The 2016 Montana gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2016, to elect the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and

Lieutenant Governor of Montana The lieutenant governor of Montana is an elected official in the State of Montana that ranks just below the governor of Montana. List of lieutenant governors ;Parties Living former lieutenant governors , there are six former lieutenant gove ...

, concurrently with the

2016 U.S. presidential election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial United States presidential election, presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald ...

, as well as

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

and

to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

and various

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

. Incumbent Democratic Governor

Steve Bullock Steve, Steven, or Stephen Bullock may refer to: *Steve Bullock (British politician) (born 1953), first directly elected mayor of the London Borough of Lewisham *Steve Bullock (American politician) (born 1966), 24th Governor of Montana (2013–2021) ...

won reelection to a second term in office with 50.3% of the vote, defeating

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

challenger

Greg Gianforte Gregory Richard Gianforte (born April 17, 1961) is an American businessman, politician, software engineer, and writer serving as the 25th governor of Montana since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Gianforte served as the U.S. representa ...

. Less than a year later, Gianforte won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, and in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

was elected governor. In the concurrent presidential election, Democrat

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

lost Montana by more than 20%, with Bullock thus over-performing her vote share by more than 14% and her margin of defeat by more than 24%.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

, incumbent governor :*Running mate:

Mike Cooney Michael R. Cooney (born September 3, 1954) is an American politician who served as the 36th lieutenant governor of Montana from 2016 to 2021. He previously served in the Montana House of Representatives (1977–1981), as the secretary of state of ...

, incumbent lieutenant governor * Bill McChesney, former state representative :*Running mate: Mike Anderson

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

, founder of

RightNow Technologies Oracle RightNow is a customer relationship management (CRM) software service for enterprise organizations which is part of Oracle Service. It was originally developed by RightNow Technologies, Inc., which was acquired by Oracle Corporation in 20 ...

and conservative activist :*Running mate: Lesley Robinson, Phillips County Commissioner * Terry Nelson, planning administrator for

Ravalli County, Montana Ravalli County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,174. Its county seat is Hamilton. Ravalli County is part of a north–south mountain valley bordered by the Sapphir ...

:*Running mate: Niki Sardot

Withdrawn

* Brad Johnson, chairman of the

Montana Public Service Commission The Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) is a quasi-judicial regulatory board of elected officials in the U.S. state of Montana. The PSC regulates private, investor-owned natural gas, electric, telephone, water and private sewer companies doing ...

and former

secretary of state of Montana The Secretary of State of Montana is one of the elected constitutional officers of executive branch of the U.S. state of Montana. The current Secretary of State is Christi Jacobsen. Organization The Secretary of State's Office is composed of fi ...

* Mark Perea, businessman and nominee for the state senate in 2012 (did not file)

Declined

* Tim Fox,

Attorney General of Montana The Montana Department of Justice is a state law enforcement agency of Montana. The Department is equivalent to the State Bureau of Investigation in other states. The Montana Attorney General, currently Republican Austin Knudsen, heads the agen ...

(running for re-election) *

Ryan Zinke Ryan Keith Zinke (; born November 1, 1961) is an American politician and businessman. Zinke, a member of the Republican Party, served in the Montana Senate from 2009 to 2013 and as the U.S. representative for Montana's at-large congressional d ...

, U.S. Representative (running for re-election) * Taylor Brown, state senator * Jeff Essman, state representative and former president of the State Senate

Endorsements

Results

Third parties

Independent

Declared

* Christopher Zarcone

Libertarian

Declared

* Ted Dunlap,

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

:*Running mate: Ron Vandevender, perennial candidate

Withdrew

* Ron Vandevender, perennial candidate

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
September 19, 2016 -

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

Endorsements

Predictions

Polling

{, class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;" , - valign= bottom ! Poll source ! Date(s)
administered ! Sample
size ! Margin of
error ! style="width:100px;", Steve
Bullock (D) ! style="width:100px;", Greg
Gianforte (R) ! style="width:100px;", Ted
Dunlap (L) ! Undecided , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, November 1–7, 2016 , align=center, 449 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 44% , align=center, 46% , align=center, 7% , align=center, 3% , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, October 31–November 6, 2016 , align=center, 410 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 45% , align=center, 44% , align=center, 8% , align=center, 3% , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, October 28–November 3, 2016 , align=center, 403 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 46% , align=center, 46% , align=center, 7% , align=center, 1% , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, October 27–November 2, 2016 , align=center, 376 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 48% , align=center, 43% , align=center, 7% , align=center, 2% , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, October 26–November 1, 2016 , align=center, 385 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 51% , align=center, 41% , align=center, 7% , align=center, 1% , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, October 25–31, 2016 , align=center, 405 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 53% , align=center, 39% , align=center, 7% , align=center, 1% , -

, align=center, October 10–12, 2016 , align=center, 1,003 , align=center, ± 3.2% , align=center, 47% , align=center, 45% , align=center, 2% , align=center, 6% , -
Montana State University Billings
, align=center, October 3–10, 2016 , align=center, 590 , align=center, ± 4.0% , align=center, 44% , align=center, 32% , align=center, 3% , align=center, 20% , - ;with Ryan Zinke {, class="wikitable" , - valign= bottom ! style="width:175px;", Poll source ! style="width:175px;", Date(s)
administered ! class=small , Sample
size ! class=small , Margin of
error ! style="width:100px;", Steve
Bullock (D) ! style="width:100px;", Ryan
Zinke (R) ! Other ! Undecided , -
Gravis Marketing
, align=center, February 24–25, 2015 , align=center, 1,035 , align=center, ± 3% , align=center, 44% , align=center, 44% , align=center, — , align=center, 11% , -
Gravis Marketing
, align=center, November 24–25, 2014 , align=center, 836 , align=center, ± 3% , align=center, 41% , align=center, 49% , align=center, — , align=center, 10% ;with Tim Fox {, class="wikitable" , - valign= bottom ! style="width:175px;", Poll source ! style="width:175px;", Date(s)
administered ! class=small , Sample
size ! class=small , Margin of
error ! style="width:100px;", Steve
Bullock (D) ! style="width:100px;", Tim
Fox (R) ! Other ! Undecided , -
Gravis Marketing
, align=center, February 24–25, 2015 , align=center, 1,035 , align=center, ± 3% , align=center, 46% , align=center, 38% , align=center, — , align=center, 16% , -
Gravis Marketing
, align=center, November 24–25, 2014 , align=center, 836 , align=center, ± 3% , align=center, 41% , align=center, 45% , align=center, — , align=center, 14% , -
Public Policy Polling
, align=center, July 20–22, 2013 , align=center, 741 , align=center, ± 4% , align=center, 46% , align=center, 43% , align=center, — , align=center, 11%

Results

References

External links

;Official campaign websites (Archived)
Steve Bullock (D) for GovernorGreg Gianforte (R) for GovernorRon Vandevender (L) for Governor
{{2016 United States elections

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

2016 Montana elections Steve Bullock (American politician)