Montana’s road to red: How the state shifted to all GOP leadership for the first time in over 100 years

Montana has officially solidified itself as a red state, ending a long period of Democratic leadership with the ousting of the last statewide Democrat in the 2024 election.

Montana’s first two senators, selected after joining the union in November 1989, were Republican. The state elected another set of Republicans to the Senate in the early 1900s, but Montana would not see another GOP pair elected to the chamber until 2024 – more than 100 years later.

And for the first time since 1897, Montana is seeing a sweep of Republican leadership across the Senate, governorship and congressional seats.

But Montana’s road to red started in 1997, the year the state started consistently electing Republicans to the House of Representatives.

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Republican Tim Sheehy ousted three-term Sen. Jon Tester in the 2024 election.  (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)

When Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, took office in 2007, he locked in a predominantly blue Montana with two Democratic senators and a Democratic governor that year. 

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But the state saw a significant shift in 2014 when Republican Sen. Steve Daines flipped one of the long-held Democratic Senate seats in Montana – the beginning of a red wave that would eventually overtake the entire state.

As of 2021, Montana’s gubernatorial seat has remained consistently occupied by a Republican.

Saint Mary Lake surrounded by mountains near Wild Goose Lookout in Glacier National Park, Montana. (Ron Buskirk)

Tester eventually became the only Democrat to hold a statewide seat in Montana, but his 18-year stand came to an end on Tuesday when Republican Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy ousted him in one of the most closely watched Senate races of the 2024 cycle.

Daines recently spoke with Fox News Digital about Montana’s changing electorate.

“I think what’s happened is Montana, in terms of their voting and their thinking, has moved a bit more right,” said Daines. “The biggest problem for the Democrats is they’ve moved so far left. This is not the same Democrat Party that I grew up with here in Montana.”

Daines, who chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) for the 2024 election cycle, noted that the shift to the right is also the result of many Republicans having moved to Montana from blue states over the years. 

Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., left, and Steve Daines, R-Mont., outside of the Dirksen Building on Tuesday, April 27, 2021. (Tom Williams)

“We’ve just seen an influx of New Montana residents over the course of the last five, six years. And those new residents, from states like California, Oregon, Washington, even Colorado, are fleeing heavy-handed blue states and coming to a red state,” the senator said in an interview.

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“And so it’s not just the quality of life that is attracting these newly minted Montanans. It’s also the quality of leadership. They want to see center-right leaders who hold their values as they flee these liberal states. So we refer to these new Montanans as political refugees, not as political missionaries. They’re coming to join us, not to change us.”

As of 2025, Montana will be represented by Daines, Sheehy, Gov. Greg Gianforte, Rep. Ryan Zinke and Rep.-elect Troy Downing.