Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Montana

Who Runs the States

Main Report Pages

Main Page • Part 1 • Partisanship Infographic • Part 2 • Part 3

Partisanship Results Report (Part 1)

Executive Summary • State Partisanship Analysis • Partisan Control of Governorships • Partisan Control of State Legislatures • Partisan Control of State Senates • Partisan Control of State Houses • State Government Trifectas • Overall Partisan Control: Bright, Medium and Soft States • Changes of Partisan Domination over 22 years • Year-to-Year Changes in State Partisan Control • Trifectas and Presidential Election Patterns • Conclusion • Methodology • Appendix A • Appendix B

State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Report (Part 2)

Executive Summary • State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) • About the Index • Overall Rankings • Dramatic Changes from 1st Half to 2nd Half • Individual Indicators • Methodology • Appendices

Partisanship and (SQLI) Overlay Report (Part 3)

Introduction • Comparing Partisanship and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Rankings • Description of the data • Trends and correlations • Methodology • Key Values for Fifty-State Regressions • Appendices

Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.

The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?

At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.

This page takes a specific look at how Montana performed in the study.

Background about the study

See also: Ballotpedia: Who Runs the States

Part One examines the partisanship of state government from 1992 to 2013. Part Two establishes a State Quality of Life Index (SQLI), aggregating a variety of existing state indices into one measurement. Part Three will overlay the two reports, looking for trends and correlations.

Part 1: Partisanship analysis

Montana Governor

From 1992-2013, Montana had Democratic governors in office for the last nine years while there were Republican governors in office for the first 13 years.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

Montana Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Montana State Senate for seven years while the Republicans were the majority for 15 years, including the last five years.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

Montana House of Representatives

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Montana House of Representatives for one year while the Republicans were the majority for 17 years, including the last five years.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican state houses of representatives from 1992 to 2013.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Montana, the Montana State Senate and the Montana House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

There were four partisan control changes in Montana during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting Montana equal to the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Montana’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 35.33, which puts it at 39 in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The year that Montana had the highest ranking was 2012, in which it ranked 23rd.
• The years that Montana had the lowest ranking were 1999-2001, in which it ranked 41st.
• The index type that Montana had the highest ranking in was the Well-being Index, in which it ranked 5th.
• The index types that Montana had the lowest ranking in were Real GDP Per Capita and State Government Spending/GDP, in which it ranked 47th.

Montana SQLI 1992-2012
Index	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
24/7 Wall St Best/Worst Governed States	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	30	27	18
America's Health Rankings	19	19	14	17	16	18	16	24	23	24	23	24	24	21	22	19	25	26	25	26	29
CAFR Debt/GDP	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	33	26	27	31	35	32	31	N/A
Chief Executive Magazine Best and Worst States for Business Survey	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	44	37	27	23	27	28	28	28
CNBC Top States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	34	33	38	36	38	24
Forbes Best States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	38	42	24	13	24	23	26
Govt. Employment Share Population	42	41	41	41	42	43	44	44	44	44	44	44	44	44	44	42	42	41	45	41	41
Graduation Rate	9	5	5	6	8	5	8	6	7	8	8	10	9	10	11	14	12	10	13	13	11
Personal Income Per Capita	44	39	45	47	47	46	46	46	46	44	46	39	40	40	41	40	38	39	38	38	36
Poverty Rate	28	32	21	37	43	38	44	47	43	37	36	43	37	36	37	35	28	28	27	40	N/A
Real GDP per capita	48	48	48	49	50	47	46	47	48	47	48	46	47	47	47	46	46	45	45	45	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	38	36	36	36	40	41	43	24	26	26	28	29
State Govt. Spending/GDP	47	47	48	48	48	48	48	48	46	46	46	45	45	43	44	43	44	44	45	45	N/A
State & local tax burden	19	14	15	17	11	17	17	12	13	11	11	10	12	8	15	9	12	16	13	N/A	N/A
Tax Freedom Day	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	26
Unemployment Rate	18	18	25	32	35	37	43	44	42	25	12	7	10	5	9	9	17	4	9	13	14
Unfunded Pension Liabilities per capita	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	16	26	27	N/A
Voter Turnout	4	3	3	3	3	4	4	10	10	10	10	18	18	3	3	19	19	12	12	17	17
Well-Being Index	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	3	2	14	10	6

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Montana state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. Montana had Republican trifectas from 1995-2004. Montana's lowest SQLI ranking, finishing at 41st, occurred during those Republican trifectas, from 1999-2001. The state's two highest rankings came in the final five years while under divided government.

Chart displaying the partisanship of Montana government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

See also

• Ballotpedia:Who runs the states
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part One: State Partisanship
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part Two: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)
• Governor of Montana
• Montana State Senate
• Montana House of Representatives

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs