Montana Superintendent of Schools election, 2016

Montana 2016 elections

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Montana Superintendent of Schools Election

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Primary Date:
June 7, 2016
General Election Date:
November 8, 2016

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November Election Winner:
Elsie Arntzen (R)
Incumbent Prior to Election:
Denise Juneau (D)

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State Executive Elections Top Ballot
Governor • Lt. Governor
Secretary of State • Attorney General
Down Ballot
Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, Auditor • Superintendent • Montana Public Service Commission, districts 2, 3 & 4
Key election dates

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Filing deadline:
March 14, 2016
Petition deadline (third parties and independents):
May 31, 2016
Filing deadline (third parties and independents):
June 6, 2016
Primary date:
June 7, 2016
General election date:
November 8, 2016
Recount request deadline:
TBD
Inauguration:
January 2, 2017

Montana held an election for superintendent of public instruction on November 8, 2016. Republican Elsie Arntzen won the open seat, which had previously been controlled by Democrats.

HIGHLIGHTS

* Incumbent Denise Juneau (D) sought election to a seat in the U.S. House, leaving the superintendent race an open election.

* Teacher Melissa Romano (D) and state Senator Elsie Arntzen (R) were both unopposed in their parties' primaries and competed in the November general election.

* Arntzen won the general election on November 8, 2016.

## Contents

* 1 Overview
* 2 Candidates
* 3 Results
* 3.1 General election
* 3.2 Primary elections
* 3.2.1 Republican primary election
* 3.2.2 Democratic primary election
* 4 Context of the 2016 election
* 4.1 Primary elections
* 4.2 Incumbent Denise Juneau (D)
* 4.3 Party control in Montana
* 5 Campaigns
* 5.1 Campaign finance
* 5.2 Campaign media
* 6 About the office
* 7 Incumbent
* 7.1 Qualifications
* 8 Authority
* 9 Elections
* 10 Recent news
* 10.1 See also
* 10.2 External links
* 10.3 Footnotes

## Overview[edit]

The superintendent of public instruction is a statewide office responsible for overseeing and coordinating the state's elementary and secondary schools. Democrats have controlled the Office of Public Instruction since 1989.

Montana has a divided government: Republicans control the state legislature while Democrat Steve Bullock holds the governorship.

## Candidates[edit]

Melissa Romano (D)
Elementary school teacher, education advocate

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Elsie Arntzen (R)
State senator since 2013, teacher

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## Results[edit]

### General election[edit]

Elsie Arntzen defeated Melissa Romano in the Montana superintendent of schools election.

Montana Superintendent of Schools, 2016

Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes
| Republican  |  Elsie Arntzen | 51.65% | 253,790
| Democratic  | Melissa Romano | 48.35% | 237,590
Total Votes | 491,380
Source: Montana Secretary of State

### Primary elections[edit]

#### Republican primary election[edit]

Elsie Arntzen ran unopposed in the Montana Republican primary for superintendent.

Montana Republican primary for superintendent, 2016

Candidate | Vote % | Votes
Elsie Arntzen (unopposed) | 100.00% | 129,851
Total Votes (686 of 686 precincts reporting) | 129,851
Source: Montana Secretary of State

#### Democratic primary election[edit]

Melissa Romano ran unopposed in the Montana Democratic primary for superintendent.

Montana Democratic primary for superintendent, 2016

Candidate | Vote % | Votes
Melissa Romano (unopposed) | 100.00% | 103,951
Total Votes (686 of 686 precincts reporting) | 103,951
Source: Montana Secretary of State

## Context of the 2016 election[edit]

### Primary elections[edit]

A primary election is an election in which voters select the candidate they believe should represent a political party in a general election. Primaries usually take place several months before a general election. Montana utilizes an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.[1][2][3]

Montana's primary elections took place on June 7, 2016.

### Incumbent Denise Juneau (D)[edit]

Denise Juneau (D) was elected superintendent of public instruction in 2008 by a 7 percent margin of victory. She narrowly won re-election against challenger Sandy Welch (R) in 2012 by a margin of just 0.4 percent, which prompted Welch to request a recount. A judge later ordered the request to be rescinded due to cost. A member of the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes, she is the first Native American woman elected to a statewide position.

Prior to her tenure as superintendent, Juneau served as director of the Indian Education in the Office of Public Instruction and clerked for the Montana Supreme Court. She declined to seek re-election in 2016 in favor of a bid for a seat in the U.S. House representing the state's at-large congressional district.

### Party control in Montana[edit]

Going into the 2016 election, Montana had a divided government since 2005, which was preceded by a nine-year Republican trifecta. Republicans controlled the state legislature, while a Democrat held the governorship. In recent years, Republican candidates had consistently managed to win statewide offices. Most recently, in 2014, Steve Daines (R) defeated Kim Gillan (D) by a 10-point margin in the open U.S. Senate election, and Ryan Zinke (R) defeated John Lewis (D) by a 15-point margin in the open race for Montana's at-large seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.[4]

The state had gone to Republican presidential contenders for the last ten presidential elections with the exception of 1992, when Montana's electoral votes went to Bill Clinton.[5] However, Montana tends to elect both Democratic and Republican candidates to the U.S. Congress. Control of the state's executive offices was nearly equally distributed among the two parties.

Democrats have controlled the Office of Public Instruction since Nancy Keenan (D) assumed office in 1989. Prior to Keenan's election, the office tended to alternate between Democratic and Republican control every five to ten years. In 1964, incumbent Superintendent Harriet Miller even changed party allegiance and won re-election as a Democrat after having served two four-year terms as a Republican.[6]

## Campaigns[edit]

### Campaign finance[edit]

Elsie Arntzen Primary Election Account Campaign Finance Reports

Report| Date Filed| Beginning Balance| Total Contributions
for Reporting Period| Expenditures| Cash on Hand
4/27/2016 - 5/18/2016| 5/23/2016| $50,635.26| $7,594.07| $(13,484.05)| $44,745.28
5/19/2016 - 5/27/2016| 5/27/2016| $44,745.28| $3,130.00| $(1,335.08)| $46,540.20
| | | Running totals|
| | | $10,724.07| $(14,819.13)|
Elsie Arntzen General Election Account Campaign Finance Reports

Report| Date Filed| Beginning Balance| Total Contributions
for Reporting Period| Expenditures| Cash on Hand
4/27/2016 - 5/18/2016| 5/23/2016| $9,355.00| $560.00| $(0)| $9,915.00
5/19/2016 - 5/27/2016| 5/27/2016| $9,915.00| $10.00| $(0)| $9,925.00
| | | Running totals|
| | | $570| $(0)|
Melissa Romano Primary Election Account Campaign Finance Reports

Report| Date Filed| Beginning Balance| Total Contributions
for Reporting Period| Expenditures| Cash on Hand
4/27/2016 - 5/18/2016| 5/23/2016| $52,090.88| $4,823.83| $(1,421.67)| $55,493.04
5/19/2016 - 5/27/2016| 6/01/2016| $55,493.04| $4,931.00| $(280.27)| $60,143.77
| | | Running totals|
| | | $9,754.83| $(1,701.94)|
Melissa Romano General Election Account Campaign Finance Reports

Report| Date Filed| Beginning Balance| Total Contributions
for Reporting Period| Expenditures| Cash on Hand
4/27/2016 - 5/18/2016| 5/23/2016| $410.00| $258.00| $(0)| $668.00
5/19/2016 - 5/27/2016| 6/01/2016| $668.00| $30.00| $(0)| $698.00
| | | Running totals|
| | | $288| $(0)|

### Campaign media[edit]

Note: If a candidate is not listed below, Ballotpedia staff were unable to locate any campaign media for that candidate. Do you know of any? Tell us!

Democrats

| Melissa Romano (D)  |

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Republicans

| Elsie Arntzen (R)  |

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## About the office[edit]

See also: Montana Superintendent of Schools

The Montana superintendent of public instruction serves as head of the Montana Office of Public Instruction, whose mission statement is to provide "vision, advocacy, support and leadership for schools and communities to ensure that all students meet today's challenges and tomorrow's opportunities."[7]

# Incumbent[edit]

The incumbent was Democrat Denise Juneau. She was elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012.

#### Qualifications[edit]

A candidate for superintendent of public instruction must be:[8]

* at least 25 years of age or older at the time of election
* a citizen of the United States
* have resided within the state at least two years at his or her election
* have such educational qualifications as are provided by law

# Authority[edit]

The state Constitution addresses the office of superintendent of public instruction in Article VI, the Executive Department.

Under Article VI, Section I:

The executive branch includes a governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction...

# Elections[edit]

Montana state government organizational chart

Article VI of the Montana State Constitution stipulates that the superintendent of public instruction is a publicly elected official who serves a term of four years. This statewide officer will, according to Article IV, Section 8, have served in that office or had he not resigned or been recalled would have served in that office eight or more years in any 16-year period.

# Recent news[edit]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Montana Superintendent Public Instruction election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Montana Superintendent of Schools election, 2016 - Google News

## See also[edit]

Montana government:

* Montana state executive offices
* Montana State Legislature
* Montana courts

Previous elections:

* State executive official elections, 2015
* State executive official elections, 2014

Ballotpedia exclusives:

* State executives compensation
* State of the state addresses
* Who runs the states?

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## External links[edit]

| Suggest a link

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* Montana Office of Public Instruction

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures Website, "State Primary Election Types," accessed January 6, 2014
2. ↑ Fair Vote, "Congressional and Presidential Primaries: Open, Closed, Semi-Closed, and 'Top Two,'" accessed January 6, 2014
3. ↑ Ballotpedia research conducted December 26, 2013, through January 3, 2014, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.
4. ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "2014 Election center," accessed August 21, 2015
5. ↑ 270 to win, "Montana," accessed May 30, 2016
6. ↑ Montana History Wiki, "Montana's Elected Officials," accessed June 1, 2016
7. ↑ Montana Office of Public Instruction, "Homepage," accessed October 30, 2011
8. ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "Montana Constitution," accessed May 19, 2015

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