WHAT'S ON
THE BALLOT?
BALLOT MEASURES
CI-128: Montana Right to Abortion Initiative
The ballot initiative would state that “there is a right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion.” The government would be permitted to regulate abortion after fetal viability, except “to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient.”
FEDERAL RACES
U.S. SENATE
DEMOCRAT
Sen. Jon Tester
Tester was born in Havre, Montana, near the town of Big Sandy, Montana, on the land that his grandfather homesteaded in 1916. In 1978, he graduated from the University of Great Falls with a B.S. in music.
REPUBLICAN
Tim Sheehy
Tim Sheehy served in the U.S. Navy and reached the rank of Navy SEAL Officer and Team Leader. His career experience includes working as the founder and CEO of Bridger Aerospace.
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 1
DEMOCRAT
Monica Tranel
Monica Tranel lives in Missoula, Montana. Tranel's career experience includes working as an attorney.
REPUBLICAN
Ryan Zinke
Ryan Zinke was born in Bozeman, Montana. Zinke graduated from Whitefish High School in 1980. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1985 to 2008. He earned a B.S. in geology from the University of Oregon in 1984, an M.B.A. in business finance from the National University in 1991, and an M.S. in global leadership from the University of San Diego in 2003.
STATE CANDIDATES
Governor
DEMOCRAT
Ryan Busse
Ryan Busse was born in Omaha, Nebraska. Busse earned a bachelor's degree from Bethany College in 1993.
REPUBLICAN
Greg Gianforte
Gregory Richard Gianforte is an American businessman, politician, and software engineer serving as the 25th governor of Montana since 2021.
SUPREME COURT CANDIDATES
Montana Supreme Court Chief Justice (Nonpartisan)
Jerry Lynch
Lynch earned his undergraduate degree from Carroll College in 1973 and his J.D. from the University of Montana School of Law in 1981. He also obtained a master's degree from Montana State University in 1976.
Cory Swanson
Cory Swanson is the current Broadwater County attorney. He has a history in Republican politics and working under GOP state officials. He has experience as an attorney and prosecutor.
Montana Supreme Court (Nonpartisan)
Katherine M Bidegaray
Katherine Bidegaray is a state district court judge in eastern Montana. She was born in Sidney to Basque immigrants, and touts her experience as a young lawyer fighting to save her family’s ranch following her father’s death as a foundational moment in her legal career.
Dan Wilson
Dan Wilson has been a Flathead County state district court judge since 2017, a position he took following several years as a county justice of the peace. Before becoming a judge, Wilson was a prosecutor and private practice attorney for a wide range of clients.
Supreme Court Clerk
LIBERTARIAN
Roger Roots
Roger Roots is a Libertarian attorney more recently known for his legal assistance to Jan. 6 defendants, the Bundy family and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes. Roots has two felony convictions — one of which was for possessing firearms as a felon — and was dismissed from a position with the Conrad Burns campaign in the 1990s because of his associations with known white supremacists.
DEMOCRAT
Erin Farris-Olsen
Farris-Olsen is an attorney and enrolled member of the Brothertown Indian Nation. She previously worked as a law clerk for the high court and within the office of the state court administrator.
REPUBLICAN
Bowen Greenwood
Greenwood has served as clerk of the Montana Supreme Court since his election to this position in 2018. He’s also a Republican official who has previously served as executive director of the state GOP.