Montana held its general election on November 6, 2012, deciding 126 legislative seats and 6 statewide offices led by the governorship. No chamber changed party control.
Highlights
- Democrats kept the governorship and Republicans kept the Legislature, so divided government continued. The chambers moved in opposite directions: House Republicans slipped from 68-32 to 61-39, while Senate Republicans edged up from 28-22 to 29-21.
- Attorney General Steve Bullock (D) beat Rick Hill (R) by about a point and a half to succeed term-limited Gov. Brian Schweitzer. The race's final weeks turned on whether Hill should have kept a $500,000 donation from the state GOP, and Bullock called his win a repudiation of outside money. Bullock's running mate, John Walsh (D), became lieutenant governor.
- Down the ballot, Tim Fox (R) won the open attorney general seat Bullock vacated, beating Pam Bucy (D) by about 7 points. Superintendent Denise Juneau (D) held off Sandy Welch (R) by about 2,200 votes; a judge ordered a statewide hand recount, but Welch dropped it when she could not post the $115,000 bond. Secretary of State Linda McCulloch (D) and Auditor Monica Lindeen (D) were re-elected.
- Montana voted on its old district lines, and 8 legislators lost, all but one of them House Republicans:
- Voters passed all 5 measures. Four were what the Flathead Beacon called GOP ballot measures, three referred by the Legislature and one a referendum on a state law: LR-120 requires parental notification before a minor's abortion, LR-121 bars state services to people in the country illegally, LR-122 opposes government health insurance mandates, and IR-124 kept the Legislature's medical marijuana restrictions. Citizen initiative I-166 declared that corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights.
Legislature
- House (100 seats): 32 D, 68 R before the election, 39 D, 61 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
- Senate (50 seats): 22 D, 28 R before the election, 21 D, 29 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
Statewide races
Legislative races
| Race | Winner | Others | Notes |
|---|
| House 1 | Gerald (Jerry) Bennett (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 2 | Mike Cuffe (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 3 | Jerry O'Neil (R) | Zachary Perry (D), Shawn Leslie Guymon (L) | |
| House 4 | Ed Lieser (D) | Tim Baldwin (R) | Flipped R to D |
| House 5 | Keith Regier (R) | James Henry Mahnke (D) | |
| House 6 | Carl Glimm (R) | Brenda Talbert (D) | |
| House 7 | Randy Brodehl (R) | Diane Frances Taylor (D) | |
| House 8 | Steve Lavin (R) | Brittany Maclean (D) | |
| House 9 | Scott M. Reichner (R) | Rodrik Brosten (D) | |
| House 10 | Mark Blasdel (R) | Alexander William Schaeffer (D) | |
| House 11 | Greg Hertz (R) | Bud Koppy (D) | |
| House 12 | Daniel Salomon (R) | Luke Walawander (D) | |
| House 13 | Pat Ingraham (R) | Debra J. Achatz (D) | |
| House 14 | Nick Schwaderer (R) | Christine Johnson (D), Jessie Nichols (I) | |
| House 15 | Frosty Calf Boss Ribs (D) | Joe Read (R) | Flipped R to D; Incumbent defeated |
| House 16 | Lea Whitford (D) | Lila J. Walter Evans (R) | Flipped R to D; Incumbent defeated |
| House 17 | Christy Clark (R) | Mike Henning (D) | |
| House 18 | Jesse O'Hara (R) | Colter McCarty (D) | |
| House 19 | Roger Hagan (R) | Richard D. Liebert (D) | |
| House 20 | Steve Fitzpatrick (R) | Lindsay Love (D) | |
| House 21 | Jean Price (D) | Steven R. Sem (R) | |
| House 22 | Casey Schreiner (D) | George Paul (R) | |
| House 23 | Carlie Boland (D) | Patrick Flaherty (R) | |
| House 24 | Brian Hoven (R) | Tom Glover (D) | |
| House 25 | Tom Jacobson (D) | Cleve J. Loney (R) | Flipped R to D; Incumbent defeated |
| House 26 | Robert "Bob" Mehlhoff (D) | Tim Martin (L) | |
| House 27 | Rob Cook (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 28 | Roy Hollandsworth (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 29 | Ryan Osmundson (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 30 | Bill Harris (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 31 | Bridget Smith (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 32 | Clarena M. Brockie (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 33 | Kris Hansen (R) | Brenda Skornogoski (D) | |
| House 34 | Wendy Warburton (R) | Karen S. Sloan (D) | |
| House 35 | Mike Lang (R) | Floyd R. Hopstad (D) | |
| House 36 | Austin Knudsen (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 37 | David Halvorson (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 38 | Alan Doane (R) 57.13% | Jim Hicks (D) | |
| House 39 | Lee Randall (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 40 | Bill McChesney (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 41 | Rae Peppers (D) | Sterling Small (R) | Flipped R to D; Incumbent defeated |
| House 42 | Carolyn Pease-Lopez (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 43 | Duane Ankney (R) | Gary Perkins (D) | |
| House 44 | Jonathan McNiven (R) | Wallace Yovetich (D) | |
| House 45 | Tom Berry (R) | Carolee Hagstrom (D) | |
| House 46 | Clayton Fiscus (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 47 | Daniel Zolnikov (R) | Dale E. Rumph (D) | |
| House 48 | Doug Kary (R) | Rita Wells (D) | |
| House 49 | Mary McNally (D) | Tim Stark (R) | |
| House 50 | Dennis Lenz (R) | Deborah D. Willis (D) | |
| House 51 | Kelly McCarthy (D) | Taj Mukadam (R) | |
| House 52 | Virginia Court (D) | Kassidy Olson (R) | |
| House 53 | Dave Hagstrom (R) | Joseph Sands (D) | |
| House 54 | Margie MacDonald (D) | Dave Lewis (R) | |
| House 55 | Cary Smith (R) | Bob Winger (D) | |
| House 56 | Donald Jones (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 57 | Sarah Laszloffy (R) | Sean Whiting (D) | |
| House 58 | Krayton Kerns (R) | Cole Olson (D) | |
| House 59 | Joanne G. Blyton (R) | Paul Beck (D) | |
| House 60 | David Howard (R) | Jim Dickey (D) | |
| House 61 | Alan Redfield (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 62 | Reilly Neill (D) | Dan Skattum (R) | Flipped R to D; Incumbent defeated |
| House 63 | Franke Wilmer (D) | Tom Burnett (R) | Flipped R to D; Incumbent defeated |
| House 64 | Tom Woods (D) | Clint Field (R) | |
| House 65 | Kathleen Williams (D) | Nick Mahan (R) | |
| House 66 | Jennifer Jp Pomnichowski (D) 68.58% | Dave Ponte (R) 31.42% | |
| House 67 | Gordon (Gordy) Vance (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 68 | Kelly Flynn (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 69 | Ted Washburn (R) | Unopposed | |
| House 70 | Kerry White (R) | April Buonamici (D), Christopher Burke (I) | |
| House 71 | Ray Shaw (R) | Kim Miller (I) | |
| House 72 | Jeffrey Welborn (R) | Norma J. Duffy (D) | |
| House 73 | Pat Noonan (D) | Gary Wold (R) | |
| House 74 | Ryan Lynch (D) | Max Yates (R) | Flipped R to D; Incumbent defeated |
| House 75 | Edith McClafferty (D) 72.91% | Greg Miller (R) 27.09% | |
| House 76 | Amanda Curtis (D) | Unopposed | |
| House 77 | Kirk Wagoner (R) | Adam Lythgoe (D) | |
| House 78 | Steve Gibson (R) | Joe Cohenour (D) | |
| House 79 | Chuck Hunter (D) | Mark Diaz (R) | |
| House 80 | Liz Bangerter (R) | Kelsen Young (D) | |
| House 81 | Galen Hollenbaugh (D) | Ronald Lassle (R) | |
| House 82 | Jenny Eck (D) | Samuel J Hunthausen (R) | |
| House 83 | Wylie Galt (R) | Marla C Clark (D) | |
| House 84 | Mike Miller (R) | Everett G. Sheets (D), Scott Vandevender (L) | |
| House 85 | Gordon Pierson, Jr. (D) | John Perkins (R) | |
| House 86 | Kathy Swanson (D) | Elena Gagliano (R) | |
| House 87 | Pat Connell (R) | Jan Wisniewski (D), Karen Fisher (L) | |
| House 88 | Ron Ehli (R) | Pam Erickson (D), Stephen Rodriguez (L) | |
| House 89 | Nancy Ballance (R) | Peggy Steffes (D), Andy Elwell (L) | |
| House 90 | Edward Greef (R) | Toby Martin (L) | |
| House 91 | David Moore (R) | Chuck Erickson (D) | Flipped D to R |
| House 92 | Bryce Bennett (D) | Paul Varkuza (R) | |
| House 93 | Douglas Coffin (D) | Brandon Simpson (R) | |
| House 94 | Ellie Hill (D) | Lyn Hellegaard (R) | |
| House 95 | Tom Steenberg (D) | Karen K. Meyer (R) | |
| House 96 | Carolyn Squires (D) | Jon Baker (R) | |
| House 97 | Nancy Wilson (D) | Gary E Sanders (R) | |
| House 98 | Jenifer Gursky (D) | Larry Jones (R) | |
| House 99 | Kimberly Dudik (D) | Gary Marbut (R) | |
| House 100 | Champ Edmunds (R) | Dave Andrews (D) | |
| Senate 2 | Dee Brown (R) | Dave Fern (D) | |
| Senate 3 | Bruce Tutvedt (R) | Shannon D Hanson (D) | |
| Senate 6 | Janna Taylor (R) | Nancy Lindsey (D) | |
| Senate 7 | Jennifer Fielder (R) | Mark Sheets (D), John Marshall (L) | |
| Senate 9 | Rick Ripley (R) | Ron Szabo (D) | |
| Senate 10 | Brad Hamlett (D) | Wendy McKamey (R) | |
| Senate 16 | Jonathan Windy Boy (D) | Unopposed | |
| Senate 17 | Greg Jergeson (D) | Don Richman (R) | Flipped R to D |
| Senate 18 | John Brenden (R) | Julie E. French (D) | |
| Senate 19 | Matthew M. Rosendale, Sr. (R) | Fred Lake (D) | |
| Senate 21 | Sharon Stewart Peregoy (D) | Unopposed | |
| Senate 22 | Taylor Brown (R) | Jean Lemire Dahlman (D) | |
| Senate 24 | Roger Webb (R) | Wanda Grinde (D) | Flipped D to R |
| Senate 26 | Robyn Driscoll (D) | Malcolm "Mack" Long (R) | |
| Senate 27 | Elsie Arntzen (R) | Gary Branae (D) | Flipped D to R; Incumbent defeated |
| Senate 33 | Mike Phillips (D) | Tom Tuck (R) | |
| Senate 34 | Scott Sales (R) | Michael B Comstock (D) | |
| Senate 36 | Debby Barrett (R) | Richard Turner (D) | |
| Senate 37 | Jon Sesso (D) | Daniel "D.J." O'Neill (R) | |
| Senate 38 | Jim Keane (D) | Unopposed | |
| Senate 41 | Christine Kaufmann (D) | Mark Perea (R) | |
| Senate 43 | Gene Vuckovich (D) | Jonathan L. Arnold (R) | |
| Senate 45 | Fred Thomas (R) | Dan Metully (D), Rob McCoy (L) | |
| Senate 46 | Sue Malek (D) | Kevin Blackler (R) | |
| Senate 47 | Dick Barrett (D) | Fred Carl (R) | |
| Senate 50 | Cliff Larsen (D) | Niles Brush (R) | |
Ballot measures
| Measure | Description | Result |
|---|
| I-166 | Set policy on prohibiting corporate contributions and expenditures in Montana elections. | Passed (74.67% yes) |
| IR-124 | Would place a legislative repeal of 2004 initiative to a vote, instead of automatic law. | Passed (57.25% yes) |
| LR-120 | Relating to parental involvement for a minor’s abortion. | Passed (70.55% yes) |
| LR-121 | Would require citizenship proof in order to receive state services. | Passed (79.51% yes) |
| LR-122 | Would allow residents to choose their healthcare insurance plans. | Passed (67.2% yes) |