Political party strength in Montana

The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of Montana:

• Governor
• Lieutenant Governor
• Secretary of State
• Attorney General
• State Treasurer
• State Auditor
• Superintendent of Public Instruction

The table also indicates the historical party composition in the:

• State Senate
• State House of Representatives
• State delegation to the United States Senate
• State delegation to the United States House of Representatives

For years in which a presidential election was held, the table indicates which party's nominees received the state's electoral votes.

Pre-statehood (1864–1889)

Year	Executive offices	Territorial Legislature		U.S. Congress
	Governor	Senate	House	Delegate
1864	Sidney Edgerton (R)	[ ? ]		no such office
1865	Thomas Francis Meagher (D) [a]			Samuel McLean (D)
1866	Green C. Smith (D)
1867				James M. Cavanaugh (D)
1868	James Tufts (R) [a]
1869	James Mitchell Ashley (R)
	Wiley Scribner (R) [a]
1870	Benjamin F. Potts (R)
1871				William H. Clagett (R)
1872
1873				Martin Maginnis (D)
…
1882
1883	John Schuyler Crosby (R)
1884	B. Platt Carpenter (R)
1885	Samuel Thomas Hauser (D)			Joseph Toole (D)
1886
1887	Preston Leslie (D)
1888
1889	Benjamin F. White (R)			Thomas H. Carter (R) [b]

1889–1976

Year	Executive offices							State Legislature		United States Congress			Electoral votes
	Governor	Lt. Governor	Secretary of State	Attorney General	Treasurer	Auditor	Supt. of Pub. Inst.	Senate	House	Senator (Class I)	Senator (Class II)	House
1889	Joseph Toole (D)	John E. Rickards (R)	Louis Rotwitt (R)	Henri J. Haskell (R)	Richard O. Hickman (R)	Edwin A. Kenney (R)	John Gannon	8D, 8R [c] [1]	25R, 25D [d] [1]	Wilbur F. Sanders (R)	Thomas C. Power (R)	Thomas H. Carter (R) [b]
1890
1891								10D, 6R	28R, 27D			William W. Dixon (D)
1892													Harrison/ Reid (R)N
1893	John E. Rickards (R)	Alexander Campbell Botkin (R)			Frederick W. Wright (R)	Andrew B. Cook (R)	Eugene A. Steere (R)	9D, 7R	26D, 26R, 3Pop [e]	vacant [f]		Charles S. Hartman (R)
1894
1895								13R, 5D, 2Pop, 1Fus	44R, 14Pop, 3D	Lee Mantle (R) [g]	Thomas H. Carter (R)
1896										Lee Mantle (SvR)			2 – Bryan/ Sewall (D/Sv)N 1 – Bryan/ Watson (Pop)N
1897	Robert Burns Smith (D/Pop)	Archibald E. Spriggs (D)	Thomas S. Hogan (Pop)	C. B. Nolan (D)	Timothy E. Collins (D)	Thomas W. Poindexter Jr. (D)	Evans A. Carleton (R)	12R, 8D, 3Pop	42D, 18Pop, 8R
1898
1899								17D, 6R, 1Pop	57D, 9R, 4SvR	William A. Clark (D) [h]		Albert J. Campbell (D)
1900										vacant			Bryan/ Stevenson (D)N
1901	Joseph Toole (D) [i]	Frank G. Higgins (D)	George M. Hayes (D)	James Donovan (D)	A. H. Barret (D)	James H. Calderhead (Pop)	W. W. Welch (D)	14D, 9R, 1Pop	28D, 23R, 8Lab, 6Pop, 5ID [j]	Paris Gibson (D)	William A. Clark (D)	Caldwell Edwards (Pop)
1902
1903								14D, 12R	47R, 11Lab, 8D, 6A-T			Joseph M. Dixon (R)
1904													Roosevelt/ Fairbanks (R)Y
1905		Edwin L. Norris (D)	Abraham N. Yoder (R) [k]	Albert J. Galen (R)	James H. Rice (R)	Henry R. Cunningham (R)	Wilfred E. Harmon (R)	16R, 10D	38R, 24D, 7Lab, 3A-T	Thomas H. Carter (R)
1906
1907								18R, 9D	57R, 16D		Joseph M. Dixon (R)	Charles Nelson Pray (R)
1908	Edwin L. Norris (D) [l]	Benjamin F. White (R) [a]											Taft/ Sherman (R)Y
1909		William Allen (R)			Elmer E. Esselstyn (R)			17R, 10D	38D, 33R
1910
1911						C. M. McCoy		16R, 12D	42D, 32R	Henry L. Myers (D)
1912			Thomas M. Swindlehurst (D)										Wilson/ Marshall (D)Y
1913	Sam V. Stewart (D)	W. W. McDowell (D)	Adelbert M. Alderson (D)	Daniel M. Kelly (D)	William C. Rae (D)	William Keating (D)	Henry A. Davee (D)	17D, 13R, 2Prog	49D, 20R, 16Prog, 1Sv		Thomas J. Walsh (D) [k]	2D
1914
1915				Joseph Poindexter (D)				19R, 16D, 5Prog, 1I [m]	55D, 36R, 3Sv, 1I
1916
1917			Charles T. Stewart (R) [n]	Sam C. Ford (R)	H. L. Hart (R)	Rufus G. Poland (D)	May Trumper (R)	28R, 13D	49D, 46R			1D, 1R
1918
1919						George P. Porter (R)		31R, 12D	65R, 33D
1920													Harding/ Coolidge (R)Y
1921	Joseph M. Dixon (R)	Nelson Story Jr. (R)		Wellington D. Rankin (R)	J. W. Walker			41R, 13D	98R, 9D, 1I			2R
1922
1923					O. H. Junod (R)			38R, 16D	56R, 44D	Burton K. Wheeler (D)		1D, 1R
1924													Coolidge/ Dawes (R)Y
1925	John E. Erickson (D) [o]	W. S. McCormack (R)		L. A. Foot (R)	Wilfred E. Harmon (R)			39R, 16D, 1FL	66R, 34D, 2FL
1926
1927			Robert N. Hawkins (D) [p]					40R, 15D, 1FL	61R, 39D, 2FL
			William Powers [p]
1928			John W. Mountjoy (D)										Hoover/ Curtis (R)Y
1929		Frank A. Hazelbacker (R)	William E. Harmon (R)		F. E. Williams (R)		Elizabeth Ireland (R)	39R, 16D, 1FL	69R, 33D
1930
1931								41R, 15D	59R, 43D
1932													Roosevelt/ Garner (D)Y
1933		Frank Henry Cooney (D)	Sam W. Mitchell (D) [k]	Raymond T. Nagle (D)	James Brett (D)	John J. Holmes (D)		33R, 22D, 1I	72D, 30R		John E. Erickson (D) [g]	2D
	Frank Henry Cooney (D) [q] [k]	Tom Kane (R) [a]
1934
1935		Ernest T. Eaton (R) [a]						28D, 27R, 1I [r]	69D, 33R		James E. Murray (D)
1936	Elmer Holt (D) [s]	William R. Pilgeram (D) [a]		Enor K. Matson (D)
1937	Roy E. Ayers (D)	Hugh R. Adnair (D)		Harrison J. Freebourn (D)	Ray Shannon (D)		Ruth Reardon (D)	29D, 27R	81D, 21R
1938
1939								31D, 25R	58D, 44R			1D, 1R
1940													Roosevelt/ Wallace (D)Y
1941	Sam C. Ford (R)	Ernest T. Eaton (R)		John W. Bonner (D)	Thomas E. Carey (D)		Elizabeth Ireland (R)	35R, 21D	55D, 47R
1942				Howard M. Gullickson (D)
1943				R. V. Bottomly (D)				37R, 19D	51R, 39D			2D
1944					T. H. MacDonald (R)								Roosevelt/ Truman (D)Y
1945					George P. Porter (R)			39R, 17D	53R, 37D			1D, 1R
1946
1947								41R, 15D	58R, 31D, 1ID	Zales Ecton (R)
1948													Truman/ Barkley (D)Y
1949	John W. Bonner (D)	Paul Cannon (D)		Arnold Olsen (D)	Neil Fisher (D) [k]		Mary M. Condon (D)	31R, 23D, 2I	54D, 36R
1950					Alta E. Fisher (D)
1951					John E. Henry (R)			28R, 26D, 2I	49R, 41D
1952													Eisenhower/ Nixon (R)Y
1953	J. Hugo Aronson (R)	George M. Gosman (R)			Charles L. Sheridan (R) [k]			36R, 20D	62R, 32D	Mike Mansfield (D)
1954					Edna Hinman (R)
1955								33R, 23D	49D, 45R
1956			S. C. Arnold (R) [g]
1957		Paul Cannon (D)	Frank Murray (D)	Forrest H. Anderson (D)	Horace Casey (D)		Harriet Miller (R)	31D, 25R	59D, 35R			2D
1958
1959								38D, 17R, 1I	61D, 31R, 2I
1960													Nixon/ Lodge (R)N
1961	Donald G. Nutter (R) [k]	Tim Babcock (R)			Edna Hinman (R)				54R, 40D		Lee Metcalf (D) [k]	1D, 1R
1962	Tim Babcock (R) [l]	David F. James (R) [a]				E. V. "Sonny" Omholt (R)
1963								35D, 21R	57R, 37D
1964													Johnson/ Humphrey (D)Y
1965		Ted James (R)			Henry H. Anderson (D)		Harriet Miller (D)	32D, 24R	56D, 38R
1966
1967								30D, 25R	64R, 40D
1968													Nixon/ Agnew (R)Y
1969	Forrest H. Anderson (D)	Thomas Lee Judge (D)		Robert L. Woodahl (R)	Alex B. Stephenson (R)		Dolores Colburg (D)		58R, 46D			2D
1970
1971									55R, 49D			1D, 1R
1972
1973	Thomas Lee Judge (D)	Bill Christiansen (D)			Hollis Connors (R)			27D, 23R	54D, 46R
1974
1975								30D, 20R	67D, 33R			2D
1976													Ford/ Dole (R)N

1977–present

Year	Executive offices						State Legislature		United States Congress			Electoral votes
	Governor	Lt. Governor	Secretary of State	Attorney General	Auditor	Supt. of Pub. Inst.	Senate	House	Senator (Class I)	Senator (Class II)	House
1977	Thomas Lee Judge (D)	Ted Schwinden (D)	Frank Murray (D)	Mike Greely (D)	E. V. "Sonny" Omholt (R)	Georgia Ruth Rice (D)	25D, 25R [t]	57D, 43R	John Melcher (D)	Paul G. Hatfield (D) [g]	1D, 1R
1978
1979							26R, 24D	55D, 45R		Max Baucus (D) [u]
1980												Reagan/ Bush (R)Y
1981	Ted Schwinden (D)	George Turman (D) [p]	Jim Waltermire (R) [k]			Ed Argenbright (R)	28R, 22D	57R, 43D
1982
1983							26R, 24D	55D, 45R
1984
1985					Andrea Bennett (R)		28D, 22R	50D, 50R [v]
1986
1987							25D, 25R [w]	51R, 49D
1988		Gordon McOmber (D) [g]	Verner Bertelsen (R) [g]									Bush/ Quayle (R)Y
1989	Stan Stephens (R)	Allen Kolstad (R) [x]	Mike Cooney (D)	Marc Racicot (R)		Nancy Keenan (D)	27R, 23D	52D, 48R	Conrad Burns (R)
1990
1991		Denny Rehberg (R) [g]					29D, 21R	61D, 39R
1992												Clinton/ Gore (D)Y
1993	Marc Racicot (R)			Joseph P. Mazurek (D)	Mark O'Keefe (D)		30D, 20R	53R, 47D			Pat Williams (D)
1994
1995							31R, 19D	67R, 33D
1996												Dole/ Kemp (R)N
1997		Judy Martz (R)					34R, 16D	65R, 35D			Rick Hill (R)
1998
1999							32R, 18D	59R, 41D
2000												Bush/ Cheney (R)Y
2001	Judy Martz (R)	Karl Ohs (R)	Bob Brown (R)	Mike McGrath (D)	John Morrison (D)	Linda McCulloch (D)	31R, 19D	58R, 42D			Denny Rehberg (R)
2002
2003							29R, 21D	53R, 47D
2004
2005	Brian Schweitzer (D) [y]	John Bohlinger (R) [y]	Brad Johnson (R)				27D, 23R	50D, 50R [t]
2006
2007							26D, 24R [z]	50R, 49D, 1C [aa]	Jon Tester (D)
2008												McCain/ Palin (R)N
2009			Linda McCulloch (D)	Steve Bullock (D)	Monica Lindeen (D)	Denise Juneau (D)	27R, 23D	50D, 50R [t]
2010
2011							28R, 22D	68R, 32D
2012												Romney/ Ryan (R)N
2013	Steve Bullock (D)	John Walsh (D)		Tim Fox (R)			29R, 21D	61R, 39D			Steve Daines (R)
2014		Angela McLean (D)								John Walsh (D) [g]
2015								59R, 41D		Steve Daines (R)	Ryan Zinke (R) [ab]
2016		Mike Cooney (D)										Trump/ Pence (R)Y
2017			Corey Stapleton (R)		Matt Rosendale (R)	Elsie Arntzen (R)	32R, 18D				Greg Gianforte (R)
2018
2019							30R, 20D	58R, 42D
2020												Trump/ Pence (R)N
2021	Greg Gianforte (R)	Kristen Juras (R)	Christi Jacobsen (R)	Austin Knudsen (R)	Troy Downing (R)		31R, 19D	67R, 33D			Matt Rosendale (R)
2022
2023							34R, 16D	68R, 32D			2R
2024												Trump/ Vance (R)Y
2025					James Brown (R)	Susie Hedalen (R)	32R, 18D	58R, 42D	Tim Sheehy (R)

Key to party colors and abbreviations for members of the U.S. Congress and other politicians or officials

Alaskan Independence (AKIP) Know Nothing (KN) American Labor (AL) Anti-Jacksonian (Anti-J) National Republican (NR) Anti-Administration (AA) Anti-Masonic (Anti-M) Conservative (Con) Covenant (Cov)

Democratic (D) Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) Democratic–NPL (D-NPL) Dixiecrat (Dix), States' Rights (SR) Democratic-Republican (DR) Farmer–Labor (FL) Federalist (F) Pro-Administration (PA)

Free Soil (FS) Fusion (Fus) Greenback (GB) Independence (IPM) Independent Democrat (ID) Independent Republican (IR) Jacksonian (J) Liberal (Lib)

Libertarian (L) National Union (NU) Nonpartisan League (NPL) Nullifier (N) Opposition Northern (O) Opposition Southern (O) Populist (Pop) Progressive (Prog)

Prohibition (Proh) Readjuster (Rea) Republican (R) Silver (Sv) Silver Republican (SvR) Socialist (Soc) Union (U) Unconditional Union (UU)

Vermont Progressive (VP) Whig (W) Independent (I) Nonpartisan (NP)

1. Acting.
2. Delegate from Montana Territory until November 8, when Carter was elected U.S. Representative upon Montana statehood.
3. With a Republican Lt. Governor, the GOP organized the chamber. There was no President Pro Tempore that session.
4. There were five contested seats from Silver Bow County, and due to a lack of a contested election resolution mechanism, the Republicans and Democrats each organized their own House with the contested members of both parties from Silver Bow joining their respective parties in those chambers, and both sent bills to the Senate.
5. A coalition of Democrats and Populists elected a Populist, Thomas Matthews, as Speaker and organized the chamber.
6. Legislature failed to elect a Senator at the beginning of the 53rd United States Congress.
7. Initially appointed to fill a vacancy.
8. Resigned May 15, 1900 to avoid claim of election fraud.
9. Resigned due to declining health.
10. A coalition of Democrats, Labor, Populists, and Independent Democrats chose a Democrat, Frank Corbett, as Speaker, and organized the chamber.
11. Died in office.
12. As lieutenant governor, filled unexpired term, and was later elected in his own right.
13. A coalition of Republicans and Progressives elected a Republican, John Edwards, as President Pro Tempore and organized the chamber.
14. Impeached and then resigned.
15. Resigned so that his successor could appoint him to the United States Senate.
16. Resigned.
17. As lieutenant governor, filled unexpired term.
18. A bipartisan coalition elected a Republican, Ernest T. Eaton, as President Pro Tempore, and organized the chamber on a bipartisan basis. In practice, Eaton served as President of the Senate, and as such Lt. Governor, as the previous one, Frank Cooney was serving as Governor. After session, Eaton resigned, and the position of President of the Senate and Lt. Governor was filled by Democrat Elmer Holt.
19. As President of the State Senate, filled unexpired term. The Speaker of the House, William Pilgeram, took up his previous position of Lt. Governor.
20. Party control granted to governor's party in the event of a tied house of the legislature.
21. Resigned February 6, 2014 in anticipation of being appointed United States Ambassador to China.
22. By statute, in the event of a tie chamber, the party of the Governor receives the Speakership. However, the committees and administration of the chamber and its committees were organized on a 50-50 basis, with an equal number of chairmen and members of both parties. ^[2]
23. By statute, in the event of a tie chamber, the party of the Governor receives the Presidency. However, the committees and administration of the chamber and its committees were organized on a 50-50 basis, with an equal number of chairmen and members of both parties. ^[2]
24. Resigned to take a presidential appointment to the International Boundary Commission.
25. Elected on bipartisan ticket.
26. Republican Sam Kitzenberg switched parties shortly after the 2006 election.
27. Constitution Party member caucused with Republicans.
28. Resigned March 2017 to become the United States Secretary of the Interior.

References

1. Archived 2017-07-02 at the Wayback Machine Majority and Minority Party Numbers 1889 - Present
2. Loepp, Daniel (1999). Sharing the Balance of Power: An Examination of Shared Power in the Michigan House of Representatives, 1993-94. University of Michigan Press. p. 25. ISBN   978-0-472-09702-9.

See also

• Politics in Montana