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2020 Montana gubernatorial election

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The 2020 Montana gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the next governor of Montana, concurrently with the U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives and various state and local elections. It resulted in voters selecting Greg Gianforte over Mike Cooney. Incumbent Democratic governor Steve Bullock was term-limited and could not seek a third consecutive term in office, and he ran unsuccessfully for Montana's Class II Senate seat.[2]

Quick facts Turnout, Nominee ...
2020 Montana gubernatorial election
← 2016
November 3, 2020
2024 →
Turnout81.33%Increase6.89[1]
 
Nominee Greg Gianforte Mike Cooney
Party Republican Democratic
Running mate Kristen Juras Casey Schreiner
Popular vote 328,548 250,860
Percentage 54.43% 41.56%
Gianforte:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Cooney:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
     No data
Governor before election

Steve Bullock
Democratic

 Elected Governor

Greg Gianforte
Republican

Close

Bullock's lieutenant governor, Mike Cooney, was the Democratic nominee, while the Republican nominee was Montana's at-large representative Greg Gianforte, who won the election, making him the first Republican governor of Montana since Judy Martz left office in 2005.[3] This was the only gubernatorial seat to change partisan control in the 2020 elections. This election marked the first time since the 1920s that Republicans controlled all state constitutional offices and a majority of the legislature.[4]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

  • Whitney Williams, businesswoman and daughter of former U.S. Representative Pat Williams[7]
    • Running mate: Buzz Mattelin, farmer and president of the National Barley Growers Association

Withdrawn

Declined

Endorsements

Mike Cooney

Statewide politicians

Federal politicians

Organizations

Whitney Williams

Statewide politicians

Local politicians

Organizations

Polling

Polls with a sample size of <100 have their sample size entries marked in red to indicate a lack of reliability.

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[a]		 Margin
of error		 Mike
Cooney		 Reilly
Neill		 Casey
Schreiner		 Whitney
Williams		 Other /
Undecided
Montana State University Billings[26] October 7–16, 2019 40 (LV) – 19% 2% 6% 11% 62%
Close

Results

Results by county
  Cooney
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  Williams
  •   50–60%
  Tie
  •   50–60%
More information Party, Candidate ...
Democratic primary results[27]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mike Cooney 81,527 54.86%
Democratic Whitney Williams 67,066 45.14%
Total votes 148,593 100.00%
Close

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

  • Running mate: Jon Knokey, former state representative

Withdrawn

Declined

Endorsements

Greg Gianforte

Individuals

Organizations

Polling

Polls with a sample size of <100 have their sample size entries marked in red to indicate a lack of reliability.

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[a]		 Margin
of error		 Tim
Fox		 Greg
Gianforte		 Albert
Olszewski		 Other /
Undecided
Montana State University Billings[26] October 7–16, 2019 99 (LV) – 25% 33% 9% 32%
Gravis Marketing[43] August 28–30, 2019 433 (RV) ± 4.7% 29% 56% 15% –
Moore Information[44][A] July 7–10, 2019 400 (LV) ± 5.0% 17% 56% 5% 23%
Close

Results

Results by county
  Gianforte
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  Fox
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
More information Party, Candidate ...
Republican primary results[27]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Greg Gianforte 119,247 53.44%
Republican Tim Fox 60,823 27.26%
Republican Albert Olszewski 43,080 19.30%
Total votes 223,150 100.00%
Close

Other candidates

Libertarian Party

Nominee

  • Lyman Bishop, founder and CEO of Hoplite Armor[45]
    • Running mate: John Nesper

Withdrawn

  • Ron Vandevender, nominee for lieutenant governor in 2016 and nominee for governor in 2012[46][47][48]

Green Party

Disqualified

  • Robert Barb[45][49]
    • Running mate: Joshua Thomas

Results

More information Party, Candidate ...
Green primary results[27]
Party Candidate Votes %
Green Robert Barb 713 100.0%
Total votes 713 100.0%
Close

General election

Debate

More information Host, Date & Time ...
Host Date & Time Link(s) Participants
Mike Cooney (D) Greg Gianforte (R)
Montana PBS October 6, 2020
6:00pm MDT		 [50] Present Present
Close

Predictions

More information Source, Ranking ...
Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[51] Tossup October 23, 2020
Inside Elections[52] Tossup October 28, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball[53] Lean R (flip) November 2, 2020
Politico[54] Lean R (flip) November 2, 2020
Daily Kos[55] Lean R (flip) October 28, 2020
RCP[56] Tossup November 2, 2020
270towin[57] Tossup November 2, 2020
Close

Endorsements

Mike Cooney (D)

Statewide and local politicians

Federal politicians

Organizations

Greg Gianforte (R)

U.S. presidents

Individuals

Organizations

Polling

%support01020304050604/21/20208/18/202010/18/2020Mike CooneyGreg GianforteOther/UndecidedOpinion polling for the 2020 Montana guberna...
View source data.
More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[a]		 Margin
of error		 Mike
Cooney (D)		 Greg
Gianforte (R)		 Other /
Undecided
Change Research[59] October 29 – November 2, 2020 920 (LV) ± 3.5% 44% 48% 6%[b]
Montana State University Billings[60] October 19–24, 2020 546 (LV) ± 4.2% 45% 45% 11%[c]
Siena College/NYT Upshot[61] October 18–20, 2020 758 (LV) ± 4.4% 44% 48% 8%[d]
Strategies 360/NBCMT[62] October 15–20, 2020 500 (LV) ± 4.4% 41% 48% 11%[e]
RMG Research/PoliticalIQ[63] October 15–18, 2020 800 (LV) ± 3.5% 45%[f] 48% 5%[g]
47%[h] 46% 5%[i]
43%[j] 50% 5%[k]
Emerson College[64] October 4–7, 2020 500 (LV) ± 3.7% 41% 54% 5%[l]
Montana State University Bozeman[65] September 14 – October 2, 2020 1,605 (LV) ± 3.9% 42% 47% 11%[m]
Siena College/NYT Upshot[66] September 14–16, 2020 625 (LV) ± 4.8% 39% 45% 16%[n]
Global Strategy Group (D)[67] August 18–23, 2020 600 (LV) – 46% 47% –
Emerson College[68] July 31 – August 2, 2020 584 (LV) ± 4.0% 41% 50% 10%[o]
Civiqs/Daily Kos[69] July 11–13, 2020 873 (RV) ± 4.2% 44% 47% 9%[p]
Public Policy Polling[70][B] July 9–10, 2020 1,224 (V) ± 2.8% 42% 46% 12%[q]
University of Montana[71] June 17–26, 2020 517 (RV) ± 4.3% 36% 46% 18%[r]
The Progress Campaign (D)[72] April 14–21, 2020 1,712 (RV) ± 4.6% 41% 43% 16%[s]
Close
Hypothetical polling

with Mike Cooney, Tim Fox, Greg Gianforte, Albert Olszewski, Ron Vandevender and Whitney Williams

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[a]		 Margin
of error		 Democratic
candidates		 Republican
candidates		 Ron
Vandevender (L)
University of Montana[73] February 12–22, 2020 498 (LV) ± 4.4% 35.1%[t] 61.7%[u] 1.3%
Close

with Mike Cooney, Tim Fox, Greg Gianforte, Reilly Neill, Albert Olszewski, Gary Perry, Casey Schreiner and Whitney Williams

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[a]		 Margin
of error		 Democratic
candidates		 Republican
candidates
University of Montana[74] September 26 – October 3, 2019 303 (RV) ± 5.6% 40%[v] 60.1%[w]
Close

with Tim Fox, Matt Rosendale, Corey Stapleton, Kathleen Williams and Whitney Williams

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[a]		 Margin
of error		 Democratic
candidates		 Republican
candidates		 Other /
Undecided
University of Montana[75] February 21 – March 1, 2019 293 (RV) ± 5.7% 32.4%[x] 48.4%[y] 19.2%[z]
Close

Results

More information Party, Candidate ...
2020 Montana gubernatorial election[76][77]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican
328,548 54.43% +8.08%
Democratic
250,860 41.56% −8.69%
Libertarian
  • Lyman Bishop
  • John Nesper
 24,179 4.01% +0.61%
Write-in 21 0.00% N/A
Total votes 603,608 100.00%
Turnout 612,075 81.33%
Registered electors 752,538
Republican gain from Democratic
Close

By county

More information County, Mike Cooney Democratic ...
County[76][77] Mike Cooney
Democratic		 Greg Gianforte
Republican		 Various candidates
Other parties		 Margin Total

votes

# % # % # % # %
Beaverhead 1,668 29.49% 3,779 66.81% 209 3.70% 2,111 37.32% 5,656
Big Horn 2,513 52.42% 2,078 43.35% 203 4.23% –435 –9.07% 4,794
Blaine 1,619 51.94% 1,365 43.79% 133 4.27% –254 –8.15% 3,117
Broadwater 928 22.64% 3,032 73.97% 139 3.39% 2,104 51.33% 4,099
Carbon 2,498 35.30% 4,303 60.81% 275 3.89% 1,805 25.51% 7,076
Carter 91 10.62% 748 87.28% 18 2.10% 657 76.66% 857
Cascade 15,922 39.97% 22,221 55.79% 1,690 4.24% 6,299 15.81% 39,833
Chouteau 1,048 35.26% 1,816 61.10% 108 3.63% 768 25.84% 2,972
Custer 1,619 27.58% 3,971 67.65% 280 4.77% 2,352 40.07% 5,870
Daniels 217 21.51% 768 76.11% 24 2.38% 551 54.61% 1,009
Dawson 1,124 23.29% 3,524 73.02% 178 3.69% 2,400 49.73% 4,826
Deer Lodge 2,747 56.37% 1,881 38.60% 245 5.03% –866 –17.77% 4,873
Fallon 218 14.02% 1,288 82.83% 49 3.15% 1,070 68.81% 1,555
Fergus 1,567 24.11% 4,737 72.89% 195 3.00% 3,170 48.78% 6,499
Flathead 20,387 34.08% 37,213 62.20% 2,225 3.72% 16,826 28.13% 59,825
Gallatin 36,788 51.84% 31,368 44.21% 2,802 3.95% –5,420 –7.64% 70,958
Garfield 48 5.90% 751 92.37% 14 1.72% 703 86.47% 813
Glacier 3,730 65.62% 1,709 30.07% 245 4.31% –2,021 –35.56% 5,684
Golden Valley 80 15.90% 409 81.31% 14 2.78% 329 65.41% 503
Granite 659 31.47% 1,348 64.37% 87 4.15% 689 32.90% 2,094
Hill 3,146 43.80% 3,642 50.71% 394 5.49% 496 6.91% 7,182
Jefferson 2,791 34.16% 5,097 62.38% 283 3.46% 2,306 28.22% 8,171
Judith Basin 281 20.88% 1,017 75.56% 48 3.57% 736 54.68% 1,346
Lake 6,885 41.50% 8,913 53.72% 794 4.79% 2,028 12.22% 16,592
Lewis and Clark 21,022 49.53% 19,969 47.05% 1,449 3.41% –1,053 –2.48% 42,440
Liberty 268 24.75% 788 72.76% 27 2.49% 520 48.01% 1,083
Lincoln 3,001 25.64% 8,279 70.72% 426 3.64% 5,278 45.09% 11,706
Madison 1,877 30.83% 3,992 65.57% 219 3.60% 2,115 34.74% 6,088
McCone 165 14.77% 921 82.45% 31 2.78% 756 67.68% 1,117
Meagher 256 23.02% 823 74.01% 33 2.97% 567 50.99% 1,112
Mineral 706 27.66% 1,715 67.20% 131 5.13% 1,009 39.54% 2,552
Missoula 43,426 60.66% 25,448 35.55% 2,711 3.79% –17,978 –25.11% 71,585
Musselshell 450 15.68% 2,318 80.77% 102 3.55% 1,868 65.09% 2,870
Park 5,364 46.32% 5,798 50.07% 418 3.61% 434 3.75% 11,580
Petroleum 44 12.57% 299 85.43% 7 2.00% 255 72.86% 350
Phillips 412 17.36% 1,908 80.40% 53 2.23% 1,496 63.04% 2,373
Pondera 912 30.43% 1,981 66.10% 104 3.47% 1,069 35.67% 2,997
Powder River 162 14.35% 943 83.53% 24 2.13% 781 69.18% 1,129
Powell 849 26.64% 2,212 69.41% 126 3.95% 1,363 42.77% 3,187
Prairie 160 21.92% 544 74.52% 26 3.56% 384 52.60% 730
Ravalli 8,883 31.17% 18,557 65.11% 1,063 3.73% 9,674 33.94% 28,503
Richland 1,017 17.67% 4,506 78.31% 231 4.01% 3,489 60.64% 5,754
Roosevelt 1,961 48.94% 1,859 46.39% 187 4.67% –102 –2.55% 4,007
Rosebud 1,236 32.99% 2,363 63.06% 148 3.95% 1,127 30.08% 3,747
Sanders 1,870 24.65% 5,346 70.47% 370 4.88% 3,476 45.82% 7,586
Sheridan 634 31.45% 1,300 64.48% 82 4.07% 666 33.04% 2,016
Silver Bow 11,495 61.23% 6,490 34.57% 788 4.20% –5,005 –26.66% 18,773
Stillwater 1,263 22.06% 4,292 74.96% 171 2.99% 3,029 52.90% 5,726
Sweet Grass 553 22.59% 1,801 73.57% 94 3.84% 1,248 50.98% 2,448
Teton 1,053 28.58% 2,497 67.76% 135 3.66% 1,444 39.19% 3,685
Toole 468 22.10% 1,546 72.99% 104 4.91% 1,078 50.90% 2,118
Treasure 89 19.35% 358 77.83% 13 2.83% 269 58.48% 460
Valley 1,182 27.82% 2,899 68.24% 167 3.93% 1,717 40.42% 4,248
Wheatland 251 23.68% 767 72.36% 42 3.96% 516 48.68% 1,060
Wibaux 105 17.95% 465 79.49% 15 2.56% 360 61.54% 585
Yellowstone 31,152 37.18% 48,586 57.99% 4,051 4.83% 17,434 20.81% 83,789
Totals250,86041.56%328,54854.43%24,2004.01%77,68812.87%603,608
Close

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Notes

  1. [a]
    Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. [b]
    Bishop (L) with 3%; "Don't recall" with 2%; Did not vote with 1%; Would not vote with 0%; Undecided with 1%
  3. [c]
    Bishop (L) with 2%; Undecided with 9%
  4. [d]
    Bishop (L) with 4%; "Someone else" and would not vote with 0%; "Undecided/Refused" with 4%
  5. [e]
    Bishop (L) with 4%; Undecided with 7%
  6. [f]
    Standard VI response
  7. [g]
    "Some other candidate" with 2%; Undecided with 3%
  8. [h]
    Results generated with high Democratic turnout model
  9. [i]
    "Some other candidate" with 2%; Undecided with 3%
  10. [j]
    Results generated with high Republican turnout model
  11. [k]
    "Some other candidate" with 2%; Undecided with 3%
  12. [l]
    "Someone else" with 1%; Undecided with 4%
  13. [m]
    "Other" with 4% (including Bishop (L) with <2%); Undecided with 7%
  14. [n]
    Bishop (L) with 4%; Barb (G) and would not vote with 1%; "someone else" with 0%; "Undecided/Refused" with 10%
  15. [o]
    "Someone else" with 3%; Undecided with 7%
  16. [p]
    "Someone else" with 5%; Undecided with 4%
  17. [q]
    Undecided with 12%
  18. [r]
    Undecided with 18.3%
  19. [s]
    Undecided with 16%
  20. [t]
    Cooney with 21%; Williams with 14.1%
  21. [u]
    Gianforte with 35%; Fox with 21.6%; Olszewski with 6.9%
  22. [v]
    Cooney with 23%; Williams with 7.9%; Schreiner with 6%; Neill with 3.1%
  23. [w]
    Gianforte with 35.1%; Fox with 16.1%; Olszewski with 8.1%; Perry with 0.8%
  24. [x]
    Kathleen Williams with 26.6%; Cooney with 5.2%; Whitney Williams with 0.6%
  25. [y]
    Fox with 16.8%; Gianforte with 16.1%; Stapleton with 8%; Rosendale with 7.5%
  26. [z]
    "Someone else" with 15.4%; "none/do not plan to vote" with 3.8%

Partisan clients

  1. [A]
    Commissioned by Gianforte
  2. [B]
    Poll's funding was crowdsourced by Election Twitter.

References

External links

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Timelines

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