2026 General Election Issues

MCA Legislative Endorsements

The MCA’s Contractors PAC stays engaged in statewide races to make sure the voice of construction is represented. When evaluating legislative races, the PAC board members use a series of criteria:

  1. Scorecard: At the end of each session the MCA looks at about 10 bills of importance to contractors. The next thing we do is strip away the political affiliation. We score the legislator’s votes on those bills. We keep lifetime scores and session scores. Some bills receive extra points, or a sponsor might receive extra points. Sometimes the committee vote is scored.
  2. Committees: What committees did a legislator serve on? Our primary committees are Transportation, Business & Labor, Natural Resources, Education and budget subcommittees. We lean into supporting people who might be on those committees or have been supportive in the past.
  3. Key races: The PAC looks at races where there might be a sitting legislator that has not supported contractors. In that case we may support a challenger to the incumbent.

2026 Montana Election Results

Montana voters went to the polls on November 3, 2026, to select local and federal legislators, three statewide ballot initiatives, a seat on the Montana Supreme Court, and two seats on the PSC. Some results discussed here are preliminary and subject to change.

Federal Elections

Democrat Sam Forstag was successful in Montana’s Western Congressional District (MT-1). Incumbent Republican Ryan Zinke chose not to stand for re-election leaving the seat open. Forstag defeated Republican candidate Aaron Flint. While Montana has had a Democratic US Senator as recently as 2024, this marks the first time in approximately 30 years that Montana has elected a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives. Flint received significant support from Republican leaders during the campaign including in-state visits from President Trump, VP Vance, and House Majority Leader Johnson in the final weeks of the campaign. 

  • Forstag (D): 49.6%
  • Flint (R): 47.5%
  • Sheedy (L): 2.8%

In the U.S. Senate race, Republican Kurt Alme won the open seat being vacated by Senator Steve Daines. Alme defeated Independent Seth Bodnar, Democrat Alani Bankhead, and Libertarian Kyle Austin. Montana Democrats were unable to clear the field for a single challenger to Alme — creating a party rift which culminated in the chairman of the party resigning her position weeks before the general election. 

  • Alme (R): 49.0%
  • Bodnar (I): 37.3%
  • Bankhead (D): 1.9%
  • Kyle Austin: 1.8%

In Eastern Montana’s Second Congressional District, incumbent Republican Troy Downing won re-election handily.

  • Downing (R): 58.2%
  • Miller (D): 32.2%
  • Eisenhauer (I): 7.8%
  • McCracken (L): 1.8%

Montana Supreme Court

Amy Eddy defeated Dan Wilson for the open seat on the Montana Supreme Court. The Associated Press called the race for Eddy with a lead of 59% to 41%. Supreme Court races in Montana are non-partisan. However, Judge Eddy received significant support from Democratic leaning groups and donors while Dan Wilson was supported by conservative groups, the Montana Contractors Association, and endorsed by the Montana Republican Party.

Statewide Ballot Initiatives

All three statewide ballot initiatives passed according to the AP:

  • CI-132 – Nonpartisan Judicial Elections: Amends the Montana Constitution to require judicial elections to remain nonpartisan. 
  • CI-133 – Initiative and Referendum Process: Alters the initiative and referendum process with the aim of preventing the legislature from substantially altering the initiative and referendum processes.
  • I-194 – Prohibition on Corporate Spending in Elections: Prohibits businesses entities (corporations, LLCs, unions, etc.) from spending money or giving support of any kind to influence state elections. While business entities have long been prohibited from giving directly to candidates, I-194 seeks to prohibit business entities from participating in any election in almost any form. The measure is scheduled to take effect January 1, 2027.

Montana Legislature

All 100 House seats and 25 of the 50 Senate seats were up for election in the 2026. Going into the election, Republicans held a 58–42 majority in the House and a 32–18 majority in the Senate.

Preliminary results show Democrats have gained 2 seats in each chamber. Indications are that Republicans will hold control of each chamber for the 2027 Legislative Session by margins of 56-44 in the House and 30-20 in the Senate. A handful of legislative races remain very close, and ballots are still outstanding at this time. These preliminary results may change as final votes are tallied. 

Attached is an excel spreadsheet showing legislative race results as of 10:20 am on 11/4. You may also visit the Montana Secretary of State election website for up-to-date results by following this link: https://electionresults.mt.gov/Default.aspx

Donate to the Contractors PAC

The MCA Contractors PAC can only accept personal checks. For more information go here. Donations run on an election cycle, so January 2027 starts a new year.  In addition, we encourage our members to get to know their candidates and make donations supporting the construction industry.