Roughly 2 in 5 Montana voters believe military action against Iran makes the U.S. safer, according to a Montana Free Press-Eagleton poll of registered voters in the state.
The poll, conducted in late April and early May, found that 39% of Montanans believe the conflict has made the U.S. safer and 43% of respondents say the country is less safe. Meanwhile, 44% of Montanans approve of military action against Iran, a position also taken by the state’s four federal representatives, while 51% of respondents disapprove.
Montanans’ views on the war and President Donald Trump are deeply divided by political party, with Republicans overwhelmingly approving military action in Iran.
Similarly, among Republicans in the state, Trump’s approval rating is 91%, compared to 33% among independents and 0% among Democrats. But among all Montanans, the president’s approval rating in the state is significantly higher than the national average.
In late February, Trump ordered military strikes on Iran, in part because the U.S. and Iran had not reached a nuclear deal. The U.S. stopped bombing Iran in April but has continued to blockade Iranian ports along the Strait of Hormuz, a major artery for international trade on Iran’s southwestern coast. Meanwhile, Iran continues to stymie trade through the narrow passage.
A spokesperson for Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Downing told the MTFP that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon and that military action was long overdue.
“While Montanans are understandably feeling the impact of higher energy prices, I am confident these costs are temporary, and markets will stabilize,” he said.
According to the Associated Press, gasoline prices are up 28%, a spike that can be traced to the war and that has not gone unnoticed by Montanans. In a January MTFP-Eagleton poll, just 34% of Montanans listed transportation as at least somewhat difficult to afford. In April, that number jumped to 61%.
Gabby Wiggins, deputy communications director for Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, did not directly respond to MTFP questions about the economic impacts of the military action in Iran and instead shared four separate press releases and a news clip of the senator justifying the economic costs in favor of “tremendous long-term benefits.”
Neither Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy nor Republican U.S. Rep Ryan Zinke responded to MTFP’s questions, though, like Downing and Daines, both have publicly supported the war and voted against limiting the president’s control over operations in Iran. In February, Sheehy posted a photo of himself lighting a cigarette via a burning image of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And in March, Sheehy assisted Capitol Police in forcibly removing a protester from a Senate committee meeting in Washington. Zinke has praised Trump’s military action in Iran to the conservative outlet Newsmax.
In mid-April, a bipartisan group of 50 of Montana’s 150 state legislators signed a letter asking for Congressional oversight of U.S. involvement in Iran.
“Without such oversight, neither Congress nor the public can have confidence that the costs of this conflict are being honestly evaluated or that its aims are commensurate with those costs,” the legislators wrote.
Eight Republicans signed the letter, including Senate Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, and Theresa Manzella, R-Hamilton, who also serves as the chair of the State Administration and Veterans Affairs Committee.
The MTFP–Eagleton poll surveyed 815 Montana registered voters who were invited by text message to complete an online survey. Data was collected from April 29, 2026, to May 7, 2026.
Participants were recruited using a probability-based method, meaning they were randomly drawn from the state’s registered voter file so every voter had a known chance of being invited. The results were weighted during analysis to reflect the demographics of Montana’s registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.3 percentage points. You can find more about the methodology here.
LATEST STORIES
Republicans elect Rep. Katie Zolnikov Montana’s first female Speaker of the House
Billings Republican Rep. Katie Zolnikov was elected as Montana’s first female Speaker of the House during the legislative caucuses, when lawmakers hold internal partisan elections to select leadership ahead of the upcoming 2027 session. Zolnikov is also the youngest ever female speaker of a state House in the nation’s history.
Montana childcare advocates plan legislative proposals to support families, providers
While Montana has expanded some early childhood programs in recent years, advocates and lawmakers are looking to New Mexico, the first state to offer no-cost universal childcare, for inspiration ahead of the upcoming legislative session.
Billings Clinic announces new name: One Sky Health
Billings Clinic has a new name. The nonprofit healthcare organization has operated in a combined capacity with Logan Health since 2023. Logan Health owns hospitals in Kalispell, Whitefish and several small communities on the Hi-Line, while Billings Clinic operates in Billings and runs satellite locations in Bozeman, Red Lodge and Columbus, among other communities. Under one administrative roof, the organization has more than 25 clinics and hospitals and 9,000 employees throughout Montana and northern Wyoming, according to a press release announcing the change. As of this week, the organization will now be called One Sky Health.
