Missoula voters will weigh in on the upcoming municipal election that includes a race for mayor and seven city council seats, as well as a countywide infrastructure levy.
The all-mail election on Nov. 4 also includes three uncontested municipal judge positions. Voters outside city limits will only have the countywide levy on their ballots.
The 12-member city council includes two seats for each of the six wards. Both of the Ward 6 seats are up for election this year because Sandra Vasecka was appointed in 2023 following a tie between her and another candidate in that year’s Ward 6 election.
The candidates for mayor and Wards 2, 3 and 6 were narrowed down during the September primary election. Candidates in the other wards, with fewer than three candidates for each open seat, advanced directly to the November general election.
Montana Free Press has published similar guides for the two other communities where we have full-time local reporters: Great Falls and Helena. We’ve also published a roundup of notable races and ballot issues across the state this fall here.
Candidate information and statements presented in this piece were gathered from candidate websites and forums held in September and October by Catalyst Montana and the Missoula Tenants Union, City Club Missoula and the city of Missoula’s Office of Neighborhoods and the League of Women Voters.
Mayor
In the race for her first full four-year term, Mayor Andrea Davis faces Shawn Knopp, who previously ran for mayor in 2021 and 2023. Davis was elected in November 2023 to finish former Mayor John Engen’s term after he died in 2022.
During a debate Oct. 14, both candidates said that more and all types of housing are needed to help decrease prices, and that the city needs to partner with developers on affordable housing projects.
Davis, the former executive director of the housing nonprofit Homeword, said a new city land redevelopment plan, the 2045 Land Use Plan adopted last year and the upcoming zoning code reform will help encourage housing development.
“We have heard over and over again that not only are folks that are living on fixed incomes, let’s say Social Security Disability income, need more accessible housing,” Davis said at the Oct. 14 forum. “But so do the folks that are working in businesses downtown and all across Missoula. So we need to take a look at all sorts of different options working with the private sector.”
Davis touted the city’s involvement in a handful of recent housing projects, infrastructure improvements on Orange and Phillips streets and “fiscal discipline” that kept the 2026 city budget to a 3.4% tax increase, a smaller increase than the previous three years.
Knopp, a project manager at Montana Glass, said the city needs to address its structural deficit without raising taxes. Knopp also suggested scaling back the Missoula Redevelopment Agency, saying it is diverting money from the city’s General Fund and other taxing jurisdictions.
“Until we can have a budget where we don’t have to raise taxes and put people out of their homes, choices are going to get hard,” Knopp said. “We have to have fire. We have to have police. We have to have roads. Those are going to be the top three priorities on any budget that I’m a part of. Anything else after that is going to be on a ‘need-to-have’ basis.”
Knopp said he would not necessarily eliminate jobs but rather move staff to departments that need help, such as the building department, in an effort to decrease the time it takes to process permits.
Davis won the September primary with 66% of the vote. Knopp received 27%.
City Council Ward 1
Political newcomers Betsy Craske and Lucas Moody are competing for the seat vacated by Jennifer Savage, who moved to Ward 3 earlier this year.
Craske, a longtime educator, said during a candidate forum in late September that the divisiveness from the 2024 election spurred her to run to help bridge gaps, build relationships and “make Missoula a place where we can all live.” She said she hopes to address rising property taxes and the city’s affordable housing needs, in part by building more infill, and wants to advocate for climate preparedness and infrastructure projects to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods.
“I think it’s really important, in tandem with housing, that we’re able to look at climate resiliency from an equity standpoint and to help put climate action into place,” she said. “Whether it’s helping people stay cool in the summer, helping people protect their homes and themselves from wildfire smoke, these issues aren’t going away.”
Moody, who works at the public library, said he wants to represent working-class Missoulians, including renters and unhoused people, who he said go largely unheard. Moody is one of four candidates endorsed by the Western Montana Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. He is advocating for social housing that could include price-controlled apartments built with municipal bonds, resident-owned communities and community land trusts.
“We could be doing this at a city level as well with the city of Missoula also having land trusts,” Moody said. “This would make it more affordable rather than continuing to build luxury units that are outside the price range of people working locally. This would give them an opportunity to continue to live and work here.”
City Council Ward 2
Rebecca Dawson and Justin Ponton are running to fill Sierra Farmer’s seat. Farmer told the Missoulian she did not run for reelection because of the position’s time commitment.
Dawson, a real estate agent, previously ran for city council in 2021 and 2023 and for the state Legislature in 2020 as a Republican. During the Sept. 30 candidate forum, Dawson said she wants to bring different ideas to council, help stem rising property taxes and increase transparency around the city’s budget.
“I think Missoula has gone on a spending spree and that’s unfortunately causing us to tax our youngest generation and older generation out, and people in the middle are struggling to hold on,” Dawson said. “My reason for running is to try to help balance that out so Missoula residents can remain Missoula residents.”
Ponton, the CEO of Montana Regional Multiple Listing Service, said at the forum that the city needs to increase its housing supply, balance the budget and improve infrastructure to address traffic and safety problems, particularly on Reserve Street and Mullan Road.
“I decided to run for city council because I’ve been personally impacted by stories from friends and also my own family who have had to move out of Missoula or even Montana in general based on the high cost of living here,” he said. “My hope was to be able to give something back to my community and lean into some of the experience I have in the private sector with budgeting, housing, real estate in general.”
Of the five candidates running for the seat in the primary, Ponton led with 34% of the vote, and Dawson received 19%.
City Council Ward 3
Incumbent Daniel Carlino is facing former Ward 1 Council Member Jennifer Savage, who moved to Ward 3 earlier this year and vacated her seat on Sept. 4.
Carlino, an aide for people with developmental disabilities, previously ran for the Public Service Commission in 2020 before winning his council seat at age 23 in 2021. During a candidate forum on Oct. 2, Carlino, who is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, said the city’s challenges include the climate crisis, people being priced out of town and increasing homelessness.
“If I’m able to get elected, I promise that I’ll push a lot of policies forward and try to work collaboratively with my colleagues and city staff to do our part and to get change done,” he said. “These issues are really serious, and we need people to step up and match up to the severity of the issues.”
Savage, the communications specialist for Missoula County Public Schools, said during the forum that she wants to continue the council’s work on affordable housing and zoning code reform started during her first term. She said housing is the most pressing issue for the city and more resources for unhoused people and property tax relief are needed.
“I think the thing that I’m most proud of on City Council is the relationships that I’ve built, the collaborations that we’ve been able to form, the conversations that we’ve been able to have to move things forward,” Savage said. “It’s the work I want to continue doing, to bring that into this code reform that’s coming very soon.”
In September, Savage filed a political practices complaint against Carlino for sending text messages without a “paid for by” attribution, a delayed filing to note the expenditure of the texts and a lack of reporting any in-kind contributions for the texts. Carlino wrote in his response to the complaint that he takes responsibility for the lack of a disclaimer on two of the messages, but three of the messages were sent without his permission or endorsement. The campaign took corrective actions and will cooperate on a resolution, Carlino wrote. Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Chris Gallus ruled Oct. 27 that Carlino’s campaign had failed to properly report $3,850 in spending on the text messages and referred the violation to the Missoula County Attorney for possible prosecution.
Savage led the primary with 48% to Carlino’s 41%, and the three other candidates received about 10% of the vote.
City Council Ward 4
In the race for his second term, incumbent council member Mike Nugent faces challenger David Quattrocchi, who is also backed by the Democratic Socialists of America.
Nugent, a real estate broker, said during a forum Oct. 2 that the city has made progress on addressing the housing crisis through affordable housing projects and the zoning code reform, but affordability remains a problem. Nugent described himself as a “doer” who works through details to figure out how to implement ideas.
“I’m someone who’s always been willing to dig deep and say, ‘What’s actually going to make this policy work?” he said. “Not just does it sound good on paper, but how will it work in real life?”
Quattrocchi, a community organizer with Partnership Health Center, stated during the forum that, as a renter, he would advocate for people who are historically marginalized and struggle to access housing, as well as improve transparency.
“I think we can kind of judge our town on how we treat our most vulnerable and right now, deeply failing,” he said. “And that doesn’t mean we just cater to people, but we kind of adjust and right the ship to make sure that the most vulnerable of us are being cared for as deeply as any anything else, including moneyed interests, real estate interests, in fact, more so since those are humans we’re talking about.”
City Council Ward 5
Stacie Anderson is seeking a third term as the only council member running unopposed for reelection this year. Anderson, first elected in 2017, is one of the longest-serving members currently on the council. She is the executive director of A Better Big Sky, a nonprofit that funds civic engagement and progressive leadership.
City Council Ward 6 (two-year)
Council Member Sandra Vasecka will face Sean Patrick McCoy in a rematch of a race that ended in a tie in 2023. Since Vasecka was appointed following the tie, she must run again this year to fill out the remainder of the term.
Vasecka, one of the council’s more conservative members, told MTFP earlier this year she wants to continue focusing on fiscal responsibility and private property rights. During a candidate forum Oct. 16, Vasecka said she wants to address affordability by reducing property taxes and red tape, as well as continuing her efforts to lower sidewalk assessment costs for homeowners.
“I’m proud of what I’ve done so far,” she said. “I think I’m the only one on council who has been able to cosponsor referrals with everybody from the political spectrum. I’ve cosponsored things with [Jordan]. We are very, very ideologically different, yet we cosponsor things together all the time because we understand what is needed for our neighborhood and what is needed for our community.”
McCoy, a farmer and planning board member, said he wants to use his experience in dealing with government bureaucracy to continue serving the community. McCoy said during the forum that he disagrees with Vasecka’s focus on property rights in land use decisions, but agrees with the need for improvements to sidewalks and roads.
“One of the big things I’ve learned on the planning board is we usually build first and do infrastructure later,” he said. “And I don’t think I can reverse that trend, but I’d sure like to see if we can start making some changes there. Another really important thing to me as a farmer would be protecting and advancing agricultural lands.”
The winner of this Ward 6 race would be up for election again in 2027.
City Council Ward 6 (four-year)
Incumbent Kristen Jordan, who is endorsed by the DSA, is facing retired electrician Chris Foster in the race for her second term.
Jordan, who works for the Western Montana Conservation Commission, said during a forum Oct. 1 that the government should be a service provider, and along with voter priorities, the budget should include money for affordable housing, homeless shelter options, a tenants’ right to counsel program and green infrastructure to address climate change. Jordan, who often butts heads with other council members, said democracy needs to be “messy” because that means nothing is getting rubber-stamped.
“I believe everybody should have somebody at city council that they can relate to, regardless of political affiliation, because that’s what democracy is about,” she said. “And I want to see a messy city council where we’re talking about things from more perspectives and compromising.”
Foster said during the forum his three budget “must-haves” include police, fire and public works, and that he believes funding for things like affordable housing and homeless shelters should come from non-tax revenue. Foster said he is running for council because of the city’s homeless situation and would like to see Missoula implement solutions that have worked for other cities.
“I’m not going to be the type of person to put slogans out there just for votes, and I’m not going to try to pack everything into an ideological box,” he said. “I’m going to present things that work, that have been shown to work, that are peer reviewed and other cities have done successfully that I think we should try in Missoula.”
Missoula County infrastructure levy
City and county residents will vote on a mill levy request that would raise $1.8 million annually for Missoula County roads, bridges and trails.
If the levy passes, the owner of a $300,000 home would pay an additional $11.40 annually, and the owner of a $600,000 home would pay $26.21.
The county currently brings in about $6.13 million a year for roads and $1.38 million for bridges, excluding grants, money that comes from property taxes, state gas tax and other state and federal sources. The public works department estimates it needs an additional $4.3 million annually to fully fund the county’s infrastructure needs.
The county says it would prioritize using the levy revenue to repave county roads and provide matching funds when applying to federal grants to replace aging bridges, according to its levy information web page.
Municipal judges
Missoula’s three municipal judges — Jennifer Streano, Eli Parker and Jacob Coolidge — are all running unopposed for a second four-year term.
This is the second election for all three municipal judge positions, following a 2021 state law change that eliminated positions by appointment.
The judges, who previously worked as public defenders, campaigned together in 2021 with a shared platform that included increased cooperation and decreasing the number of people held in jail for nonviolent offenses, the Missoulian reported at the time.
In the last four years, the court has implemented several new programs, including Traffic Court to address driving without a license charges, ComMUNIty Court to bring court services to homeless shelters and a pretrial assistance program.
Odds and Ends
All municipal seats are nonpartisan, but the Missoula County Democrats have endorsed Mayor Davis and all the city council candidates except Dawson and Vasecka. The Missoula Republican Central Committee endorsed mayoral candidate Knopp and city council candidates Dawson and Vasecka.
The Missoula County Elections Office mailed ballots to more than 77,800 registered voters countywide Oct. 15. Ballots are due Tuesday, Nov. 4, and can be returned by mail or dropped off at the Elections Center. Additional drop-off locations will be available on Election Day.
The Missoula County Elections website has information about ballot return locations, voter registration and a new Montana law requiring voters to include their birth year on the signature envelope.
This story was updated Oct. 27, 2025 to reflect the conclusion of the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices’ investigation into Daniel Carlino’s campaign finance reporting.
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