Montana Secretary of State election, 2016
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June 7, 2016 |
November 8, 2016 |
Corey Stapleton (R) |
Linda McCulloch (D) |
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 |
March 14, 2016 |
May 31, 2016 |
June 6, 2016 |
June 7, 2016 |
November 8, 2016 |
TBD |
January 2, 2017 |
Montana held an election for secretary of state on November 8, 2016. Republican Corey Stapleton won the seat, which had previously been controlled by Democrats.
Overview[edit]
Secretaries of state are the administrative officers of state governments. Montana's office of the secretary of state has tended to alternate party hands every one or two officeholders since the early 1900s. At the time of this election, Montana had a divided government and also had a history of electing both parties to the U.S. Congress, though the state favored Republican presidential candidates.
Major party candidates Monica Lindeen and Corey Stapleton were nearly tied in fundraising as of the end-of-May filing. Stapleton won the general election on November 8, 2016.
Candidates[edit]
Monica Lindeen (D)
Incumbent state auditor since 2009
Corey Stapleton (R)
Nonprofit president, former state senator
Roger Roots (Lib.)
Assistant professor, Jarvis Christian College since 2012
Results[edit]
General election[edit]
Corey Stapleton defeated Monica Lindeen and Roger Roots in the Montana secretary of state election.
| Montana Secretary of State, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Corey Stapleton |
55.49% | 277,473 | |
| Democratic | Monica Lindeen | 40.97% | 204,861 | |
| Libertarian | Roger Roots | 3.54% | 17,687 | |
| Total Votes | 500,021 | |||
| Source: Montana Secretary of State | ||||
Primary elections[edit]
Republican primary contest[edit]
Corey Stapleton ran unopposed in the Montana Republican primary for secretary of state.
| Montana Republican primary for secretary of state, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Corey Stapleton (unopposed) |
100.00% | 137,252 |
| Total Votes (686 of 686 precincts reporting) | 137,252 | |
| Source: Montana Secretary of State | ||
Democratic primary contest[edit]
Monica Lindeen ran unopposed in the Montana Democratic primary for secretary of state.
| Montana Democratic primary for secretary of state, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Monica Lindeen (unopposed) |
100.00% | 111,525 |
| Total Votes (686 of 686 precincts reporting) | 111,525 | |
| Source: Montana Secretary of State | ||
Libertarian primary contest[edit]
Roger Roots ran unopposed in the Montana Libertarian primary for secretary of state.
| Montana Libertarian primary for secretary of state, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| Roger Roots | ||
| 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 Linda McCulloch (D)[edit]
Linda McCulloch was elected secretary of state in 2008, narrowly defeating Republican Brad Johnson by a margin of one percent. She won re-election to the position in 2012 again beating Johnson, this time by six percent. Prior to her tenure as secretary of state, McCulloch served as superintendent of public instruction from 2001-2009, and in the House of Representatives from 1995-2001. She was prevented from running for re-election in 2016 due to term limits.
Before she entered politics, McCulloch worked first as an elementary teacher then as the school librarian.
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.
The office of the Montana secretary of state has tended to change party hands every one to two officeholders since the turn of the 20th century. Prior to McCulloch's election in 2008, Republicans Bob Brown and Brad Johnson served from 2001-2005 and 2005-2009, respectively. Lieutenant Governor Mike Cooney (D) held the office from 1989 until 2001; Republicans had controlled the office for eight years prior.
Campaigns[edit]
Campaign finance[edit]
| Monica Lindeen Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| 3/28/2016 - 4/26/2016 | 5/23/2016 | $72,179.38 | $11,328.33 | $(1,639.43) | $81,868.28 | ||||
| 4/27/2016 - 5/18/2016 | 5/23/2016 | $81,868.28 | $5,433.33 | $(255.61) | $87,046 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $16,761.66 | $(1,895.04) | ||||||||
| Corey Stapleton Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| 3/28/2016 - 4/26/2016 | 5/1/2016 | $63,384.23 | $5,755 | $(4,631.99) | $64,507.24 | ||||
| 4/27/2016 - 5/18/2016 | 5/23/2016 | $64,507.24 | $13,037.24 | $(2,409.79) | $75,134.45 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $18,792.24 | $(7,041.78) | ||||||||
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
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Republicans
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Libertarians
| Roger Roots (Lib.) | |
About the office[edit]
The secretary of state for Montana is one of the elected constitutional officers of the executive branch of the U.S. state of Montana. The secretary of state is the keeper of the Montana state seal, and also serves on the Montana Board of Land Commissioners, which administers school trust lands.[6]
| Quick facts about Secretaries of State |
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Incumbent[edit]
The incumbent was Linda McCulloch (D). She was first elected to the statewide position in 2008 and won re-election in 2012.[8]
Authority[edit]
The state Constitution addresses the office of secretary of state in Article VI, the Executive Department.
Under Article VI, Section I:
|
The executive branch includes a governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state... |
Qualifications[edit]
A candidate for secretary of state must be:
- 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 election
Past elections[edit]
2012[edit]
Incumbent Linda McCulloch (D) successfully won re-election, defeating Brad Johnson (R) and Roger Roots (L) in the November 6, 2012 general election.
| Montana Secretary of State General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Linda McCulloch Incumbent |
51.4% | 245,024 | |
| Republican | Brad Johnson | 45.1% | 214,976 | |
| Libertarian | Roger Roots | 3.5% | 16,622 | |
| Total Votes | 476,622 | |||
| Election results via Montana Secretary of State | ||||
Recent news[edit]
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Montana secretary of state election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
State profile[edit]
| Demographic data for Montana | ||
|---|---|---|
| Montana | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 1,032,073 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 145,546 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 89.2% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 0.5% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 0.7% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 6.5% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.5% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 3.3% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 92.8% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 29.5% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $47,169 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 17% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Montana. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern[edit]
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Montana
Montana voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, three are located in Montana, accounting for 1.46 percent of the total pivot counties.[9]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Montana had two Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 1.10 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.
More Montana coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Montana
- United States congressional delegations from Montana
- Public policy in Montana
- Endorsers in Montana
- Montana fact checks
- More...
See also[edit]
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Montana government: |
Previous elections: |
Ballotpedia exclusives: |
External links[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures Website, "State Primary Election Types," accessed January 6, 2014
- ↑ Fair Vote, "Congressional and Presidential Primaries: Open, Closed, Semi-Closed, and 'Top Two,'" accessed January 6, 2014
- ↑ Ballotpedia research conducted December 26, 2013, through January 3, 2014, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "2014 Election center," accessed August 21, 2015
- ↑ 270 to win, "Montana," accessed May 30, 2016
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "About the Office" accessed January 17, 2013
- ↑ Council of State Governments, "Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries," February 18, 2014
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State Office, "Biography" accessed January 17, 2013
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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