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your homegrown newspaper December 6, 2023
Vol. 20, No. 12
Elections: who’s running for office in 2024?
VOTE
Here are the state, federal candidates vying for Montanans’ 2024 votes
Food pantry pg. 6
Donations pg. 13
St. Ignatius parade pg. 14
2024
By Arren KimbelSannit and Alex Sakariassen, Montana Free Press
MONTANA — Montana’s 2024 ballot will host a suite of consequential elections — among them a race that could decide the balance of the U.S. Senate, two open seats on the Montana Supreme Court, two U.S. House races, the governorship, and a bevy of other statewide offices. And, for good measure, there may be some major ballot measures thrown in too. With less than a year to election day, campaign announcements are coming fast and furious from seasoned politicians and grassroots activists alike. It’s enough to bewilder a political junkie, much less a more casual observer. So Montana Free Press combed through our notes, email inboxes and press clippings in an
effort to round up the candidates who are publicly considering running for state or federal office in 2024. For the time being we’re not getting into state legislative races here — though there will likely be interesting matchups under the newly drawn state House and Senate maps — or ballot initiatives, none of which have yet qualified for the ballot. With only one candidate for three open seats on the Public Service Commission, the state’s utility regulation board, as of Nov. 22, we’re also holding off on including those races for
the time being. Additionally, no candidate has yet declared a candidacy for state auditor. Candidates have from Jan. 11 through March 11, 2024 to file for office with the Montana Secretary of State. The primary election is June 4, 2024, and the general election is Nov. 5. We plan to update this guide periodically as the fields in various races fill up between now and that March filing deadline. If you’re aware of something we should add here, don’t hesitate to reach out to MTFP political reporter Arren Kimbel-Sannit at akimbel@
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montanafreepress.org. Federal Races Elections that will determine Montana’s representatives in the U.S. Congress. Campaign finance reports for these races are filed with the Federal Elections Commission. U.S. Senate One of Montana’s two seats in the upper chamber of the national Congress in Washington, D.C. U.S. Senators are elected to six-year terms. The state’s other U.S. Senator, Republican Steve Daines, is out of cycle and next up for
re-election in 2026. Jon Tester, a Democrat from Big Sandy, was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006. At the time, Montana had a Democratic governor, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction, and state auditor. Tester won that race and subsequent elections in 2012 and 2018 by slim margins. But while he’s served in the U.S. Senate, Democratic control of other statewide offices has slipped away, leaving him Montana’s only statewide-elected Democrat. Those circumstances and the fact that Democrats hold a narrow two-seat majority in the U.S. Senate mean Tester will be a top target for Republicans. This is certainly the highest-profile race in the state in the 2023-2024 election cycle. Declared Candidates Incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, farmer from Big Sandy and onetime president of the Montana Senate, has long been a see page 2