Montana's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

that was apportioned after the 2020 United States census. The first candidates ran in the 2022 elections for a seat in the

118th United States Congress The 118th United States Congress was a meeting of the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House ...

. This seat's current representative is Republican

Ryan Zinke Ryan Keith Zinke ( ; born November 1, 1961) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Zinke served in the Montana Senate from 2009 to 2013 and as the U.S. re ...

History

From 1913 to 1993,

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

had two congressional seats. From 1913 to 1919, those seats were elected statewide at-large on a general ticket. After 1919, however, the state was divided into geographical districts, with the 1st district covering the western part of the state, including

Missoula Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot River, Bitterroot and Blackfoot River (Montana), ...

, Great Falls,

Butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

, and Helena. After 1993, the was eliminated and the remaining seat was elected . Following the release of the 2020 United States census results, Montana was once again split into two congressional districts. The reconstituted 1st district covers the western third of the state, in a configuration similar to the 1983–1993 map. However, Helena was drawn into the reconstituted 2nd district. The reconstituted 1st leans Republican, though not as overwhelmingly as the 2nd. Missoula, home of the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

, and Butte are longstanding Democratic bastions, while Bozeman, home to

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...

, is more of a swing area. The rural areas, especially the Flathead, are heavily Republican.

Recent election results from statewide races

Composition

The first district includes all of the following counties, with the exception of Pondera, which it shares with the

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...

. Pondera County communities in the 1st district include Birch Creek Colony, Dupuyer, Heart Butte, Kingsbury Colony, New Miami Colony, Pondera Colony, and Valier.https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd118/cd_based/ST30/CD118_MT01.pdf

List of members representing the district

Recent election results

2022

2024

References

;General ;Specific * *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montana's 1st Congressional District 01 Constituencies established in 1919 1919 establishments in Montana Constituencies disestablished in 1993 1993 disestablishments in Montana Constituencies established in 2023 2023 establishments in Montana Mike Mansfield