Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke has won a second term representing western Montana in Congress, fending off Democrat challenger Monica Tranel for the second time in two years.
Zinke received 53% of the votes, or 142,840, to Tranel’s 44%, or 119,077, as of 9 a.m. Wednesday. Libertarian Dennis Hayes received 7,888 votes. The AP called the race for Zinke at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday.
With votes still being counted, Zinke led by a wider margin than in 2022, when he bested Tranel by four percentage points.
“I’m honored to be reelected by the fine people of Western Montana,” Zinke said in a statement released at 3:30 a.m., about an hour before the AP called the race. “After four years of vicious lies from Monica Tranel, Montana voters saw through the false attacks and focused their votes on getting things done. … Montanans are hurting because the failed Democrat policies that have driven high inflation, low workforce participation, and high interest rates. Montana made it clear that enough is enough.”
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Montana’s undercard U.S. House race
Two years ago, Ryan Zinke beat Monica Tranel in the race for Montana’s western district congressional seat, the first time Montanans had a chance to a second representative to the U.S. House in 30 years. At the time, the race between Zinke and Tranel was the biggest in the state as political observers wondered what it might reveal about the newly drawn district. But while the candidates are the same, this year’s campaign is dramatically different thanks to the high-profile U.S. Senate race at the top…
In a statement released Wednesday evening, Tranel thanked her family and supporters.
“Today is challenging, in Montana and across our great nation,” she said. “This is not the result we wanted but, in a democracy, the values we worked for — affordable housing, childcare, the healthcare we need — are not decided by one election or one campaign. Moral courage is seeing a matter through, especially after a setback. We must continue to see our values through, for our children, and our children’s children. As you have walked with me in this campaign over the many miles, I will walk with you, always, in seeing these matters through for the community I love and call home.”
Zinke, a former Navy SEAL from Whitefish, has moved further to the right throughout his political career. After two terms in the Montana Senate, Zinke won his first seat in Congress in 2014. He was reelected in 2016 but was soon appointed as secretary of the Interior under President Donald Trump. Zinke resigned in 2018 in the wake of several ethics investigations and worked in the private sector before running for the western Montana U.S. House district seat in 2022.
Tranel, a Missoula-based energy attorney and former Olympic rower, ran for the Public Service Commission in 2004 as a Republican and in 2020 as a Democrat. She has spent much of the campaign focused on the state’s housing crisis while criticizing Zinke.
On Tuesday night, the Union Club in downtown Missoula was packed with Tranel supporters and local Democrats. At about 8:45 p.m., Tranel addressed the crowd, acknowledging the lengthy wait times for results from the district’s largest counties.
“We just heard in the last update that we have people who are going to be standing in line in Gallatin County until 3 a.m.,” she said. “So we’re in for a long night. I know there’s a line here that’s waiting at about three hours long. So until that last vote is cast and counted, we don’t know anything.”
With the race then too close to call, Zinke spoke to supporters at his watch party at Whitefish’s Grouse Mountain Lodge shortly before midnight. Zinke said his campaign was “feeling good” and that he was confident that Montana’s voters would decide which party controls the House and Senate. “I can’t think of a better group of people to do that,” he said.
Unlike two years ago, Zinke and Tranel’s rematch has received little attention, overshadowed by the high-profile contest between Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and Republican challenger Tim Sheehy.
In his Wednesday statement, Zinke said he looks forward to working with President Donald Trump, Sheehy, who unseated Tester, and the rest of the “America First cabinet and Congress.”
“We will make groceries and gas affordable again and get back to active forest management. In the House, I’ll be focused on shoring up our rural infrastructure, making sure law enforcement has the tools and authorities needed to address the crime crisis created by Biden’s open borders, and ensure tribal firefighters get paid what they deserve.”
This story was updated on Nov. 7, 2024, to include a comment from Monica Tranel.
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