Montana held its general election on November 8, 2022, deciding 125 legislative seats and 2 statewide offices. No chamber changed party control.
Highlights
- Republicans won two-thirds of both chambers, the party's first supermajority in both chambers under Montana's modern Constitution. That lets them send constitutional amendments to the ballot without a single Democratic vote.
- The Senate made the difference. Republicans already held two-thirds of the House going in, and they gained three Senate seats. Two came when they seized Democratic seats in regular races: Daniel Emrich (R) unseated Sen. Tom Jacobson (D) in Senate District 11, and Wendy McKamey (R) beat Jacob Bachmeier (D) by about 12 points for the open Senate District 12. The third came in a special election for the rest of a Senate District 39 term.
- The House traded seats in both directions, two of them by fewer than 50 votes:
- In all, 7 of the 125 legislative seats on the ballot changed party hands, five to Republicans and two to Democrats, and 5 incumbents lost, three of them Democrats. Beyond the flips, 2 more races finished inside two points, both holds: Rep. Marvin Weatherwax Jr. (D) kept House District 15 by 26 votes, and Rep. Steve Gist (R) held House District 25 by 54.
- In the state's most expensive judicial race, voters kept an incumbent justice on the Supreme Court over a challenger who said Gov. Greg Gianforte had asked him to run. Montana Republicans had described defeating her as part of a long-term push for a court majority.
- Voters split the 2 statewide measures. C-48, which adds electronic data and communications to the Constitution's search-and-seizure protections, passed with about 82%. LR-131, the "born-alive" referendum that would have made it a felony for providers to withhold care from infants born alive, failed by about 23,000 votes after the state's medical associations opposed it.
Legislature
- House (100 seats): 33 D, 67 R before the election, 32 D, 68 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
- Senate (50 seats): 19 D, 31 R before the election, 16 D, 34 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
Statewide races
Legislative races
Ballot measures
| Measure | Description | Result |
|---|
| C-48 | Require search warrant to access a person's electronic data | Passed (82% yes) |
| LR-131 | Require medical care be provided to infants born alive and make not providing care a felony | Failed (47% yes) |