Montana's 1st Congressional District election, 2026 (June 2 Democratic primary)

← 2024
Montana's 1st Congressional District
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 4, 2026
Primary: June 2, 2026 General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in Montana
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Likely Republican DDHQ and The Hill: Pending Inside Elections: Likely Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
Montana's 1st Congressional District U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd Montana elections, 2026 U.S. Congress elections, 2026 U.S. Senate elections, 2026 U.S. House elections, 2026 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House raceArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House raceFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House raceOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House raceTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House raceVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House raceSubmit

A Democratic Party primary takes place on June 2, 2026, in Montana's 1st Congressional District to determine which Democratic candidate will run in the district's general election on November 3, 2026.

Candidate filing deadline	Primary election	General election
March 4, 2026	June 2, 2026	November 3, 2026

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Montana utilizes an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on Montana's 1st Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

• Montana's 1st Congressional District election, 2026 (June 2 Republican primary)
• Montana's 1st Congressional District election, 2026

Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Montana District 1

Ryan Busse, Russell Cleveland, Samuel Forstag, and Matt Rains are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Montana District 1 on June 2, 2026.

		Candidate
		Ryan Busse
		Russell Cleveland
	Submit photo	Samuel Forstag
		Matt Rains

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Russell Cleveland

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Submitted Biography:  "I am a husband, coach, small business owner, Navy veteran, and father of seven children. I decided to enter the race after the Trump administration cut funding to child cancer research. My wife and I lost our older daughter Madison to leukemia in 2020, and I knew I wanted to get involved. I was raised on a farm in Stevensville, Montana. I went on to play football under Bob Green at Montana Tech and studied electrical engineering, which led me to join the Navy in 2009 as an Aviation Electrician. Four years later I married my wife Dr. Kate Cleveland, and together we founded Rocky Mountain Kids, a startup child care company that grew to serve thousands of children across dozens of locations. During the pandemic and with schools shut down, we quickly opened remote learning centers to keep children engaged and learning. Following the loss of our daughter Madison, we knew we needed to come home. Returning in 2021, we found that this great state had changed--and in many ways for the worse. Regular working-class Montanans who sculpted this state into excellence had been neglected by those meant to serve them and priced out of the only place they called home. Today, my family and I live on a homestead and cattle ranch in Saint Regis. My Wife and I coach at Saint Regis High School (Go Tigers!), where our children today go to learn."

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Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

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Healthcare is too expensive. I will fight to improve healthcare with Medicare for All, seeking to lower drug prices, strengthen rural clinics, and adequately fund research programs to once again lead the world in finding cures and preventing disease.

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DC corruption steals Montanan's money and weakens our institutions. I do not take corporate PAC money. I would support ending Citizens United, banning dark money in politics, and standing up to Big Tech, billionaires, and corrupt politicians who take our data and steal from our pockets. I believe a full-time job's earnings must provide enough to cover a standard cost of living.

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America has the resources and must invest in our own communities. DC politicians comfortably send billions abroad for foreign wars while defunding research, the VA, and cutting health care subsidies. I support universal childcare, including Universal Pre-K, and increasing pay for teachers to build resiliency in our education system. I would restore funding to the VA, demonstrating that America's strength comes from the durability of her people.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Montana

Election information in Montana: June 2, 2026, election.

What is the voter registration deadline?

• In-person: June 2, 2026
• By mail: Postmarked by May 4, 2026
• Online: N/A

Is absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

• In-person: June 1, 2026
• By mail: Received by June 1, 2026
• Online: N/A

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

• In-person: June 2, 2026
• By mail: Received by June 2, 2026

Is early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What are the early voting start and end dates?

May 4, 2026 to June 1, 2026

Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When are polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (MT)

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Ryan Busse	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Russell Cleveland	Democratic Party	$195,895	$147,614	$48,280	As of December 31, 2025
Samuel Forstag	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Matt Rains	Democratic Party	$113,774	$67,363	$46,411	As of December 31, 2025
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. *** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

• District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
• Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2026 U.S. House elections in the state.
• Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
• State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

• District map
• Competitiveness
• Presidential elections
• State party control

Below is the district map in place for this election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2026

Information about competitiveness will be added here as it becomes available.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is R+5. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 5 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Montana's 1st the 185th most Republican district nationally.

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2024 presidential election was in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by The Downballot.

2024 presidential results in Montana's 1st Congressional District

Kamala Harris	Donald Trump
43.0%	54.0%

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Montana, 2024

Montana presidential election results (1900-2024)

• 10 Democratic wins
• 21 Republican wins

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020	2024
Winning Party	D	R	R	D	D	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

See also: Party control of Montana state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Montana's congressional delegation as of October 2025.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Montana
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	0	0	0
Republican	2	2	4
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	2	4

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Montana's top four state executive offices as of October 2025.

State executive officials in Montana, October 2025

Office	Officeholder
Governor	Greg Gianforte
Lieutenant Governor	Kristen Juras
Secretary of State	Christi Jacobsen
Attorney General	Austin Knudsen

State legislature

Montana State Senate

Party		As of October 2025
	Democratic Party	18
	Republican Party	32
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		50

Montana House of Representatives

Party		As of October 2025
	Democratic Party	42
	Republican Party	58
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		100

Trifecta control

Montana Party Control: 1992-2025
No Democratic trifectas  •  Fifteen years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	S	S	R	R	S	S	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Montana in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Montana, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Montana	U.S. House	Ballot-qualified party	N/A	$1740	3/4/2026	Source
Montana	U.S. House	Unaffiliated	6,128	$1740	6/1/2026	Source

See also

• Montana's 1st Congressional District election, 2026 (June 2 Republican primary)
• Montana's 1st Congressional District election, 2026
• United States House elections in Montana, 2026 (June 2 Democratic primaries)
• United States House elections in Montana, 2026 (June 2 Republican primaries)
• United States House Democratic Party primaries, 2026
• United States House Republican Party primaries, 2026
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2026
• U.S. House battlegrounds, 2026

External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

[show]

Montana's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Steve Daines (R)

Tim Sheehy (R)

Representatives

District 1

Ryan Zinke (R)

District 2

Troy Downing (R)

Republican Party (4)

2025-2026 Elections to the United States Congress

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Election information

Ballot access for major and minor party candidates • List of candidates running for election • List of congressional challengers • Retiring senators • Retiring representatives

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Super PACs/Organizations

American Bridge 21st Century • American Crossroads • American Unity PAC • Campaign for Primary Accountability • Club for Growth Action • Congressional Leadership Fund • Cooperative of American Physicians IE Committee• Crossroads Generation • Ending Spending Action Fund • Endorse Liberty • Fair Share Action • FreedomWorks for America • Government Integrity Fund • House Majority PAC • Independence USA Fund • League of Conservation Voters • Liberty for All PAC • Majority PAC • National Association of Realtors • NEA Advocacy Fund • Now or Never PAC • Planned Parenthood Votes • Ready for Hillary • Republicans for a Prosperous America • Restore America's Voice PAC • SEIU Pea-Federal • Women Vote!

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