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2020 United States Senate election in Montana
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2020 United States Senate election in Montana

2020 United States Senate election in Montana

← 2014 November 3, 2020 2026 →
Turnout81.33% Increase[1]
 
Nominee Steve Daines Steve Bullock
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 333,174 272,463
Percentage 55.01% 44.99%

Daines:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Bullock:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
     No data

U.S. senator before election

Steve Daines
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Steve Daines
Republican

The 2020 United States Senate election in Montana was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Montana. It was held concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. The primaries for both the Democratic and Republican nominations took place on June 2, 2020. Incumbent senator Steve Daines won the Republican primary, while Montana governor Steve Bullock won the Democratic primary.[2]

Originally, this seat was projected to be a safe Republican hold.[3] However, Bullock entered the race on the last day to file, shifting the dynamics of the contest dramatically; many political pundits then considered it a competitive race and a potential pickup for Democrats.[4] One poll showed Bullock leading by seven points.[5] Democrats outspent Republicans $82 million to $63 million on this race; it was one of the most expensive Senate races in the 2020 cycle.[6] On Election Day, Daines prevailed by a relatively comfortable 10% margin following a trend of Republican Senate candidates outperforming expectations.

Despite his loss, Bullock did outperform Biden, who lost Montana by a 16.4% margin.[7] He also flipped two counties won by Donald Trump in the presidential contest — Lewis and Clark and Roosevelt.

This election marked the first time since 2000 where Montana voted for a Republican governor, president, and senator all on the same ballot. As the Green Party was removed from the ballot and both Libertarian nominees withdrew, this was the first time since 1988 that there were no third-party candidates running for either United States House of Representatives or United States Senate in Montana.[8] This was the first time ever that an incumbent Republican senator was re-elected to this seat.

Republican primary

[edit]

Candidates

[edit]

Nominee

[edit]

Eliminated in primary

[edit]

Endorsements

[edit]
Steve Daines
Individuals

Results

[edit]
Results by county
  Daines
  •   80–90%
  •   90–100%
Republican primary results[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Steve Daines (incumbent) 192,942 88.02%
Republican John Driscoll 13,944 6.36%
Republican Daniel Larson 12,319 5.62%
Total votes 219,205 100.00%

Democratic primary

[edit]

Following Steve Bullock's entry shortly before the March 9 filing deadline, several Democrats dropped from the race.[2]

Candidates

[edit]

Nominee

[edit]

Eliminated in primary

[edit]
  • John Mues, nuclear engineer and U.S. Navy veteran[15]

Withdrawn

[edit]

Declined

[edit]

Endorsements

[edit]
Steve Bullock
Federal officials

Results

[edit]
Results by county
  Bullock
  •   80–90%
  •   90–100%
Democratic primary results[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Steve Bullock 144,949 95.45%
Democratic John Mues 3,740 2.46%
Democratic Mike Knoles (withdrawn) 3,165 2.09%
Total votes 151,854 100.00%

Other candidates

[edit]

Libertarian Party

[edit]

After Susan Geise officially withdrew, the Montana Libertarian Party could name a replacement candidate for the general election.[27][28] However, during a meeting to select a replacement candidate, a majority of party officials selected not to have a replacement candidate, with "none of the above" winning the most votes.[29]

Withdrawn

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Green Party

[edit]

Disqualified

[edit]
  • Wendie Fredrickson, former audit reviewer for Montana State Department of Public Health and Human Services[10][33][34]

Eliminated in primary

[edit]
  • Dennis Daneke, retired college professor[35][33]

Results

[edit]
Results by county
  Fredrickson
  Daneke
  Tie
  No vote
Green primary results[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Green Wendie Fredrickson 504 66.40%
Green Dennis Daneke 255 33.60%
Total votes 758 100.00%

General election

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Debate

[edit]
Host Date & time Link(s) Participants
Steve Daines (R) Steve Bullock (D)
Montana Broadcasters Association August 8, 2020
9:30pm MDT
[36] Present Present
Montana Television Network October 10, 2020
5:47pm MDT
[37] Present Present

Predictions

[edit]
Source Rating As of
The Cook Political Report[38] Toss Up October 29, 2020
Inside Elections[39] Tossup October 28, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball[40] Lean R November 2, 2020
Daily Kos[41] Lean R October 30, 2020
Politico[42] Tossup November 2, 2020
RCP[43] Tossup October 23, 2020
DDHQ[44] Lean R November 3, 2020
538[45] Lean R November 2, 2020
Economist[46] Lean R November 2, 2020

Additional general election endorsements

[edit]
Steve Daines (R)
U.S. executive branch officials
U.S. senators
Organizations

Polling

[edit]

Graphical summary

Aggregate polls

Steve Bullock vs. Steve Daines
Source of poll aggregation Dates administered Dates updated Steve Bullock Steve Daines Other/Undecided[a] Margin
Real Clear Politics[81] October 5–24, 2020 October 30, 2020 46.4% 48.8% 4.8% Daines + 2.4
270 to Win[82] October 19, 2020 October 28, 2020 47.2% 48.0% 4.8% Daines + 0.8
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[b]
Margin
of error
Steve
Daines (R)
Steve
Bullock (D)
Other /
Undecided
Change Research[83] October 29 – November 2, 2020 920 (LV) ± 3.5% 50% 46% 3%[c]
Public Policy Polling (D)[84][A] October 26–27, 2020 886 (LV) ± 3.3% 47% 48% 6%[d]
The Progress Campaign (D)[85] October 25, 2020 – (V)[e] 48% 48%
Montana State University Billings[86] October 19–24, 2020 546 (LV) ± 4.2% 47% 48% 5%[f]
Siena College/NYT Upshot[87] October 18–20, 2020 758 (LV) ± 4.4% 49% 46% 6%[g]
Strategies 360[88] October 15–20, 2020 500 (LV) ± 4.4% 48% 47% 5%[f]
RMG Research[89] October 15–18, 2020 800 (LV) ± 3.5% 49%[h] 47% 5%[i]
47%[j] 48% 5%[i]
50%[k] 45% 5%[i]
Public Policy Polling[90] October 9–10, 2020 798 (V) ± 3.5% 48% 48% 4%[l]
Emerson College[91] October 4–7, 2020 500 (LV) ± 3.7% 52% 43% 6%[m]
Data For Progress (D)[92] September 30 – October 5, 2020 737 (LV) ± 3.6% 47% 48% 4%[n]
Montana State University Bozeman[93] September 14 – October 2, 2020 1,609 (LV) ± 3.9% 47% 49% 4%[o]
Siena College/NYT Upshot[94] September 14–16, 2020 625 (LV) ± 4.8% 45% 44% 11%[p]
Fabrizio Ward/Hart Research Associates[95][B] August 30 – September 5, 2020 800 (LV) ± 3.5% 50% 47% 3%[q]
Emerson College[96] July 31 – August 2, 2020 584 (LV) ± 4.0% 50% 44% 6%[m]
Spry Strategies (R)[97][C] July 11–16, 2020 700 (LV) ± 3.7% 47% 44% 9%[r]
Civiqs/Daily Kos[98] July 11–13, 2020 873 (RV) ± 4.2% 49% 47% 3%[s]
Public Policy Polling[99] July 9–10, 2020 1,224 (V) ± 2.8% 44% 46% 10%[t]
University of Montana[100] June 17–26, 2020 517 (RV) ± 4.3% 43% 47% 10%[u]
Montana State University Bozeman[101] April 10–27, 2020 459 (LV) ± 4.6% 39% 46% 15%[v]
The Progress Campaign (D)[102] April 14–21, 2020 712 (LV) ± 4.6% 46% 49% 5%
Public Policy Polling (D)[103][D] March 12–13, 2020 903 (V) ± 3.3% 47% 47% 6%
Hypothetical polling

University of Montana polls did not account for certain presumed withdrawals of major party candidates after their primaries in the following polls. Steve Daines vs Steve Bullock, Wilmot Collins, Mike Knoles, Cora Neumann, and John Mues

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[b]
Margin
of error
Democratic
candidates
Steve
Daines (R)
University of Montana[104] February 12–22, 2020 498 (LV) ± 4.4% 53%[w] 47%

Steve Daines vs Jack Ballard, Wilmot Collins, and John Mues

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[b]
Margin
of error
Democratic
candidates
Steve
Daines (R)
University of Montana[105] September 26 – October 3, 2019 303 (RV) ± 5.6% 36%[x] 64%

Results

[edit]
United States Senate election in Montana, 2020[106]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Steve Daines (incumbent) 333,174 55.01% −2.78%
Democratic Steve Bullock 272,463 44.99% +4.92%
Total votes 605,637 100.00%
Republican hold

By county

[edit]

Notes

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References

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Further reading

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[edit]
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