The 2020 election this week broke voting records in Yellowstone County as 77,016 ballots had been returned as of 10:34 PM on November 3, smashing the previous record set in the 2016 election at 71,871. That number is over 75% of the registered voters in the county. Residents voted overwhelmingly Republican, winning almost every race across the State. In the presidential race, Yellowstone County voters re-elected President Trump by a large margin – 45,564 to 28,523 for Joe Biden. There were an additional 2,010 votes cast for Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen and 412 write-in votes. In the race for the US Senate seat held by Steve Daines, Daines won re-election by defeating Montana Governor Steve Bullock by almost 12,000 votes. Matt Rosendale was elected to the US House of Representatives with 45,021 votes compared to 30,978 votes for Democratic challenger Kathleen Williams.
In state races, voters continued the trend of voting Republican, electing Greg Gianforte as governor with a margin of over 15,000 votes. The race for Secretary of State also went to Republican Christi Jacobsen who received almost 20,000 more votes than her opponent, Bryce Bennett. Republican Austin Knudsen defeated Democrat Raph Graybill 46,987 to 28,363, and the contest for State Auditor had a similar margin for Troy Downing over Shane Morigeau. Elsie Arntzen retained her office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, defeating Melissa Romano by almost 10,000 votes. The seat for the Public Service Commission in District 2 was won by Tony O’Donnell over challenger Valerie McMurtry.
Some State Senate races were won by acclamation, as the candidates ran unopposed. These included Tom McGillvray in State Senate District 23 and Brad Molnar in District 28. An upset in State Senate District 26 gave Republican Chris Friedel the seat previously held by incumbent Margie Macdonald, winning the seat by less than 250 votes. Senate District 25 was held by the incumbent Jen Gross, who beat her challenger Republican Scott Price by over 300 votes.
In the State House of Representatives, almost half of the seats were won by acclamation once again, with all but one going to Republican candidates. Republican Barry Usher won with a resounding 2235 votes for the seat in District 40 against Kris Spanjian who received 597 votes. District 43 went to Kerri Seekins-Crowe, who received more than double the votes that challenger Melody Benes, a Libertarian candidate, received. Larry Brewster was elected in District 44 with 2,990 votes, compared to the 1,689 votes received by Terry Dennis. Bill Mercer also received more than double the votes of his opponent Democrat Zach Ladson in District 46. District 47 was one of the few districts which remained in Democratic control, as Kathy Kelker defeated TJ Smith. District 49 also was retained by Democratic incumbent Emma Kerr-Carpenter, who defeated Colin Michael Nygaard.
A surprise victory came for 18-year old Republican Mallerie Stromswold, in State Representative District 50. Stromswold, a recent graduate of Billings Senior High School, defeated incumbent Jade Bahr by less than 200 votes. Seats in the State House of Representatives also went to Republicans Jimmy Patelis, Terry Moore, and Frank Fleming and to Democrat Jessica Karjala. On the county level, John Ostlund was re-elected to his seat as Yellowstone County Commissioner for District 1, defeating the Democratic challenger Darryl Wilson.
Yellowstone County residents did not vote along the same lines as the rest of the state when it came to Initiative 190 which legalizes the recreational use of marijuana. While the initiative passed state-wide, Yellowstone County residents defeated the measure by a slim margin of 38,473 to 38,071. Voters did pass Constitutional Initiative 118, which allows the legislature to set the legal age for the purchase of marijuana. The use of marijuana is still illegal according to federal law.
