Montana State Senate elections, 2022
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| 2022 Montana Senate Elections | |
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| Primary | June 7, 2022 |
| General | November 8, 2022 |
| Past Election Results |
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| 2022 Elections | |
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Elections for the Montana State Senate took place in 2022. The general election was on November 8, 2022. A primary was scheduled for June 7, 2022. The filing deadline was March 14, 2022.
The Montana State Senate was one of 88 state legislative chambers with elections in 2022. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.
Party control
| Montana State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 8, 2022 | After November 9, 2022 | |
| Democratic Party | 19 | 16 | |
| Republican Party | 31 | 34 | |
| Total | 50 | 50 | |
Candidates
General
Montana State Senate General Election 2022 |
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| Office |  Democratic |
 Republican |
Other |
| District 1 |
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| District 4 |
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| District 5 |
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| District 8 |
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| District 9 |
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| District 11 |
Tom Jacobson (i) |
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| District 12 |
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| District 13 |
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| District 14 |
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| District 19 |
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| District 20 |
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| District 22 |
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| District 24 |
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| District 27 |
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| District 29 |
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| District 30 |
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| District 32 |
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| District 33 |
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| District 34 |
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| District 41 |
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| District 42 |
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| District 43 |
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| District 48 |
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| District 49 |
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| District 50 |
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= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection
Primary
Montana State Senate Primary 2022 |
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| Office | Democratic |
Republican |
Other |
| District 1 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
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| District 4 |
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| District 5 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
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| District 8 |
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| District 9 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
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| District 11 |
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| District 12 |
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| District 13 |
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| District 14 |
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| District 19 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
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| District 20 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
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| District 22 |
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| District 24 |
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| District 27 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
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| District 29 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
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| District 30 |
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| District 32 |
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| District 33 |
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| District 34 |
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| District 41 |
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| District 42 |
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| District 43 |
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| District 48 |
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| District 49 |
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| District 50 |
Did not make the ballot: |
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Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses
Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Click a link below to read survey responses from candidates in that district:
- District 1
- District 4
- District 5
- District 8
- District 9
- District 11
- District 12
- District 13
- District 14
- District 15
- District 19
- District 20
- District 22
- District 24
- District 27
- District 29
- District 30
- District 32
- District 33
- District 34
- District 39
- District 41
- District 42
- District 43
- District 48
- District 49
- District 50
Incumbents who were not re-elected
Incumbents defeated in general elections
One incumbent lost in the Nov. 8 general election.
| Name | Party | Office |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Jacobson |  Democratic |
Senate District 11 |
Incumbents defeated in primary elections
One incumbent lost in the June 7 primaries.
| Name | Party | Office |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Steenberg | Democratic |
Senate District 50 |
Retiring incumbents
Thirteen incumbents were not on the ballot in 2022.[1] Those incumbents were:
| Name | Party | Office | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Blasdel |  Republican |
Senate District 4 | Term limited |
| Bob Keenan | Republican |
Senate District 5 | Term limited |
| Carlie Boland | Democratic |
Senate District 12 | Retired |
| Brian Hoven | Republican |
Senate District 13 | Term limited |
| Duane Ankney | Republican |
Senate District 20 | Term limited |
| Douglas Kary | Republican |
Senate District 22 | Term limited |
| Mary McNally | Democratic |
Senate District 24 | Term limited |
| Cary Smith | Republican |
Senate District 27 | Term limited |
| David Howard | Republican |
Senate District 29 | Term limited |
| Jennifer Pomnichowski | Democratic |
Senate District 33 | Term limited |
| Gordon Vance | Republican |
Senate District 34 | Term limited |
| Jill Cohenour | Democratic |
Senate District 42 | Term limited |
| Diane Sands | Democratic |
Senate District 49 | Term limited |
Primary election competitiveness
This section contains data on state legislative primary election competitiveness in Montana. These totals include data from all regularly-scheduled House and Senate elections. For more information about Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of state legislative elections, please click here.
Post-filing deadline analysis
The following analysis covers all state legislative districts up for election in Montana in 2022. Information below was calculated on April 13, 2022, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.
Thirty incumbent state legislators in Montana—24% of those with expiring terms—were ineligible to file for re-election in 2022 because of the state’s term limit laws. These laws guarantee open districts on a regular basis since those incumbents are barred from running.
Montana’s term limits had the largest effect on the state Senate where they left 12 of the 25 districts holding elections (48%) open. In the House, 18 of the 100 districts up for election (18%) were left open due to term limits.
In addition to the 30 term-limited legislators, 10 other incumbents did not file for re-election, one in the Senate and nine in the House. Overall, term limits accounted for 75% of the open districts in Montana in 2022, the largest percentage since 2014.
In Montana, one of 15 states with state legislative term limits, legislators can serve eight years in office during any 16-year period. These are not lifetime limits, meaning legislators can run again after spending the requisite amount of time out of office.
Montana’s limits are also chamber-specific, meaning that while a term-limited senator cannot seek re-election to the Senate, he or she can file to run in the House and vice versa. In 2022, two term-limited Senators filed to run for the House:
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Overall, 272 major party candidates filed to run in 2022. That’s 2.2 candidates per district, the largest such figure since 2016, which had 2.5 candidates per district.
This was Montana’s first candidate filing deadline as a Republican trifecta since 2004. From 2005 to 2020, Montana had a divided government until Republicans gained the governorship with the election of Greg Gianforte (R).
Open seats
The table below shows the number and percentage of open seats in the Montana State Senate from 2010 to 2022.[2]
| Open Seats in Montana State Senate elections: 2010 - 2022 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Total seats | Open seats | Seats with incumbents running for re-election |
| 2022 | 25 | 13 (52 percent) | 12 (48 percent) |
| 2020 | 25 | 12 (48 percent) | 13 (52 percent) |
| 2018 | 25 | 8 (32 percent) | 17 (68 percent) |
| 2016 | 25 | 14 (56 percent) | 11 (44 percent) |
| 2014 | 25 | 11 (44 percent) | 14 (56 percent) |
| 2012 | 24 | 11 (46 percent) | 14 (54 percent) |
| 2010 | 26 | 16 (62 percent) | 10 (38 percent) |
Process to become a candidate
For qualified party candidates
See statutes: Title 13, Chapter 10, Section 201 of the Montana Code
In order to qualify for placement on the primary ballot, a candidate for the nomination of a recognized political party must file a declaration of nomination and pay the required filing fees. The declaration must include an oath of candidacy, which the candidate is required to sign to affirm that, under the state constitution and applicable federal and state laws, he or she is qualified to hold the office being sought. This paperwork must be filed with the Montana Secretary of State if the office being sought is a congressional seat, a state or district office voted for in more than one county, or a state legislative seat.[3][4]
Filing fees are established in Title 13, Chapter 10, Section 202, of the Montana Code Annotated 2023. These fees are summarized in the table below.[5]
| Filing fees | |
|---|---|
| Office sought | How the fee is determined |
| For offices earning an annual salary of $2,500 or less and members of the state legislature | $15 |
| For offices (except county-level) earning an annual salary of more than $2,500 | 1% of salary |
| For offices in which compensation is paid in fees | $10 |
For independent, indigent, and non-qualified party candidates
See statutes: Title 13, Chapter 10, Section 501 of the Montana Code Annotated 2013
In order to qualify for placement on the general election ballot, a candidate must file an "Independent, Minor Party, or Indigent Candidate Declaration, Oath of Candidacy, and Petition for Nomination." Independent and non-qualified party candidates are liable for the same filing fees as qualified party candidates (see table above). Indigent candidates (i.e., those who do not have the resources to pay the filing fees) are not required to pay the statutory filing fees and may have their names placed on the ballot via the petition process only.[6][7]
Nominating petitions must be signed by electors residing within the state and district or political subdivision in which the official is to be elected. Valid signatures must total at least 5 percent of the total votes cast at the last general election for the successful candidate for the office being sought.[8]
For write-in candidates
In order to have his or her votes counted, a write-in candidate must submit to the Montana Secretary of State a "Declaration of Intent and Oath of Candidacy" and pay the requisite filing fees (noted above).[9]
Qualifications
To be eligible to serve in the Montana State Senate, a candidate must be:[10]
- A resident of the state for at least one year next preceding the general election
- A resident of the county for six months preceding the general election if it contains one or more districts or of the district if it contains all or parts of more than one county.
Salaries and per diem
- See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
| State legislative salaries, 2024[11] | |
|---|---|
| Salary | Per diem |
| $104.86/legislative day | $171/day |
When sworn in
Montana legislators assume office the first Monday of January following the election. If January 1 is a Monday, legislators assume office on the first Wednesday.[12]
Montana political history
Trifectas
A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government.
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 |
Presidential politics in Montana
2020 Presidential election results
Presidential election in Montana, 2020
Candidate/Running mate |
% |
Popular votes |
Electoral votes |
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| ✔ |
 
| Donald Trump/Mike Pence (R) |
56.9
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343,602 | 3 |
 
| Joe Biden/Kamala D. Harris (D) |
40.5
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244,786 | 0 | |
 
| Jo Jorgensen/Spike Cohen (L) |
2.5
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15,252 | 0 | |
| Other write-in votes |
0.0
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55 | 0 | ||
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Total votes: 603,695 |
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Montana
Redistricting following the 2020 census
Montana enacted new legislative district boundaries after the 2020 census on February 22, 2023, when the Montana Districting & Apportionment Commission (MDAC) submitted its final plan to the secretary of state. The commission had voted 3-2 to approve the final plan on February 11, 2023. The two Democratic-appointed commissioners and the commission's chairperson—that the state supreme court appointed—voted to approve the plan. The two Republican-appointed commissioners voted against it. These districts took effect for the 2024 elections.
See also
| Montana | State Legislative Elections | News and Analysis |
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2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Ballotpedia defines an incumbent as retiring if the incumbent did not file for office or filed for office but withdrew, was disqualified, or otherwise left a race in a manner other than losing the primary, primary runoff, or convention. If an incumbent runs as a write-in candidate, Ballotpedia does not consider them to be retiring. If an incumbent runs in the same chamber for a different seat, Ballotpedia does not consider them to be retiring.
- ↑ Ballotpedia defines a seat as open if the incumbent did not file to run for re-election or filed but withdrew and did not appear on any ballot for his or her seat. If the incumbent withdrew from or did not participate in the primary but later chose to seek re-election to his or her seat as a third party or independent candidate, the seat would not be counted as open. If the incumbent retired or ran for a different seat in the same chamber, his or her original seat would be counted as open unless another incumbent from the same chamber filed to run for that seat, in which case it would not be counted as open due to the presence of an incumbent.
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "Candidates information," accessed April 28, 2025
- ↑ Montana Code Annotated 2023, "Title 13, Chapter 10, Section 201," accessed April 28, 2025
- ↑ Montana Code Annotated 2023, "Title 13, Chapter 10, Section 202," accessed April 28, 2025
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "Information for Independent, Minor Party and Indigent Candidates," accessed January 7, 2014
- ↑ Montana Code Annotated 2023, "Title 13, Chapter 10, Section 501," accessed April 28, 2025
- ↑ Montana Code Annotated 2023, "Title 13, Chapter 10, Section 502," accessed April 28, 2025
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "Information for Write-in Candidates," accessed April 27, 2025
- ↑ Montana Legislative Services, "Constitution of Montana," accessed March 6, 2014 (Referenced Art. V, Sec. 4)
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
- ↑ Montana State Legislature, "Montana Code Annotated 2021, 5-2-102. Term of office," accessed November 4, 2021
