How Montana has voted since 1960

Montana has 4 electoral votes in 2028. Since 1960 it has voted Democratic twice and Republican 15 times. It has backed the national winner in 11 of 17 elections. Donald Trump carried it in 2024 by 19.9 points, 18.5 points more Republican than the nation. In 2024, 68.3% of its eligible voters cast a ballot, ranking 17th among the 50 states and DC (nationally, 64.3%). It has voted Republican in every election since 1996. Its closest result was in 2008, when John McCain won it by 2.3 points.

  1. 1960Nixon+2.5
  2. 1964Johnson+18.4
  3. 1968Nixon+9.0
  4. 1972Nixon+20.1
  5. 1976Ford+7.4
  6. 1980Reagan+24.4
  7. 1984Reagan+22.3
  8. 1988Bush+5.9
  9. 1992Clinton+2.5
  10. 1996Dole+2.9
  11. 2000Bush+25.1
  12. 2004Bush+20.5
  13. 2008McCain+2.3
  14. 2012Romney+13.7
  15. 2016Trump+20.5
  16. 2020Trump+16.4
  17. 2024Trump+19.9

Each box is one election: the winner in Montana and the margin in points. Darker boxes were won by 10 points or more, lighter by under 5.

Election night

10 p.m. ET

Polls close at 10 p.m. ET (8 p.m. Mountain).

Also closing at 10 p.m. ET: ID, NV, UT.

Times from the 2024 general election; states rarely change them, and they will be confirmed for 2028.

2028 ratings

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In Congress

Senate

House: 2 Republicans

All 2 members
  1. 1 Ryan K. Zinke (R)
  2. 2 Troy Downing (R)

From Congress.gov, as of Sept. 28, 2026. Vacant seats are not listed.

Margin by election

Montana margin by electionBars show the Democratic or Republican margin in Montana in each election since 1960; the line shows the national popular-vote margin. The table below has every figure.R+30R+20R+10EvenD+10D+20D+301960: R+2.5 (nation D+0.2)'601964: D+18.4 (nation D+22.6)'641968: R+9.0 (nation R+0.7)'681972: R+20.1 (nation R+23.2)'721976: R+7.4 (nation D+2.1)'761980: R+24.4 (nation R+9.7)'801984: R+22.3 (nation R+18.2)'841988: R+5.9 (nation R+7.7)'881992: D+2.5 (nation D+5.6)'921996: R+2.9 (nation D+8.5)'962000: R+25.1 (nation D+0.5)'002004: R+20.5 (nation R+2.5)'042008: R+2.3 (nation D+7.3)'082012: R+13.7 (nation D+3.9)'122016: R+20.5 (nation D+2.1)'162020: R+16.4 (nation D+4.5)'202024: R+19.9 (nation R+1.5)'24

Montana margin National popular vote

By county

Donald Trump won 51 of Montana's 56 counties in 2024; Kamala Harris won 5.

Loading the county map…

Largest counties, 2024

CountyVotesMarginShift from 2020
Yellowstone County81,391R+27.1→R 3.1
Missoula County72,773D+21.4→R 2.4
Gallatin County69,897D+3.2→R 4.3
Flathead County63,140R+33.8→R 3.7
Lewis and Clark County42,023R+5.7→R 1.8
Cascade County37,583R+22.3→R 2.6
Ravalli County29,904R+40.6→R 4.3
Silver Bow County18,226D+7.0→R 7.2
Lake County16,910R+19.9→R 5.5
Lincoln County11,789R+53.4→R 3.7

Biggest shifts from 2020 to 2024: toward the Republican, Glacier County (11.2), Blaine County (9.7), Big Horn County (7.6); toward the Democrat, Phillips County (1.3), Fallon County (0.7), Fergus County (0.5) — in points of margin.

County returns from the MIT Election Data and Science Lab (official state data), 2000–2024. Margin is the Democrat's share minus the Republican's, of all votes cast.

Results by year

YearWinnerDemocratRepublicanOtherMarginNationTurnoutEV
2024 Donald TrumpTrumpHarris 38.5%231,906Trump 58.4%352,0793.2%R+19.9R+1.568.3%4
2020 Donald TrumpTrump lostBiden 40.6%244,786Trump 56.9%343,6022.5%R+16.4D+4.571.3%3
2016 Donald TrumpTrumpClinton 35.9%177,709Trump 56.5%279,240Johnson 5.7%R+20.5D+2.164.4%3
2012 Mitt RomneyRomney lostObama 41.7%201,839Romney 55.4%267,9283.0%R+13.7D+3.963.6%3
2008 John McCainMcCain lostObama 47.3%231,667McCain 49.5%242,7633.2%R+2.3D+7.367.1%3
2004 George W. BushBushKerry 38.6%173,710Bush 59.1%266,0632.4%R+20.5R+2.565.1%3
2000 George W. BushBushGore 33.4%137,126Bush 58.4%240,178Nader 6.0%R+25.1D+0.562.7%3
1996 Bob DoleDole lostClinton 41.3%167,922Dole 44.1%179,652Perot 13.6%R+2.9D+8.564.7%3
1992 Bill ClintonClintonClinton 37.6%154,507Bush 35.1%144,207Perot 26.1%D+2.5D+5.670.4%3
1988 George H.W. BushBushDukakis 46.2%168,936Bush 52.1%190,4121.7%R+5.9R+7.766.7%4
1984 Ronald ReaganReaganMondale 38.2%146,742Reagan 60.5%232,4501.4%R+22.3R+18.268.2%4
1980 Ronald ReaganReaganCarter 32.4%118,032Reagan 56.8%206,814Anderson 8.1%R+24.4R+9.767.1%4
1976 Gerald FordFord lostCarter 45.4%149,259Ford 52.8%173,7031.8%R+7.4D+2.1—4
1972 Richard NixonNixonMcGovern 37.9%Nixon 57.9%4.2%R+20.1R+23.2—4
1968 Richard NixonNixonHumphrey 41.6%Nixon 50.6%Wallace 7.3%R+9.0R+0.7—4
1964 Lyndon B. JohnsonJohnsonJohnson 59.0%Goldwater 40.6%0.5%D+18.4D+22.6—4
1960 Richard NixonNixon lostKennedy 48.6%Nixon 51.1%0.3%R+2.5D+0.2—4

Margin is the Democrat's share minus the Republican's, in percentage points; Nation is the same for the national popular vote. "Other" is everyone else combined, or the leading third-party candidate where one took 5% or more. Vote counts from 1976. Turnout is ballots cast as a share of eligible voters, from 1980 (UF Election Lab; the newest year is preliminary).

Electoral votes

Electoral votes change after each census, when House seats are reapportioned.

  • 419601950 census
  • 41964–19681960 census
  • 41972–19801970 census
  • 41984–19881980 census
  • 31992–20001990 census
  • 32004–20082000 census
  • 32012–20202010 census
  • 42024–20282020 census
  • 42032–2040projected

Projected: Montana's share of House seats after the 2030 census if each state's population keeps changing at its pace since 2020, from the Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey population estimates (July 1, 2024). If the count were taken today it would have 4. An estimate, not a forecast.

Before 1960

Montana cast electoral votes in 17 presidential elections before 1960, the first in 1892. It backed the eventual president in 14 of them.

YearCarried byElectorsMarginBacked winner
1956Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican4+14.3✓
1952Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican4+19.4✓
1948Harry S. Truman Democratic4+10.3✓
1944Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic4+9.4✓
1940Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic4+18.8✓
1936Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic4+43.0✓
1932Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic4+24.0✓
1928Herbert Hoover Republican4+18.1✓
1924Calvin Coolidge Republican4+4.8✓
1920Warren G. Harding Republican4+31.2✓
1916Woodrow Wilson Democratic4+20.3✓
1912Woodrow Wilson Democratic4+6.8✓
1908William Howard Taft Republican3+4.8✓
1904Theodore Roosevelt Republican3+21.8✓
1900William Jennings Bryan Democratic3+19.0–
1896William Jennings Bryan Democratic-Populist3+60.4–
1892Benjamin Harrison Republican3+2.7–

Margin: the winner's lead over the runner-up in the state's popular vote, in points. A dash means the legislature chose the electors (common before the 1830s) or no popular vote is on record. Each year links to that election's map and full results.