Montana

MONTANA

3 Electoral Votes

Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, MT Secretary of State)
Total Population, July 2008 est. 967,440
Total Registration, Nov. 2008 668,085
Montana has: 56 counties,126 incorporated cities and towns.
Largest counties: Yellowstone, Missoula, Flathead, Cascade, Gallatin. >
Largest cities: Billings, Missoula, Great Falls. >

Government
Governor: Brian Schweitzer (D) elected in Nov. 2004; up for re-election in 2008.
State Legislature: Montana Legislature   House: 100 seats Senate: 50 seats
Local: Counties, Cities and Towns, Native American NACO Counties
U.S. House: 1R - Denny Rehberg (R)
U.S. Senate: Max Baucus (D) up for re-election in 2008, Jon Tester (D) elected in 2006.

2008
update
Governor: In the gubernatorial campaign Schweitzer/Bollinger (D) easily defeated Brown/Daines (R) and Jones/Baker (L). Democrats also swept all other state offices.
U.S. Senate: Sen. Max Baucus (D) trounced Bob Kelleher (R) by a more than two-to-one margin.
U.S. House: Rep. Denny Rehberg (R) won re-election.
    > In the Legislature, Republicans gain control of the Senate chamber. MORE

Big Sky Country

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Secretary of State

Constitution Party of MT
MT Democratic Party
MT Libertarian Party
MT Republican Party
Green Party of MT

Billings Gazette
Media
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TV, Radio

Politics1-MT

General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Voting Eligible Population*: 741,538.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 66.3%.

Total Registration: 668,085.

Official Results >
Paul/Peroutka (Const.)	10,638	(2.17)
Obama-Biden (Dem.)	231,667	(47.27)
Nader/Gonzalez (Ind.)	3,686	(0.75)
Barr/Root (Lib.)	1,355	(0.28)
+McCain/Palin (Rep.)	242,763	(49.53)
Total........490,109

497,599 total votes cast.

2008 Overview
In the face of an intense effort from the Obama campaign, the McCain-Palin ticket largely ignored Montana and still won the state by a thin margin of 11,096 votes (2.26 percentage points). McCain/Palin carried 43 counties to 13 for Obama/Biden.
General Election Details
Obama/Allies | McCain/Allies | Nader

Republican Presidential Caucus -- Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Presidential Preference Primary -- Tuesday, June 3, 2008

The presidential preference primary held the same day as the state primary.

Democrats
25 Delegates (16 Pledged and 9 Unpledged) and 4 Alternates.
0.62% of the 4,047 Delegate Votes.

Clinton | Obama

Official Results

Hillary Clinton	74,889	41.05%
+Barack Obama	103,175	56.56%
No Preference	4,358	2.39%
Total	182,422

Old: Schweitzer for President (draft site launched in May 2005)

Republicans
25 Delegates: 3 RNC; 19 at-large; 3 by CD (3 x 1 CD).
1.05% of the 2,380 Delegates.

Delegate allocation is winner-take-all based on the presidential caucus.

Huckabee | McCain | Paul | Romney

Caucus Results

Mike Huckabee
245

15.03%

Alan Keyes
2

0.12%

John McCain
358

21.96%

Ron Paul
400

24.54%

Mitt Romney
625

38.34%

Total
1,630

Participation limited to Republican officials and elected officeholders.

Setting the Date
There were efforts in the 2007 and 2005 Legislative Sessions to move the presidential primary forward. House Bill 797, introduced by Rep. Duane Ankney, would have required the Secretary of State to select by September 15th of the preceding year a date in February or March for the presidential preference primary election. The House passed the bill on March 29, 2007, and it went to the Senate but died in standing committee. Ankney's bill was very similar to House Bill 376, introduced by Rep. Christopher Harris on Jan. 20, 2005; that bill likewise passed the House but died in process in April 2005.

Not to be deterred in Aug. 2007, Montana Republicans approved a February presidential caucus.

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Voting Eligible Population: 699,114.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 64.4%.

Total Registration: 638,474.

Peroutka/Baldwin (Const.)	1,764	(0.39)
Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)	173,710	(38.57)
Cobb/LaMarche (Grn.)	996	(0.22)
Nader/Sanchirico (Ind.)	6,168	(1.37)
Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.)	1,733	(0.38)
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	266,063	(59.07)
Total........450,434

456,096 total votes cast
649 polling places ... 856 precincts

2004 Overview
The Bush-Cheney ticket won with a plurality of 93,353 votes (20.50 percentage points), carrying 51 of the 56 counties. Kerry won in Missoula, Silver Bow, Glacier, Big Horn and Roosevelt Counties.

In terms of campaign activity, Kerry's younger sister Diana visited the state July and mid-October. Nader campaigned at the University of Montana in Missoula on Sept. 5 and Cobb appeared in Great Falls on Aug. 10. First Lady Laura Bush vacationed at Glacier Park in July. Also of note, former Montana Governor Marc Racicot chaired the Bush campaign.

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Voting Eligible Population: 667,525.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 61.6%.

Total Registration: 698,260.

Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
1,718

(0.42)

Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)
5,697

(1.39)

+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
240,178

(58.44)

Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
137,126

(33.37)

Hagelin/Goldhaber (NLP)
675

(0.16)

Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)
24,437

(5.95)

Phillips/Frazier (Const.)
1,155

(0.28)

Forrest C. Laible (w/in)
11

-

Total........410,997

Total votes cast: 417,916
2000 Overview
Montana, a very close state with Perot on the ballot in 1992 and 1996, went to Bush by a wide margin in 2000. The Bush-Cheney ticket won with a plurality of 103,052 votes (25.07 percentage points), carrying all but 4 of the state's 56 counties. The state did see a number of closely fought races, however. In the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Conrad Burns (R) defeated Brian Schweitzer (D) 51% to 47%. In the U.S. House race, Dennis Rehberg (R) defeated Nancy Keenan (D) 51% to 46%. In the governor's race, Judy Martz and Karl Ohs (R) defeated Mark O'Keefe and Carol Williams (D) 51% to 47%.

1992 and 1996 General Elections

1992

Clinton (Dem.)........154,507	(37.63)
Bush (Rep.)...........144,207	(35.12)
Perot (Ind.).............107,225	(26.11)
Others (2+2 w/ins).....4,672	(1.14)
Total........410,611

1996

Dole (Rep.).............179,652	(44.11)
Clinton (Dem.)........167,992	(41.23)
Perot (Ref.)..............55,229	(13.56)
Others (2+4 w/ins)......4,458	(1.09)
Total........407,261