Montana Secretary of State election, 2016
2020→ ←2012 |
 |
June 7, 2016 |
November 8, 2016 |
Corey Stapleton (R) |
Linda McCulloch (D) |
Governor •Lt. Governor Secretary of State •Attorney General Down Ballot Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, Auditor •Superintendent •Montana Public Service Commission, districts 2, 3 & 4 |
March 14, 2016 |
May 31, 2016 |
June 6, 2016 |
June 7, 2016 |
November 8, 2016 |
TBD |
January 2, 2017 |
Montanaheld an election forsecretary of state onNovember 8, 2016.RepublicanCorey Stapleton won the seat, which had previously been controlled byDemocrats.
Overview
Secretaries of state are the administrative officers of state governments. Montana's office of the secretary of state has tended to alternate party hands every one or two officeholders since the early 1900s. At the time of this election, Montana had adivided government and also had a history of electing both parties to theU.S. Congress, though the state favoredRepublican presidential candidates.
Major party candidatesMonica Lindeen andCorey Stapleton werenearly tied in fundraising as of the end-of-May filing. Stapleton won the general election on November 8, 2016.
Candidates
Monica Lindeen(D)
Incumbentstate auditor since 2009
Corey Stapleton(R)
Nonprofit president, formerstate senator
Roger Roots(Lib.)
Assistant professor, Jarvis Christian College since 2012
Results
General election
Corey Stapleton defeatedMonica Lindeen andRoger Roots in the Montana secretary of state election.
| Montana Secretary of State, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Corey Stapleton | 55.49% | 277,473 | |
| Democratic | Monica Lindeen | 40.97% | 204,861 | |
| Libertarian | Roger Roots | 3.54% | 17,687 | |
| Total Votes | 500,021 | |||
| Source:Montana Secretary of State | ||||
Primary elections
Republican primary contest
Corey Stapleton ran unopposed in the Montana Republican primary for secretary of state.
| Montana Republican primary for secretary of state, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Corey Stapleton (unopposed) | 100.00% | 137,252 |
| Total Votes (686 of 686 precincts reporting) | 137,252 | |
| Source:Montana Secretary of State | ||
Democratic primary contest
Monica Lindeen ran unopposed in the Montana Democratic primary for secretary of state.
| Montana Democratic primary for secretary of state, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Monica Lindeen (unopposed) | 100.00% | 111,525 |
| Total Votes (686 of 686 precincts reporting) | 111,525 | |
| Source:Montana Secretary of State | ||
Libertarian primary contest
Roger Roots ran unopposed in the Montana Libertarian primary for secretary of state.
| Montana Libertarian primary for secretary of state, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| Roger Roots | ||
| Source:Montana Secretary of State | ||
Context of the 2016 election
Primary elections
Aprimary election is an election in which voters select the candidate they believe should represent a political party in a general election. Primaries usually take place several months before a general election. Montana utilizes anopen primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.[1][2][3]
Montana's primary elections took place onJune 7, 2016.
IncumbentLinda McCulloch (D)
Linda McCulloch was elected secretary of state in 2008, narrowly defeatingRepublicanBrad Johnson by a margin of one percent. She won re-election to the position in 2012 again beating Johnson, this time by six percent. Prior to her tenure as secretary of state, McCulloch served assuperintendent of public instruction from 2001-2009, and in theHouse of Representatives from 1995-2001. She was prevented from running for re-election in 2016 due toterm limits.
Before she entered politics, McCulloch worked first as an elementary teacher then as the school librarian.
Party control in Montana
Going into the 2016 election, Montana had adivided government since 2005, which was preceded by a nine-yearRepublican trifecta. Republicans controlled thestate legislature, while a Democrat held the governorship. In recent years, Republican candidates had consistently managed to win statewide offices. Most recently, in 2014,Steve Daines (R) defeatedKim Gillan (D) by a 10-point margin in the openU.S. Senate election, andRyan Zinke (R) defeatedJohn Lewis (D) by a 15-point margin in the openrace for Montana's at-large seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.[4]
The state had gone toRepublican presidential contenders for the last ten presidential elections with the exception of 1992, when Montana's electoral votes went toBill Clinton.[5] However, Montana tends to elect both Democratic and Republican candidates to theU.S. Congress. Control of the state's executive offices was nearly equally distributed among the two parties.
The office of the Montana secretary of state hastended to change party hands every one to two officeholders since the turn of the 20th century. Prior to McCulloch's election in 2008, Republicans Bob Brown andBrad Johnson served from 2001-2005 and 2005-2009, respectively.Lieutenant GovernorMike Cooney (D) held the office from 1989 until 2001; Republicans had controlled the office for eight years prior.
Campaigns
Campaign finance
| Monica Lindeen Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| 3/28/2016 - 4/26/2016 | 5/23/2016 | $72,179.38 | $11,328.33 | $(1,639.43) | $81,868.28 | ||||
| 4/27/2016 - 5/18/2016 | 5/23/2016 | $81,868.28 | $5,433.33 | $(255.61) | $87,046 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $16,761.66 | $(1,895.04) | ||||||||
| Corey Stapleton Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| 3/28/2016 - 4/26/2016 | 5/1/2016 | $63,384.23 | $5,755 | $(4,631.99) | $64,507.24 | ||||
| 4/27/2016 - 5/18/2016 | 5/23/2016 | $64,507.24 | $13,037.24 | $(2,409.79) | $75,134.45 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $18,792.24 | $(7,041.78) | ||||||||
Campaign media
Note: If a candidate is not listed below, Ballotpedia staff were unable to locate any campaign media for that candidate. Do you know of any?Tell us!
Democrats
| Republicans
|
Libertarians
| Roger Roots (Lib.) | |
About the office
Thesecretary of state for Montana is one of the elected constitutional officers of the executive branch of the U.S. state ofMontana. Thesecretary of state is the keeper of the Montana state seal, and also serves on the Montana Board of Land Commissioners, which administers school trust lands.[6]
| Quick facts aboutSecretaries of State |
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Incumbent
The incumbent wasLinda McCulloch (D). She was first elected to the statewide position in 2008 and won re-election in2012.[8]
Authority
Thestate Constitution addresses the office of secretary of state inArticle VI, the Executive Department.
Under Article VI, Section I:
The executive branch includes a governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state... |
Qualifications
A candidate for secretary of state must be:
- at least 25 years of age or older at the time of election
- a citizen of the United States
- have resided within the state at least two years at his election
Past elections
2012
IncumbentLinda McCulloch (D) successfully won re-election, defeatingBrad Johnson (R) andRoger Roots (L) in theNovember 6, 2012 general election.
| Montana Secretary of State General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Linda McCullochIncumbent | 51.4% | 245,024 | |
| Republican | Brad Johnson | 45.1% | 214,976 | |
| Libertarian | Roger Roots | 3.5% | 16,622 | |
| Total Votes | 476,622 | |||
| Election results viaMontana Secretary of State | ||||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the termsMontana secretary of state election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
State profile
| Demographic data for Montana | ||
|---|---|---|
| Montana | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 1,032,073 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 145,546 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 89.2% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 0.5% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 0.7% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 6.5% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.5% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 3.3% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 92.8% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 29.5% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $47,169 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 17% | 11.3% |
| Source:U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Clickhere for more information on the 2020 census andhere for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Montana. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the censushere. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
Montanavoted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted forDonald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting forBarack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won thesePivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, three are located in Montana, accounting for 1.46 percent of the total pivot counties.[9]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won asRetained Pivot Counties and those won byJoe Biden (D) asBoomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Montana had two Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 1.10 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.
More Montana coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Montana
- United States congressional delegations from Montana
- Public policy in Montana
- Endorsers in Montana
- Montana fact checks
- More...
See also
Montana government: | Previous elections: | Ballotpedia exclusives: |
External links
Footnotes
- ↑National Conference of State Legislatures Website, "State Primary Election Types," accessed January 6, 2014
- ↑Fair Vote, "Congressional and Presidential Primaries: Open, Closed, Semi-Closed, and 'Top Two,'" accessed January 6, 2014
- ↑Ballotpedia research conducted December 26, 2013, through January 3, 2014, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.
- ↑Montana Secretary of State, "2014 Election center," accessed August 21, 2015
- ↑270 to win, "Montana," accessed May 30, 2016
- ↑Montana Secretary of State, "About the Office" accessed January 17, 2013
- ↑Council of State Governments, "Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries," February 18, 2014
- ↑Montana Secretary of State Office, "Biography" accessed January 17, 2013
- ↑The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip ofAtlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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