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Margaret MacDonald

Democratic Party

Prior offices:

Montana State Senate District 26

Years in office: 2017 - 2021

Successor:Chris Friedel (R)

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Montana House of Representatives District 51

Years in office: 2015 - 2017

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Montana House of Representatives District 54

Years in office: 2009 - 2015

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 3, 2020

Personal

Religion

Christian

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Margaret MacDonald (Democratic Party) was a member of theMontana State Senate, representingDistrict 26. She assumed office in 2017. She left office on January 4, 2021.

MacDonald (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to theMontana State Senate to representDistrict 26. She lost in the general election onNovember 3, 2020.

MacDonald is a formerDemocratic member of theMontana House of Representatives, representingDistrict 51 from 2009 to 2017. Starting in the 2011-2012 session, MacDonald served as aMinority Whip until she left office.^[1]

MacDonald did not seek re-election to theMontana House of Representatives in2016 because she was term-limited.

Biography

MacDonald's professional experience includes working as the director at the Montana Office of Community Service, executive director at the Montana Association of Churches, staff director at the Northern Plains Resource Council, and staff member at the Northern Plains Resource Council.

Committee assignments

2019-2020

MacDonald was assigned to the following committees:

• Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Committee
• Senate Rules Committee
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• Senate Local Government Committee

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, MacDonald served on the following committees:

2013-2014

In the 2013-2014 legislative session, MacDonald served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, MacDonald served on the following committees:

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, MacDonald served on the following committees:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2020

See also: Montana State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Montana State Senate District 26

Chris Friedel defeated incumbentMargaret MacDonald in the general election for Montana State Senate District 26 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Friedel (R)	52.5	4,823
		Margaret MacDonald (D)	47.5	4,355

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	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,178
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Montana State Senate District 26

IncumbentMargaret MacDonald advanced from the Democratic primary for Montana State Senate District 26 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Margaret MacDonald	100.0	2,225

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	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,225
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Montana State Senate District 26

Chris Friedel defeatedRodney Garcia in the Republican primary for Montana State Senate District 26 on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Friedel	57.0	1,538
	Submit photo	Rodney Garcia	43.0	1,160

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	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,698
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Larry Schuster (R)

2016

See also:Montana State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for theMontana State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election was held on June 7, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 14, 2016.IncumbentElsie Arntzen (R) did not seek re-election.

Margie MacDonald defeatedDonald Roberts in the Montana State Senate District 26 general election.^[2][3]

Montana State Senate, District 26 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Margie MacDonald	50.14%	7,658
	Republican	Donald Roberts	49.86%	7,614
Total Votes				15,272
Source:Montana Secretary of State

Margie MacDonald ran unopposed in the Montana State Senate District 26 Democratic primary.^[4][5]

Montana State Senate, District 26 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Margie MacDonald (unopposed)

Donald Roberts defeatedJoshua Kotter andRodney Garcia in the Montana State Senate District 26 Republican primary.^[6][7]

Montana State Senate, District 26 Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Donald Roberts	50.46%	1,147
	Republican	Joshua Kotter	26.57%	604
	Republican	Rodney Garcia	22.97%	522
Total Votes				2,273
Source:Montana Secretary of State

This district was included in the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee's list of "2016 Essential Races." Read more »

2014

See also:Montana House of Representatives elections, 2014

Elections for theMontana House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 3, 2014, and a general election took place onNovember 4, 2014. Thesignature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 10, 2014; minor party and independent candidates had until June 2, 2014, to file. District 54 incumbentMargie MacDonald was unopposed in the Democratic primary.Tony O'Donnell defeatedLandan Cheney in the Republican primary. MacDonald defeated O'Donnell in the general election. IncumbentKelly McCarthy (D) ran inDistrict 49.^[8][9][10]

Montana House of Representatives, District 51 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Margie MacDonaldIncumbent	50.2%	1,323
	Republican	Tony O'Donnell	49.8%	1,311
Total Votes				2,634

Montana House of Representatives, District 51 Republican Primary, 2014

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Tony O'Donnell	69.3%	614
Landan Cheney	30.7%	272
Total Votes		886

2012

See also:Montana House of Representatives elections, 2012

MacDonald won re-election in the2012 election forMontana House of Representatives, District 54. MacDonald ran unopposed in the June 5 primary election and defeatedDavid Lewis (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.^[11][12]

Montana House of Representatives, District 54, General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Margaret MacDonaldIncumbent	58.7%	1,931
	Republican	David Lewis	41.3%	1,359
Total Votes				3,290

2010

See also:Montana House of Representatives elections, 2010

On November 2, 2010, MacDonald won election to theMontana House of Representatives. She did not have any opposition in the June 8 primary.Dennis Lenz ran for the seat on the Republican ticket. The general election took place onNovember 2, 2010.^[13][14]

Montana House of Representatives, District 54 General Election (2010)
Candidates		Votes
Margaret MacDonald (D)		1,208
Dennis Lenz (R)		1,164

2008

On November 4, 2008, Margaret MacDonald won the seat to the Montana House of Representatives for District 54, receiving 1,749 votes.

MacDonald raised $19,411 for her campaign.^[15]

Montana House of Representatives, District 54
Candidates		Votes
Margaret MacDonald (D)		1,749
Debra Bonogofsky (D)		1,641

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Margaret MacDonald did not completeBallotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2012

MacDonald's website listed the following campaign themes:^[16]

Providing Quality, Affordable Healthcare to all Montanans

I understand that health care costs are crushing Montana families and businesses. I supported the “Healthy Montana Kids” Initiative 155 which brings access to health care coverage to 30,000 Montana children who do not have it.

Investing in Good Teachers and Classrooms

I believe that good schools and good teachers lead to good, high paying jobs. In particular, I’ll champion affordable job training programs at our College of Technology. After years of shifting the cost of higher education onto students and their families—making it unaffordable for many—it is time to turn that around so all Montana kids can have access and opportunities for higher education.

Jobs and Energy

I know that the big oil companies are making enormous profits while high gas prices are busting our budgets. I believe we can build our own homegrown energy economy making affordable, renewable energy using Montana’s own sun, wind, and geothermal power for heat and electricity. We can invest in construction jobs weatherizing low income housing and building new energy star offices and homes. I am a leading champion of biodiesel that we can grow and process here in Montana. That helps our rural communities, creates new manufacturing jobs, and keeps our energy dollars circulating here, instead of exporting them to the Persian Gulf.

Protecting Hunting, Fishing Lands

I will continue to fight to protect Montana’s outdoor heritage and our access to public lands for hunting, fishing, and recreation. I’ll work together with landowners and sportsmen to boost successful programs such as Block Management, and I’ll oppose putting Montana’s public lands up for sale or charging fees to access our public lands and forests.

Fair Taxes for All Montanans

I know that during the 1990’s and early part of this decade, when Republicans ran Montana, they shifted the tax burdens from the largest and wealthiest businesses to homeowners and small businesses. I will work for a return to fair taxes for all Montanans.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.

Scorecards

See also:State legislative scorecards andState legislative scorecards in Montana

Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Montana scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.

2020

In 2020, theMontana State Legislature was not in session.

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

Personal

Note: Pleasecontact us if the personal information below requires an update.
MacDonald and her husband John, have two children.

See also

2020 Elections

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External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic
• Campaign website
• Profile from Open States
• Biography from Project Vote Smart
• Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions:2012,2010,2010,2008,2006

Footnotes

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