Montana's at-large congressional district

Montana's at-large congressional district
Montana's at-large congressional district
Representative	Greg Gianforte; R–Bozeman
Distribution	54.0% urban; 46.0% rural;
Population (2014)	1,023,579
Median household; income	33,024
Ethnicity	90.6% White; 6.2% Native American; 2.0% Hispanic; 0.6% other; 0.5% Asian; 0.3% Black;
Cook PVI	R+11

Montana is represented in the US House of Representatives by one at-large congressional district, among the 435 in the U.S. Congress. The district is the largest U.S. congressional district by population, with just over 1 million constituents. It is also the second-largest by land area, after Alaska's at-large congressional district.

Since June 2017, the district has been represented by Republican Greg Gianforte. Gianforte won a special election earlier in 2017 to replace Ryan Zinke, who had resigned to become Secretary of the Interior.

Politics

President George W. Bush won Montana in the 2004 Presidential election with 59.1% of the vote, beating John Kerry by 20 percentage points, which indicates that the district leans Republican. However, four years later John McCain won the state by only 2.5% over Barack Obama, and there is a significant Democratic presence in the state: as of 2017 the Governor's office and one U.S. Senate seat are controlled by the Democrats, which suggested at the time that the district could be competitive in future elections. In 2016, Donald Trump won by over 20%, while Ryan Zinke won Montana's single congressional seat by over 16%. The seat was left vacant when Zinke was appointed Secretary of the Interior. In a special election held on May 25, 2017, Republican Greg Gianforte won with a margin of 6%.^[3]

Early at-large district

From statehood in 1889, until the creation of geographic districts in 1919, Montana was represented in the United States House of Representatives by members elected at-large. From 1913 to 1919, in fact, there were two seats, still elected at-large. In the reapportionment following the 1990 census Montana lost one of its two seats, and its remaining member was again elected at-large.

Recent voting history

Election results from presidential races are shown below.

Year	Results
2000	Bush 58–33%
2004	Bush 59–38%
2008	McCain 50–47%
2012	Romney 55–41%
2016	Trump 56–35%

List of representatives

1889–1919: One, then two seats

Cong ress	Years	Seat A			Seat B
Cong ress	Years	Representative	Party	Electoral history	Representative	Party	Electoral history
51	March 4, 1889 – November 8, 1889	Seat created upon statehood			A second seat was added in 1913.
51	November 8, 1889 – March 3, 1891	Thomas H. Carter	Republican	Elected in 1889.
52	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893	William W. Dixon	Democratic	Elected in 1890.
53	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895	Charles S. Hartman	Republican	Elected in 1892.
54	March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1897		Republican	Re-Elected in 1894.
55	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1899		Silver Republican	Re-Elected in 1896.
56	March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1901	Albert J. Campbell	Democratic	Elected in 1898.
57	March 4, 1901 – March 3, 1903	Caldwell Edwards	Populist	Elected in 1900.
58	March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905	Joseph M. Dixon	Republican	Elected in 1902.
59	March 4, 1905 – March 3, 1907	Joseph M. Dixon	Republican	Re-Elected in 1904.
60	March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1909	Charles N. Pray	Republican	Elected in 1906.
61	March 4, 1909 – March 3, 1911			Re-Elected in 1908.
62	March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1913			Re-Elected in 1910.
63	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1915	John M. Evans	Democratic	Elected in 1912.	Tom Stout	Democratic	Elected in 1912.
64	March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1917			Re-elected in 1914.	Tom Stout	Democratic	Re-elected in 1914. Retired.
65	March 4, 1917 – March 3, 1919			Re-elected in 1916. Redistricted to the 1st district.	Jeannette Rankin^[4]	Republican	Elected in 1916. Retired to run for U.S. Senate.

The two at-large seats were moved to district representation in 1919, and remained until 1993, when Montana lost a seat due to redistricting from the 1990 US Census, re-establishing the single seat at-large district.

1993–present: One seat

Cong ress	Representative	Party	Years	Electoral history
District re-established			January 3, 1993
103 104	Pat Williams	Democratic	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1997	Redistricted from the 1st district, and re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Retired.
105 106	Rick Hill	Republican	January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2001	Elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Retired.
107 108 109 110 111 112	Denny Rehberg	Republican	January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2013	Elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Retired to run for U.S. Senate.
113	Steve Daines	Republican	January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2015	Elected in 2012. Elected to the U.S. Senate.
114 115	Ryan Zinke	Republican	January 3, 2015 – March 1, 2017	Elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
115	Vacant		March 1, 2017 – June 21, 2017
115	Greg Gianforte	Republican	June 21, 2017 – present	Elected to finish Zinke's term.

Recent election results

The following are official results from the general elections.^[5]

United States House of Representatives elections, 1998: Montana's at-large district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rick Hill	175,748	53.01%
	Democratic	Dusty Deschamps	147,073	44.36%
	Libertarian	Mike Fellows	5,652	1.70%
	Reform	Webb Sullivan	3,078	0.93%
Majority			28,675	8.65%
Turnout			338,733	52.99%
	Republican hold		Swing

United States House of Representatives elections, 2000: Montana's at-large district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Denny Rehberg	211,418	51.50%	−1.51
	Democratic	Nancy Keenan	189,971	46.28%	+1.92
	Libertarian	James Tikalsky	9,132	2.22%	+0.52
Majority			21,447	5.22%	−3.43
Turnout			417,916	59.85%	+6.86
	Republican hold		Swing

United States House of Representatives elections, 2002: Montana's at-large district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Denny Rehberg	214,100	64.62%	+13.12
	Democratic	Steve Kelly	108,233	32.67%	−13.61
	Libertarian	Mike Fellows	8,988	2.71%	+0.49
Majority			105,867	31.95%	+26.73
Turnout			340,272	54.48%	−5.37
	Republican hold		Swing

United States House of Representatives elections, 2004: Montana's at-large district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Denny Rehberg	286,076	64.40%	−0.22
	Democratic	Tracy Velazquez	145,606	32.78%	+0.11
	Libertarian	Mike Fellows	12,548	2.82%	+0.11
Majority			140,470	31.62%	−0.33
Turnout			456,096	71.44%	+16.96
	Republican hold		Swing

United States House of Representatives elections, 2006: Montana's at-large district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Denny Rehberg	239,124	58.88%	−5.52
	Democratic	Monica Lindeen	158,916	39.13%	+6.35
	Libertarian	Mike Fellows	8,085	1.99%	−0.83
Majority			80,208	19.75%	−11.87
Turnout			411,061	63.30%	−8.14
	Republican hold		Swing

United States House of Representatives elections, 2008: Montana's at-large district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Denny Rehberg	308,470	64.14%	+5.26
	Democratic	John Driscoll	155,930	32.42%	−6.71
	Libertarian	Mike Fellows	16,500	3.43%	+1.44
Majority			152,540	31.72%	+11.97
Turnout			497,599	74.48%	+11.18
	Republican hold		Swing

United States House of Representatives elections, 2010: Montana's at-large district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Denny Rehberg	217,696	60.41%	−3.73
	Democratic	Dennis McDonald	121,954	33.84%	+1.42
	Libertarian	Mike Fellows	20,691	5.74%	+2.31
Majority			95,742	26.57%	−5.15
Turnout			367,096	56.36%	−18.12
	Republican hold		Swing

United States House of Representatives elections, 2012: Montana's at-large district
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Steve Daines	255,468	53.25%	−7.16
	Democratic	Kim Gillan	204,939	42.72%	+8.88
	Libertarian	David Kaiser	19,333	4.03%	−1.71
Majority			50,529	10.53%	−16.04
Turnout			491,966	72.18%	+15.82
	Republican hold		Swing

United States House of Representatives elections, 2014: Montana's at-large district^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ryan Zinke	201,436	55.47%	+2.22
	Democratic	John Lewis	146,474	40.34%	−2.38
	Libertarian	Mike Fellows	15,105	4.16%	+0.13
Majority			54,962	15.13%	+4.6
Turnout			369,047	54.73%	−17.45
	Republican hold		Swing

United States House of Representatives elections, 2016: Montana's at-large District^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ryan Zinke	285,358	56.19%	+0.72
	Democratic	Denise Juneau	205,919	40.55%	+0.21
	Libertarian	Rick Breckenridge	16,554	3.26%	−0.90
Majority			79,439	15.64%	+0.51
Turnout			516,901	74.44%	+19.71
	Republican hold		Swing

Montana's at-large congressional district special election, 2017: Montana's at-large District^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Greg Gianforte	189,473	50.19%	−6.00
	Democratic	Rob Quist	166,483	44.11%	+3.46
	Libertarian	Mark L Wicks	21,509	5.70%	+2.44
Majority			22,990	6.10%	−7.54%
Turnout			377,465	54.22%	−20.22%
	Republican hold		Swing

Notes

^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014". American FactFinder. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
^ "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
^ "Election Results: Gianforte Wins U.S. House Seat in Montana". New York Times. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
^ "Montana". Official Congressional Directory: 65th Congress. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. 1917. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
^ "Archived Official Election Results". Montana Secretary of State. State of Montana. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
^ "Official General Election Results". Montana Secretary of State. State of Montana. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ "2016 General Election". Montana Secretary of State. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
^ "2017 Special Election (unofficial results)". Montana Secretary of State. Retrieved May 26, 2017.

References

2004 Election results for Montana At Large Congressional district
Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

[1] "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014". American FactFinder. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved January 30, 2015.

[Cook-2] "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.

[3] "Election Results: Gianforte Wins U.S. House Seat in Montana". New York Times. Retrieved May 26, 2017.

[4] "Montana". Official Congressional Directory: 65th Congress. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. 1917. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)

[5] "Archived Official Election Results". Montana Secretary of State. State of Montana. Retrieved November 7, 2014.

[6] "Official General Election Results". Montana Secretary of State. State of Montana. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[GenElection2016-7] "2016 General Election". Montana Secretary of State. Retrieved December 9, 2016.

[GenElection2017-8] "2017 Special Election (unofficial results)". Montana Secretary of State. Retrieved May 26, 2017.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]