Ron Vandevender

Libertarian Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 3, 2020

Education

High school

Yazoo City High School, 1977

Personal

Profession

Farmer/Rancher

Contact

Campaign website

Personal Facebook

Ron Vandevender (Libertarian Party) ran for election to theMontana House of Representatives to representDistrict 80. He lost in the general election onNovember 3, 2020.

Vandevender also ran for election forGovernor of Montana. He did not appear on the ballot for the Libertarian Party primary onJune 2, 2020.

Vandevender was a 2016Libertarian candidate forlieutenant governor ofMontana.^[1] He was defeated in the general election on November 8, 2016.

He has run for office numerous times. He was a2014Libertarian candidate forDistrict 80 of theMontana House of Representatives. Vandevender was theLibertarian candidate for thegovernor of Montana in the2012 elections.

He ran for election as aLibertarian candidate forDistrict 84 in the Montana House of Representatives twice, most recently in theNovember 2, 2010, state legislative elections.^[2]

Vandevender passed away from a respiratory illness on March 10, 2022.^[3]

Biography

Born in Orange County, Calif., Vandevender grew up in Mississippi. He moved to Montana in 1999 and lived off the grid.^[2]

Education

Vandevender had an undergraduate degree in management and finance, according to a press release from his 2012 house campaign.^[2]

Elections

2020

See also: Montana gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2020

Montana gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2020 (June 2 Republican primary)

Montana gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2020 (June 2 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for Governor of Montana

Greg Gianforte defeatedMike Cooney,Lyman Bishop, andChris Hall in the general election for Governor of Montana on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Greg Gianforte (R)	54.4	328,548
		Mike Cooney (D)	41.6	250,860
		Lyman Bishop (L)	4.0	24,179
		Chris Hall (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	21

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 603,608
= 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Robert Barb (G)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Montana

Mike Cooney defeatedWhitney Williams in the Democratic primary for Governor of Montana on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Cooney	54.9	81,527
		Whitney Williams	45.1	67,066

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 148,593
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Casey Schreiner (D)
• Reilly Neill (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Montana

Greg Gianforte defeatedTim Fox andAlbert Olszewski in the Republican primary for Governor of Montana on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Greg Gianforte	53.4	119,247
		Tim Fox	27.3	60,823
		Albert Olszewski	19.3	43,080

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 223,150
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Gary Perry (R)
• Corey Stapleton (R)
• Peter Ziehli (R)

Green primary election

Green primary for Governor of Montana

Robert Barb advanced from the Green primary for Governor of Montana on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Robert Barb	100.0	713

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 713
= 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.

Libertarian primary election

The Libertarian primary election was canceled.Lyman Bishop advanced from the Libertarian primary for Governor of Montana.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Ron Vandevender (L)

2016

See also:Montana gubernatorial election, 2016

Vandevender initially declared a run forgovernor of Montana in 2016 as aLibertarian.^[1] However, he ultimately joined the Libertarian ticket as the lieutenant governor candidate alongside running mate and gubernatorial candidateTed Dunlap. The pair competed in November with Democratic incumbentsSteve Bullock andMike Cooney, RepublicansGreg Gianforte andLesley Robinson, and independentsChristopher Zarcone andCasey Filler.

IncumbentSteve Bullock & Mike Cooney defeatedGreg Gianforte & Lesley Robinson,Ted Dunlap & Ron Vandevender,Casey Filler, andChristopher Zarcone in the Montana governor election.

Montana Governor, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Steve Bullock & Mike CooneyIncumbent	50.25%	255,933
	Republican	Greg Gianforte & Lesley Robinson	46.36%	236,115
	Libertarian	Ted Dunlap & Ron Vandevender	3.40%	17,312
	Independent	Casey Filler	0.00%	0
	Independent	Christopher Zarcone	0.00%	0
Total Votes				509,360
Source:Montana Secretary of State

Libertarian primary for Montana governor and lieutenant governor, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ted Dunlap and Ron Vandevender	100%	0
Total Votes		0
Election results viaMontana Secretary of State 686 of 686 precincts reporting.

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.Elizabeth Cain was unopposed in the Democratic primary. District 84 incumbentMike Miller defeatedPatrick Johnson in the Republican primary.Ron Vandevender ran as a Libertarian candidate. Miller defeated Cain and Vandevender in the general election. IncumbentLiz Bangerter (R) ran inDistrict 82.^[4][5][6]

Montana House of Representatives, District 80 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike MillerIncumbent	67.7%	2,794
	Democratic	Elizabeth Cain	27.5%	1,135
	Libertarian	Ron Vandevender	4.8%	197
Total Votes				4,126

Montana House of Representatives, District 80 Republican Primary, 2014

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Mike MillerIncumbent	65.7%	924
Patrick Johnson	34.3%	483
Total Votes		1,407

2012

See also:Montana gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2012

Vandevender was aLibertarian candidate forGovernor of Montana in 2012. He and his running mate,Marc Mulcahy, facedRepublicansRick Hill andJon Sonju,DemocratsSteve Bullock andJohn E. Walsh, and independent candidatesBill Coate andJoni Oja in the general election on November 6, 2012.^[7]

According to the websiteDaily Kos, this race was one of nine top-ballot 2012 races that containedLibertarian candidates who received more total votes than was the difference between the Democratic winner and the GOP runner-up. In this case,Ron Vandevender took in over 9,000 more votes than the number that separated Bullock and Hill.^[8]

Governor/Lieutenant Governor of Montana General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Steve Bullock and John E. Walsh	48.9%	236,450
	Republican	Rick Hill and Jon Sonju	47.3%	228,879
	Libertarian	Ron Vandevender and Marc Mulcahy	3.8%	18,160
Total Votes				483,489
Election results viaMontana Secretary of State

2010

See also:Montana House of Representatives elections, 2010

Vandevender ran forMontana House of Representatives in 2010. He lost to incumbentMike Miller (R) in the November 2 general election.^[9][10]

Montana House of Representatives, District 84 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike MillerIncumbent	81.8%	3,273
	Libertarian	Ron Vandevender	18.2%	726
Total Votes				3,999
Source:Montana Secretary of State

2008

See also:Montana House of Representatives elections, 2008

On November 4, 2008, Vandevender lost toMike Miller (R) and Pam Ponich-Hunthausen (D) in the race for Montana House of Representatives District 84.

Montana House of Representatives, District 84 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike Miller	57%	2,567
	Democratic	Pam Ponich-Hunthausen	38.9%	1,750
	Libertarian	Ron Vandevender	4.1%	183
Total Votes				4,500
Source:Montana Secretary of State

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Ron Vandevender did not completeBallotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

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.

Personal

Note: Pleasecontact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Vandevender lived near Craig, Mont.^[2]

See also

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External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic
• Official campaign website
• Ron Vandevender on Facebook
• Ron Vandevender on Twitter
• Ron Vandevender on LinkedIn
• Biography from Project Vote Smart

Footnotes

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