The November ballot
Raised so far, filed with the FEC
Also in this race: Nick Sheedy (Libertarian).
Official candidate list: Montana Secretary of State. Faces and bars are the campaigns that hold the seat or have $25,000 raised or outside spending on file; being outside that group is a filing fact, not a mark. Not a prediction.
The seat
Ryan Zinke
Republican · Holds the seat now
First took office 2015 · Age 64
Not on the November ballot
How to vote in Montana
- General electionNovember 3, 2026
Register 30 days before by mail, or late/same-day through Election Day in person.
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How they won the primary
The primary · 70,228 votes
- Sam Forstag Won: 37.4% 26,276
- Ryan Busse: 33.0% 23,196
- Russell Cleveland: 21.7% 15,238
- Matt Rains: 7.9% 5,518
The primary · 82,212 votes
- Aaron Flint Won: 50.1% 41,170
- Christi Jacobsen: 23.0% 18,877
- Al Olszewski: 20.3% 16,686
- Ray Curtis: 6.7% 5,479
Primary results as recorded September 24, 2026, ordered by votes. Source: Montana Secretary of State official primary results. A primary result is a recorded fact about a past contest, not a prediction of November.
The money on this race
- Raised by candidates
- $5.2M
- Outside money
- $6.9M
Outside money, for and against
Independent expenditures; direction is each filer's own declared filing. The other $86K of the race's $6.9M was spent on candidates not listed here. No outside money is on file for or against the other name on this ballot.
Where each candidate's money comes from
Small donors give $200 or less; PACs are political action committees. Shares of each candidate's own receipts on file with the FEC. Outside money is not part of these figures.
Other includes money transferred in from committees the candidate authorized, such as a joint fundraising committee, which reports its own donors to the FEC: Aaron Flint $149K.
Who is spending on this race
The largest groups spending independently here, ranked; open a row for whose race the money went into.
Independent expenditures reported to the FEC; direction is each group's own declared filing.
Not on the November ballot
5 filedPrimary candidates who did not advance, committees still on file, and candidacies that ended. Being here is a filing fact, not a mark against anyone.
The district
Census context- People
- 565K
- Median household income
- $74K
- Unemployment
- 3.4%
- Living below the poverty line
- 11.4%
- Without health insurance
- 8.9%
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year estimates. Context about the district, not a statement about any candidate.
How this seat voted last time
R+8 in 2024
- Ryan Zinke Won: 52.3%
- Monica Tranel: 44.6%
322,266 votes for candidates. Other candidates and write-ins took the remaining 3.1%. A past result is a filed fact, not a prediction of November.
Certified returns via MIT Election Data and Science Lab, from the House Clerk's election statistics and state canvasses.
Candidates and financing from the FEC, public domain. Candidate totals are each campaign's latest FEC report, ending between June 30, 2026 and September 30, 2026. Outside money is the FEC's processed total of independent expenditures plus the 24- and 48-hour reports filed since each group's latest regular report. It covers this two-year cycle, the same as the candidate totals. Dataset built 2026-10-12. Nothing here is a forecast, a grade, or a ranking of candidates.