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Bruce Gillespie
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2019 - Present
2027
6
Bruce Gillespie (Republican Party) (also known as Butch) is a member of the Montana State Senate, representing District 9. He assumed office on January 7, 2019. His current term ends on January 4, 2027.
Gillespie (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Montana State Senate to represent District 9. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Gillespie was assigned to the following committees:
- Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Committee, Vice Chair
- Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee
- Senate Natural Resources Committee
2021-2022
Gillespie was assigned to the following committees:
- Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Committee
- Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee
- Senate Natural Resources Committee
2019-2020
Gillespie was assigned to the following committees:
- Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Committee
- Senate Natural Resources Committee
- Senate Taxation Committee
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2022
See also: Montana State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Montana State Senate District 9
Incumbent Bruce Gillespie won election in the general election for Montana State Senate District 9 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Bruce Gillespie (R) | 100.0 | 6,780 | |
| Total votes: 6,780 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Montana State Senate District 9
Incumbent Bruce Gillespie advanced from the Republican primary for Montana State Senate District 9 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Bruce Gillespie | 100.0 | 4,160 | |
| Total votes: 4,160 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2018
- See also: Montana State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Montana State Senate District 9
Bruce Gillespie defeated Kurt Dyer in the general election for Montana State Senate District 9 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Bruce Gillespie (R) | 73.2 | 6,347 | |
| Kurt Dyer (D) | 26.8 | 2,318 | ||
| Total votes: 8,665 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Montana State Senate District 9
Kurt Dyer advanced from the Democratic primary for Montana State Senate District 9 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Kurt Dyer | 100.0 | 1,314 | |
| Total votes: 1,314 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Montana State Senate District 9
Bruce Gillespie defeated Charlie Brown in the Republican primary for Montana State Senate District 9 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Bruce Gillespie | 68.7 | 2,550 | |
 | Charlie Brown | 31.3 | 1,161 | |
| Total votes: 3,711 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Bruce Gillespie did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Montana scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Montana State Legislature was not in session. |
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Montana State Legislature was in session from January 2 to May 2.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Montana State Legislature was not in session. |
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Montana State Legislature was in session from January 4 to April 29.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Montana State Legislature was not in session. |
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Montana State Legislature was in session from January 7 through April 25.
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Noteworthy events
Montana Republican Party censure of nine state senators (2025)
In a statement released on April 4, 2025, the Montana Republican Party (MTGOP) executive committee censured nine Republican state senators: Jason Ellsworth, Butch Gillespie, Gregg Hunter, Joshua Kassmier, Gayle Lammers, Denley Loge, Wendy McKamey, Russel Tempel, and Shelley Vance.[1]
A press release published on the MTGOP website on March 13, 2025, stated, in part, "The Montana Republican Party (MTGOP) is strongly rebuking nine Republican state senators who have frequently aligned with Democrats, creating obstacles for the Republican majority in the Senate. Montana voters elected a strong Republican majority last November, expecting leadership that reflects their choices. On Jan. 6th, 2025, the first day of the 69th Legislative session, and continuing to this day, nine Republican Senators have partnered with the Democratic minority to overrule Republican leadership...The MTGOP calls on these senators to cease obstructing key Republican priorities and return to the faithful representation of their constituents and the Republican platform. If their actions continue to damage the integrity of the Republican majority, the party will consider additional steps to address the situation."[2] [3][1]
According to the MTGOP, the party's executive committee unanimously voted to censure the senators during a meeting held on March 27, 2025.[4] As part of the censure, the senators would no longer be acknowledged by the MTGOP as Republicans, and the party would not grant political funding to them in the future.[3]
In response, the censured senators, with the exception of Sen. Ellsworth, published an open letter to the citizens of Montana saying, "We were elected to serve you, not to follow orders from political insiders...Let’s be clear: this censure is nothing more than a distraction—meant to cover up the fact that party leaders have failed to deliver on the core priorities you sent us here to address...This censure changes nothing. We’ll keep showing up. We’ll keep delivering. And we’ll keep putting Montana first."[5]
During 69th legislative session, Republicans held a majority in the Montana State Senate with 32 of the 50 seats, and Democrats held the remaining 18.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate Montana State Senate District 9 |
Officeholder Montana State Senate District 9 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 NBC Montana, "Montana GOP censures 9 Senate Republicans for working with Dems", April 4, 2025
- ↑ Montana Republican Party, "Montana Republican Party Rebukes Nine Republican Senators for Aligning with Democrats," March 13, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Daily Montanan, "Montana Republican Party censures nine GOP senators; no longer considers them Republicans", April 4, 2025
- ↑ Montana Republican Party, "Montana Republican Party Rebukes Nine Republican Senators for Aligning with Democrats", March 13, 2025
- ↑ NBC Montana, "Censured Montana Republican senators respond", April 7, 2025
