Montana Politics: Latest News

As leaders of the 2021 Montana Legislature are chosen this week, their first task may be one of their toughest: Figuring how to run a session in the midst of a burgeoning pandemic.

The Montana Department of Justice has secured $49 million plus interest on funds owed, which will bring the total payment to around $53,5 million.

Gov. Steve Bullock unveiled his final proposed two-year state budget Monday – with familiar proposals like a college-tuition freeze and new state preschool funding – but it’s not something he’ll get to implement.

Gianforte unveiled a 21-member task force that will make recommendations on how best to respond to the surge of new Covid-19 infections in Montana.

Most public polls had declared the big statewide races in Montana – U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor – to be relatively close, with Republicans perhaps having an edge. Yet the final outcome had Republicans winning easily. How did most pollsters miss the mark so badly?

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, re-elected on Tuesday, joined the ranks of Republicans this week supporting President Trump’s allegations that Democrats are “stealing” the election from the president – and is raising money to help Trump challenge the results.

There’s still an open question: whether state lawmakers will make changes to the new statutes before those provisions can take effect.

Gov.-elect Greg Gianforte on Wednesday named a former speaker of the Montana House as the chair of his transition team – Mike Milburn, a rancher and pilot from Cascade.

Republican Elsie Arntzen defeated democrat Melissa Romano in a rematch of the 2016 superintendent race.

Republicans swept to victory in every statewide contest in Montana, as a record number of voters turned out to be more red than blue.

Two ballot measures that clear the way for recreational use of marijuana in Montana looked on track to pass Wednesday morning.

Republican state Auditor Matt Rosendale has defeated Democrat Kathleen Williams for Montana’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Follow MTN's Live Blog for the latest updates as the returns come in.

Republicans swept to victory in every statewide contest Tuesday in Montana, from U.S. Senate to state superintendent of public instruction, as a record number of voters turned out to be far more red than blue.

Spending on Montana’s U.S. Senate race broke records for a state campaign more than a month ago – and now has surpassed a stunning $160 million, by both the candidates and nearly 60 outside groups.

COVID-19 and other changes have made this a unique election cycle in Montana – both for voters and for election officials.

The race is seen as close, although most public polls have shown Gianforte with a slight lead over Cooney.

As Montana’s governor race enters its final days, Democratic Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney is blasting Republican Greg Gianforte for trying to “buy the election,” pointing to Gianforte’s infusion of more than $7.5 million of personal cash into his campaign. But there's more to the money than that.

As Montana’s big-dollar U.S. Senate race enters its final week, the campaigns of Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and his Democratic challenger, Gov. Steve Bullock, are trading charges of “liar” on everything from China to Covid-19 aid.

Tens of thousands of ballots have continued to roll into Montana’s county election offices this week. By Friday evening, 345,273 ballots had already been returned – more than half of what had been mailed out across the state.

A poll released Friday by the New York Times shows Republicans leading in all of Montana’s major statewide races – although not by much.

As Covid-19 infections continue to surge in Montana, the top two candidates for governor are presenting very different approaches on how they plan to handle the crisis – now, and in the future.

With just under two weeks to go until Election Day, a large portion of Montana’s votes are already accounted for. That is changing how campaigns will spend their final days.

Montana’s campaign-finance cop says both major-party candidates for governor have made accounting mistakes that violated campaign-finance laws – although the order involving Republican Greg Gianforte concerns a lot more money.

Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte, making his second run for Montana governor, is known primarily for his founding of a software-development firm here that helped fuel the high-tech boom that’s made Bozeman the fastest-growing city in the state. But it wasn't his first foray into tech startups.

Republican Congressman Greg Gianforte has poured another $4 million of his own money into his campaign for Montana governor, increasing his personal stake in the race to $7.57 million.