The 2012 Montana gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2012, to elect the governor of Montana. Incumbent Democratic governor Brian Schweitzer was term-limited and could not run for re-election to a third term. Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock won the Democratic primary with 87% of the vote and former U.S. representative Rick Hill won the Republican primary with 34% of the vote. In the general election, Bullock won by 7,571 votes, taking 48.9% of the vote to Hill's 47.3%. With a margin of 1.6%, this election was the second-closest race of the 2012 gubernatorial election cycle, behind only the election in Puerto Rico. Due to the close margin, media outlets did not call the race for Bullock until the next day. This was the last time anyone other than

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

was the Republican nominee.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

* Steve Bullock, Montana Attorney General :*Running mate: John Walsh, Brigadier general and former adjutant general in the Montana National Guard * Heather Margolis, Montana representative for community service organization ServeNext :*Running mate: Steve Nelsen, founder of the Montana Conservation Corps

Withdrew

* Larry Jent, state senator

Declined

* John Bohlinger, Lieutenant Governor of Montana * Carl Borgquist, president of Grasslands Renewable Energy of Bozeman * Dave Wanzenried, state senator * Pat Williams, former U.S. representative

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

* Bob Fanning, retired businessman :*Running mate: Joel Boniek, former state representative :*''Former running mate:'' Chuck Baldwin, pastor and Constitution Party nominee for president in

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(dropped out February 2012) * Rick Hill, former U.S. representative :*Running mate: Jon Sonju, state senator * Neil Livingstone, terrorism and national security analyst :*Running mate: Ryan Zinke, state senator * Jim Lynch, former Montana Department of Transportation director :*Running mate: Al Olszewski, orthopedic surgeon and Carroll College Trustee * Ken Miller, former state senator and former chairman of the Montana Republican Party :*Running mate: Bill Gallagher, Public Service Commissioner * Jim O'Hara, Chouteau County

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

:*Running mate: Scott Swingley, private investigator and former trooper in the Montana Highway Patrol * Corey Stapleton, former state senator :*Running mate: Bob Keenan, former president of the

Montana Senate The Montana State Senate is the upper house of the Montana Legislature, the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Montana. The body is composed of 50 senators elected for four years. Half of the Senate is up for election every two years. ...

Withdrew

* Jeff Essmann, Majority Leader of the

* Drew Turiano, real estate investor

Declined

* Denny Rehberg, U.S. representative ( ran for the U.S. Senate)

Polling

Results

2012 Montana gubernatorial Republican primary county map

General election

Candidates

* Steve Bullock (D), Montana attorney general :*Running mate: John Walsh, brigadier general and former adjutant general in the Montana National Guard * Rick Hill (R), former U.S. representative :*Running mate: Jon Sonju, state senator * Ron Vandevender (Libertarian), businessman :*Running mate: Marc Mulcahy

Debate

Complete video of debate

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, October 10, 2012

Predictions

Polling

Aggregate polls
With Bohlinger With Bullock With Jent With Wanzenried

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Notes

References

External links

Elections and Government – Montana Secretary of State
Official campaign websites (Archived)
Steve Bullock for Governor

Rick Hill for Governor

Ron Vandevender for Governor
{{2012 United States elections

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 ...

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

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Steve Bullock (American politician) November 2012 in the United States