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Montana State Senate elections, 2012

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Montana State Senate elections, 2012
Majority control •Campaign contributions
Qualifications •Impact of Redistricting •Term limits •
State Legislative Election Results
List of candidates
District 2 •District 3 •District 6 •District 7 •District 9 •District 10 •District 16 •District 18 •District 19 •District 21 •District 22 •District 24 •District 26 •District 27 •District 33 •District 34 •District 36 •District 37 •District 38 •District 41 •District 45 •District 46 •District 47 •District 50
Montana State Senate •2012 Montana House Elections
State legislative elections in 2012

Elections for the office ofMontana State Senate were held inMontana onNovember 6, 2012. Atotal of 26 seats were up for election.

The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was March 12, 2012. The primary Election Day was June 5, 2012.[1]

See also:Montana House of Representatives elections, 2012 andState legislative elections, 2012

Incumbents retiring

NamePartyCurrent office
Carol WilliamsElectiondot.pngDemocraticSenate District 46
Craig TillemanEnds.pngRepublicanSenate District 17
Donald SteinbeisserEnds.pngRepublicanSenate District 19
Greg HinkleEnds.pngRepublicanSenate District 7
Jim ShockleyEnds.pngRepublicanSenate District 45
Kim GillanElectiondot.pngDemocraticSenate District 24
Lynda MossElectiondot.pngDemocraticSenate District 26
Robert HawksElectiondot.pngDemocraticSenate District 33
Ron EricksonElectiondot.pngDemocraticSenate District 47
Ryan ZinkeEnds.pngRepublicanSenate District 2
Steve GallusElectiondot.pngDemocraticSenate District 37

Majority control

See also:Partisan composition of state senates

Heading into the November 6 election, the Republican Party held the majority in theMontana State Senate:

Montana State Senate
PartyAs of November 5, 2012After the 2012 Election
    Democratic Party2223
    Republican Party2727
    Vacancy10
Total5050

Term limits

See alsoState legislatures with term limits andImpact of term limits on state senate elections in 2012

TheMontana State Senate has been a term-limited state senate since Montana voters approvedCI-64 in 1992. C-64 createdSection 8 of Article IV of theMontana Constitution, which says thatMontana State Senators cannot serve 8 or more years in any 16-year period as a state senator.

Altogether, there are 50Montana State Senators. In 2012, eight of them who werecurrent members, or 16% of the total senate seats, were ineligible to run for the senate again in November. Of them, five wereDemocratic state senators and three wereRepublican state senators.

In addition to the eight state senators who left office because of term limits,16 state representatives were also termed-out.

The eight current members of the state senate who were ineligible to run in November were:

Democrats (5):


Republicans (3):

Campaign contributions

See also:State-by-state comparison of donations to state senate campaigns

This chart shows how many candidates ran for state Senate in Montana in past years and the cumulative amount of campaign contributions in state Senate races, including contributions in both primary and general election contests. All figures come fromFollow The Money.[2]

YearNumber of candidatesTotal contributions
201070$993,331
200856$744,742
200662$687,206
200457$600,450
200253$521,540

In 2010, the candidates for state senate raised a total of $993,331 in campaign contributions. The top 10 donors were:[3]

DonorAmount
Noennig, Mark$20,000
Gallik, Dave$19,317
Priest, Jason S$17,873
Facey, Thomas$16,800
Comstock, Michael B$9,416
Samson, Bruce$7,245
Cohenour, Jill$6,439
Arthun, Ron$4,534
Page, Julia L$3,720
Henry, Teresa K$3,468

Qualifications

To be eligible to serve in theMontana State Senate, a candidate must be:[4]

  • A resident of the state for at least one year next preceding the general election
  • A resident of the county for six months preceding the general election if it contains one or more districts or of the district if it contains all or parts of more than one county.

List of candidates

District 2

Note: Incumbent RepublicanRyan Zinke did not seek re-election.

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyDavid B. Fern: 4,569
Republican PartyDee L. Brown: 5,227Green check mark transparent.png

District 3

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyShannon D. Hanson: 3,737
Republican PartyBruce Tutvedt: 8,634Green check mark transparent.png

District 6

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
  • No Democrats filed to run.
Note: Craig McClure was included on initial candidate lists, but was later removed.Nancy Lindsey was appointed to be the nominee on July 23, 2012.[5]
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:
Green PartyJune 5 Green Party primary:

Note:Cheryl M. Wolfe filed to run, but did not have enough signatures.[6]

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyNancy Lindsey: 4,201
Republican PartyJanna Taylor: 5,579Green check mark transparent.png

District 7

Note: Incumbent RepublicanGreg Hinkle did not seek re-election.

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:
Note: Kirk McNutt withdrew from the race.
Libertarian PartyJune 5 Libertarian primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyMark Sheets: 3,682
Republican PartyJennifer Fielder: 5,736Green check mark transparent.png
Libertarian PartyJohn Marshall: 779

District 9

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:
  • Rick Ripley: 3,097Approveda - Incumbent Ripley first assumed office in 2009.

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyRon Szabo: 2,822
Republican PartyRick Ripley: 6,251Green check mark transparent.png

District 10

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
  • Brad Hamlett: 1,882Approveda - Incumbent Hamlett first assumed office in 2009.
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyBrad Hamlett: 4,078Green check mark transparent.png
Republican PartyWendy McKamey: 3,907

District 16

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:
  • No candidates filed.

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyJonathan Windy Boy: 4,658Green check mark transparent.png

District 17

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:
Note: IncumbentCraig Tilleman withdrew from election.

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyGreg Jergeson: 3,823Green check mark transparent.png
Republican PartyDon Richman: 3,391

District 18

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Note: Floyd R. Hopstad withdrew from the race.
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:
  • John Brenden: 2,756Approveda - Incumbent Brenden first assumed office in 2009.

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyJulie E. French: 3,572
Republican PartyJohn Brenden: 5,476Green check mark transparent.png

District 19

Note: Incumbent RepublicanDonald Steinbeisser did not seek re-election.

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyFred Lake: 2,842
Republican PartyMatthew M. Rosendale, Sr.: 5,929Green check mark transparent.png

District 21

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:
  • No candidates filed.

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartySharon Stewart Peregoy: 4,502Green check mark transparent.png

District 22

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:
  • Taylor Brown: 2,511Approveda - Incumbent Brown first assumed office in 2009.

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyJean Lemire Dahlman: 2,548
Republican PartyTaylor Brown: 6,187Green check mark transparent.png

District 24

Note: Incumbent DemocratKim Gillan did not seek re-election.

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyWanda Grinde: 4,368
Republican PartyRoger Webb: 4,647Green check mark transparent.png

District 26

Note: Incumbent DemocratLynda Moss did not seek re-election.

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyRobyn Driscoll: 3,679Green check mark transparent.png
Republican PartyMalcolm Long: 2,592

District 27

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
  • Gary Branae: 1,377Approveda - Incumbent Branae first assumed office in 2009.
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyGary Branae: 3,225
Republican PartyElsie Arntzen: 3,414Green check mark transparent.png

District 33

Note: Incumbent DemocratRobert Hawks did not seek re-election.

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyMike Phillips: 5,489Green check mark transparent.png
Republican PartyTom Tuck: 2,550

District 34

Note: Incumbent RepublicanJoe Balyeat did not seek re-election.

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyMichael B. Comstock: 4,444
Republican PartyScott Sales: 7,994Green check mark transparent.png

District 36

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:
  • Debby Barrett: 3,462Approveda - Incumbent Barrett first assumed office in 2009.

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyRichard Turner: 3,011
Republican PartyDebby Barrett: 7,390Green check mark transparent.png

District 37

Note: Incumbent DemocratSteve Gallus did not seek re-election.

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:
Note: Greg Miller withdrew from the race.

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyJon C. Sesso: 5,417Green check mark transparent.png
Republican PartyDaniel O'Neill: 3,691

District 38

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
  • Jim Keane: 2,890Approveda - Incumbent Keane first assumed office in 2009.
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:
  • No candidates filed.

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyJim Keane: 6,207Green check mark transparent.png

District 41

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Note: Patricia Rae Peppers withdrew from election.
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyChristine Kaufmann: 5,699Green check mark transparent.png
Republican PartyMark Perea: 3,598

District 43

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
  • Gene Vuckovich: 2,318Approveda - Incumbent Vuckovich first assumed office in 2011.
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyGene Vuckovich: 4,336Green check mark transparent.png
Republican PartyJonathan L. Arnold: 3,200

District 45

Note: Incumbent RepublicanJim Shockley did not seek re-election.

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:

Note:Richard Marcus ran in the primary, but withdrew following the primary election.[7]

Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:
Libertarian PartyJune 5 Libertarian primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyDan Metully: 3,772
Republican PartyFred Thomas: 6,509Green check mark transparent.png
Libertarian PartyRob McCoy: 883

District 46

Note: Incumbent DemocratCarol Williams did not seek re-election.

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartySue Malek: 5,934Green check mark transparent.png
Republican PartyKevin Blackler: 3,980

District 47

Note: Incumbent DemocratRon Erickson did not seek re-election.

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyDick Barrett: 6,676Green check mark transparent.png
Republican PartyFred Carl: 3,517

District 50

Democratic PartyJune 5 Democratic primary:
  • Cliff Larsen: 1,794Approveda - Incumbent Larsen first assumed office in 2009.
Republican PartyJune 5 GOP primary:

November 6 General election candidates:

Democratic PartyCliff Larsen: 5,944Green check mark transparent.png
Republican PartyNiles Brush: 3,965

External links

See also

Footnotes


Current members of theMontana State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Matt Regier
Majority Leader:Tom McGillvray
Senators
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
District 48
District 49
District 50
Republican Party (32)
Democratic Party (18)


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