Montana Superintendent of Schools election, 2016
From Ballotpedia - Reading time: 7 min
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← 2012
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June 7, 2016 |
November 8, 2016 |
Elsie Arntzen (R) |
Denise Juneau (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 superintendent of public instruction on November 8, 2016. Republican Elsie Arntzen won the open seat, which had previously been controlled by Democrats.
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
Elsie Arntzen (R)
State senator since 2013, teacher
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
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Republicans
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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:
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The executive branch includes a governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction... |
Elections[edit]
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.
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 History Wiki, "Montana's Elected Officials," accessed June 1, 2016
- ↑ Montana Office of Public Instruction, "Homepage," accessed October 30, 2011
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "Montana Constitution," accessed May 19, 2015
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