | January 22, 1978 – December 12, 1978 | Democratic | Paul G. Hatfield | 9 | ||||||||
December 12, 1978 – December 15, 1978 | Vacant | |||||||||||
Appointed early to finish Hatfield's term, having already been elected to the next term. [10] | December 15, 1978 – February 6, 2014 | Democratic | Max Baucus | 10 | ||||||||
96th | 16 | Elected in 1978. | ||||||||||
97th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1982. Lost re-election. | 17 | 98th | ||||||||||
99th | 17 | Re-elected in 1984. | ||||||||||
100th | ||||||||||||
11 | Conrad Burns | Republican | January 3, 1989 – January 3, 2007 | Elected in 1988. | 18 | 101st | ||||||
102nd | 18 | Re-elected in 1990. | ||||||||||
103rd | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 1994. | 19 | 104th | ||||||||||
105th | 19 | Re-elected in 1996. | ||||||||||
106th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 2000. Lost re-election. | 20 | 107th | ||||||||||
108th | 20 | Re-elected in 2002. | ||||||||||
109th | ||||||||||||
12 | Jon Tester | Democratic | January 3, 2007 – Present | Elected in 2006. | 21 | 110th | ||||||
111th | 21 | Re-elected in 2008. Resigned to become U.S. Ambassador to China. | ||||||||||
112th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 2012. | 22 | 113th | ||||||||||
February 6, 2014 – February 9, 2014 | Vacant | |||||||||||
Appointed to finish Baucus's term. Retired. | February 9, 2014 – January 3, 2015 | Democratic | John Walsh | 11 | ||||||||
114th | 22 | Elected in 2014. | January 3, 2015 – Present | Republican | Steve Daines | 12 | ||||||
115th | ||||||||||||
Re-elected in 2018. | 23 | 116th | ||||||||||
117th | 23 | To be determined in the 2020 election. | ||||||||||
118th | ||||||||||||
To be determined in the 2024 election. | 23 | 119th | ||||||||||
# | Senator | Party | Years in office | Electoral history | T e r m | T e r m | Electoral history | Years in office | Party | Senator | # | |
Class 1 | Class 2 |
As of January 2019 [update] , there are two living former U.S. Senators from Montana. The most recent Senator to die was John Melcher (served 1977–1989) on April 12, 2018. The most recently serving Senator to die was Conrad Burns (served 1989–2007) on April 28, 2016.
John David Melcher was an American politician of the Democratic Party who represented Montana as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and as a United States Senator from 1977 until 1989.
Conrad Ray Burns was a United States Senator from Montana and later a lobbyist. He was only the second Republican to represent Montana in the Senate since the passage in 1913 of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and was the longest-serving Republican senator in Montana history.
Senator | Term of office | Class | Date of birth (and age) |
---|---|---|---|
Max Baucus | 1978–2014 | 2 | December 11, 1941 |
John Walsh | 2014–2015 | 2 | November 3, 1960 |
Paris Gibson was an American entrepreneur and politician.
James Edward Murray was a United States Senator from Montana, and a liberal leader of the Democratic Party. He served in the United States Senate from 1934 until 1961.
Lee Warren Metcalf was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Representative (1953–1961) and a U.S. Senator (1961–1978) from Montana. He was Montana's first U.S. Senator to be born in the state. He was Permanent Acting President pro tempore of the Senate, the only person to hold that position, from 1963 until his death in 1978.
Joseph Kemp Toole was a Democratic politician from Montana. He served as the first and fourth Governor of Montana.
Joseph Moore Dixon was a Republican politician from Montana. He served as a Representative, Senator, and the seventh Governor of Montana. A businessman and a modernizer of Quaker heritage, Dixon was a leader of the Progressive Movement in Montana and nationally. His term as governor, 1921–1925, was unsuccessful, as severe economic hardship limited the opportunities for action by the state government, and his great enemy the Anaconda Copper company mobilized its resources to defeat reform.
Wellington D. Rankin was a Republican public official from the state of Montana.
Alma Smith Jacobs was the first African American to serve as Montana State Librarian. She served as Head Librarian at the Great Falls Public Library from 1954–1973, and in 1973 was named Montana State Librarian, serving until 1981.
The 2018 United States Senate election in Montana was held on November 6, 2018, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Montana, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Since Montana became a U.S. state in 1889, it has sent congressional delegations to the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. Each state elects two senators to serve for six years. Before the Seventeenth Amendment took effect in 1913, senators were elected by the Montana State Legislature. Members of the House of Representatives are elected to two-year terms, one from Montana's at-large congressional district. Before becoming a state, the Territory of Montana elected a non-voting delegate at-large to Congress from 1864 to 1889.