Live updates from Montana’s 2026 election

At the watch party at DoubleTree hotel in Billings, emcee and local developer Don Sterhan welcomes Kurt Alme, Rep. Troy Downing and Sen. Tim Sheehy, among others.

“I think we’re going to have a lot of fun tonight,” Sterhan said, adding that he can’t speak for others watching tonight’s results. “In this room, in this state, we’re going to have a lot of celebrating,” he said.

“Sen. Sheehy is about to become our senior senator for Montana,” Sterhan said as Sheehy takes the floor. “That didn’t take long.”

— Phoebe Tollefson, reporting from Billings

Minutes before polls closed, Democratic Western House candidate Sam Forstag took the stage inside the Florence Building in downtown Missoula. Wearing jeans, a belt buckle and a blue button up shirt, he told the crowd of more than 150 people that after talking to Montanans on the campaign trail, he felt “pretty damn hopeful.”

“It’s not too late to build a better world,” he said, as the crowd cheered.

— Nora Mabie, reporting from Missoula

Approximately 50 people milled about the Montana Club in Helena at a watch party hosted by Alani Bankhead, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. Bankhead declined to answer questions from Montana Free Press, saying she was focused on enjoying the party.

— Zeke Lloyd, reporting from Helena

I’ll be covering Montana’s four-candidate U.S. Senate race this evening, with the expectation that Republican Kurt Alme will be the frontrunner. One thing I’ll be looking for is whether independent Seth Bodnar finishes ahead of Democrat Alani Bankhead, which would mark the second time in four years that an independent did better than a Democratic candidate in a federal election in Montana.

— Tom Lutey

I’m stationed at Cranky Sam Public House here in Missoula where campaign staffers are busy adorning the walls with posters of independent Senate candidate Seth Bodnar. There are about two dozen people in attendance. Bodnar hasn’t made an appearance yet, but the room is beginning to fill with his supporters. His staffers told me that Bodnar will not be doing interviews with the press but will be in and out as the night goes on.

— Ellis Juhlin, reporting for Missoula

More than 100 people waited in line to register and vote at the Missoula County Elections Center in the last few minutes before polls closed. Kim Liles, near the front of the line, said she’d been waiting about an hour. A graduate student at the University of Montana, Liles said she’d been too busy to register before today. “It’s important to exercise our voice in politics, especially right now,” she said.

A Missoula County Sheriff’s deputy waited to take the last place in line at 8 p.m.

— Katie Fairbanks, reporting from Missoula

The third floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in downtown is lively at 7:20 p.m., shortly before polls close. People are sipping on drinks and snacking on appetizers. Sen. Tim Sheehy is here. Yellowstone County Commissioner Mike Waters is here. I’m sure many other familiar faces will pop up soon.

— Phoebe Tollefson, reporting from Billings

Election officials have seen things slow down in the last hour before polls close at the City-County Building. As of 7:07 p.m., about 15 residents remained in line to register, while a few finish voting at the polls.

— JoVonne Wagner, reporting from Helena

The crowds continue at polling sites in Missoula. One poll worker at the University of Montana said lines have been 15 people deep at all times Tuesday with no breaks. Everyone in line before 8 p.m. can still vote.

— Ellis Juhlin, reporting from Missoula

Chris Christiaens, Cascade County’s chief election judge, told me that he worked 25 hours straight in this role for each of the last three elections. Looking down a growing line of same-day registrants, he said he hoped that won’t be the case this year.

— Matt Hudson, reporting from Great Falls

MetraPark is the only in-person voting option for any Billings resident and the only ballot dropbox for the entire Yellowstone County, according to Elections Administrator Dayna Causby.

At 5:45 p.m., traffic in three lanes on Fourth Avenue North was backed up for nearly two miles as people tried to get to voting booths. Volunteers at the county courthouse directing people to Metra said that as of 5 p.m., 147 people were unaware they couldn’t vote at the courthouse today.

Causby said she’s always concerned about voter access and her team has discussed some traffic-flow improvements and additional ballot dropboxes for the 2028 election.

— Phoebe Tollefson, reporting from Billings

I’ve got my eyes on the race in Montana’s Eastern U.S. House District. When a Republican, Democrat and independent last faced off in the deep-red district in 2022, independent Gary Buchanan received more votes than Democrat Penny Ronning. (Matt Rosendale ran away with the election by a margin of nearly 35 percentage points.)

Tonight, I’m wondering if Eisenhauer will benefit from having independent U.S. Senate candidate Seth Bodnar on the same ballot. Or will Democrat Brian Miller’s headline-grabbing campaign enable him to overtake his independent opponent? And how many votes can either siphon away from incumbent Troy Downing in the Republican stronghold?

— Zeke Lloyd, reporting from Helena

In Livingston, election officials are greeting new voters with an endearing rite: They yell, “First time voter!” and the entirety of the large Park County Fairgrounds erupts in applause. I witnessed the affair only once, but managed to catch the last few seconds of the ritual on my phone. I hope you find it as charming as I do.

— Nick Mott, reporting from Livingston

Voters are still queuing up to vote in Missoula and Bozeman, with substantial traffic also leading up to MetraPark in Billings. Polls close at 8 p.m. around the state, but anyone standing in line at that time will still be able to cast a ballot.

— Mara Silvers

I’m about to head to the Florence Building in Missoula for Democratic candidate Sam Forstag’s watch party. No matter who wins this highly competitive District 1 race, the matchup is Montana’s first U.S. House race without a baby-boomer candidate in 30 years.

— Nora Mabie, reporting form Missoula

Voters have been steadily flowing in and out of the Lewis and Clark Fairgrounds polling location, home to some of Helena’s smallest precincts. As of 5 p.m., Precinct 11 Chief Election Judge Julie James said election officials have seen about 160 voters out of the roughly 174 in the precinct.

Jim Pellegrini, chief election judge for Helena’s Precinct 1, told MTFP that election officials there have seen approximately 70 people vote in person, slightly higher than the 50-60 voters he’s witnessed during other mid-term elections. Both judges said the day has been busy, but they’ve seen few issues.

“We trained, had meetings, and we were prepared,” Pellegrini said. “Things are going pretty smoothly.”

— JoVonne Wagner, reporting from Helena

I am about to grab a slice as I settle in for an evening of keeping an eye on the Public Service Commission races. There’s two out of the five total districts on the ballot this year, and these lesser-known races are worth watching, especially since they could be the last. Lawmakers have indicated support for making the PSC positions appointed, rather than elected. Gov. Gianforte’s Unleashing Energy Task Force recommended a similar change in their list of recommendations and legislative priorities published over the summer.

— Ellis Juhlin, reporting from Missoula

Pizza to the Polls, a nonprofit that sends free pizza to long voting lines across the country, dispatched 18 pies to Bozeman earlier today. Ten pizzas from Dominoes went to the Gallatin County Court House and another eight were delivered to the Strand Union Building. “Keep calm and pizza on. 🍕🗳️,” the organization wrote on a Bluesky social media post.

— Zeke Lloyd, reporting from Helena

More than 40 people waited in line outside the Missoula County Elections Center as additional voters joined the queue. Piper Lea and others with the civic-engagement nonprofit Forward Montana offered hand warmers, gloves, toys, snacks and hot drinks to those waiting.

The line was moving quickly though, according to Darby Hannon and Frankie Nache, who had been waiting about 10 minutes. Nache said everyone has been extremely nice and this has been the best voting experience of his life.

— Katie Fairbanks, reporting from Missoula

Colorful characters abound in plenty of Montana polling places. But they’re especially easy to pick out in small communities where everyone seems to know one another. Larry Lovely’s “Uff Da” hat was the hit of the Shields Valley Community Center this afternoon.

“I’m fairly conservative and I think we need to stay conservative,” he said after he cast his vote. “I’m an old Montana rancher and that’s kinda the way we think.”

— Nick Mott, reporting from Clyde Park