Montana's 1st congressional district

Montana's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the United States House of Representatives that was apportioned after the 2020 United States census. The first candidates ran in the 2022 elections for a seat in the 118th United States Congress.

Montana's 1st congressional district
Montana's 1st congressional district came into existence in January 2023 and comprises the western portion of the state. Points indicate major cities in the district, sorted by population: 1. Missoula 2. Bozeman 3. Butte 4. Kalispell
Representative	Ryan Zinke R–Whitefish
Population (2023)	576,553
Median household income	$73,314[1]
Ethnicity	84.8% White 5.0% Two or more races 4.4% Native American 4.1% Hispanic 0.8% Asian 0.5% other 0.4% Black
Cook PVI	R+5[2]

This seat's current representative is Republican Ryan Zinke.

History

From 1913 to 1993, Montana had two congressional seats. From 1913 to 1919, those seats were elected statewide at-large on a general ticket. After 1919, however, the state was divided into geographical districts, with the 1st district covering the western part of the state, including Missoula, Great Falls, Butte, and Helena. After 1993, the 2nd district was eliminated and the remaining seat was elected at-large.

Following the release of the 2020 United States census results, Montana was once again split into two congressional districts.^[3] The reconstituted 1st district covers the western third of the state, in a configuration similar to the 1983–1993 map. However, Helena was drawn into the reconstituted 2nd district.

The reconstituted 1st leans Republican, though not as overwhelmingly as the 2nd. Missoula, home of the University of Montana, and Butte are longstanding Democratic bastions, while Bozeman, home to Montana State University, is more of a swing area. The rural areas, especially the Flathead, are heavily Republican.

Recent election results from statewide races

Year	Office	Results[4][5]
2008	President	Obama 49% - 47%
2016	President	Trump 52% - 40%
	Governor	Bullock 53% - 44%
	Attorney General	Fox 62% - 38%
2018	Senate	Tester 54% - 43%
2020	President	Trump 52% - 45%
	Senate	Daines 51% - 49%
	Governor	Gianforte 50% - 46%
	Attorney General	Knudsen 54% - 46%
	Secretary of State	Jacobsen 55% - 45%
	Auditor	Downing 50% - 44%
2024	President	Trump 54% - 43%
	Senate	Tester 50% - 49%
	Governor	Gianforte 54% - 43%
	Attorney General	Knudsen 56% - 44%
	Secretary of State	Jacobsen 57% - 40%
	Auditor	Brown 57% - 43%

Composition

The first district includes all of the following counties, with the exception of Pondera, which it shares with the 2nd. Pondera County communities in the 1st district include Birch Creek Colony, Dupuyer, Heart Butte, Kingsbury Colony, New Miami Colony, Pondera Colony, and Valier.^[6]

#	County	Seat	Population
1	Beaverhead	Dillon	9,885
23	Deer Lodge	Anaconda	9,673
29	Flathead	Kalispell	113,679
31	Gallatin	Bozeman	126,409
35	Glacier	Cut Bank	13,609
39	Granite	Philipsburg	3,595
47	Lake	Polson	33,338
53	Lincoln	Linn	21,895
57	Madison	Virginia City	9,521
61	Mineral	Superior	5,090
63	Missoula	Missoula	121,849
73	Pondera	Conrad	6,125
77	Powell	Deer Lodge	7,133
81	Ravalli	Hamilton	47,738
89	Sanders	Thompson Falls	13,684
93	Silver Bow	Butte	36,360

List of members representing the district

Member	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history
District established March 4, 1919
John M. Evans (Missoula)	Democratic	March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1921	66th	Redistricted from the at-large district and re-elected in 1918. Lost re-election.
Washington J. McCormick (Missoula)	Republican	March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1923	67th	Elected in 1920. Lost re-election.
John M. Evans (Missoula)	Democratic	March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1933	68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd	Elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Re-elected in 1930. Lost renomination.
Joseph P. Monaghan (Butte)	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1937	73rd 74th	Elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
Jerry J. O'Connell (Butte)	Democratic	January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1939	75th	Elected in 1936. Lost re-election.
Jacob Thorkelson (Butte)	Republican	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1941	76th	Elected in 1938. Lost renomination.
Jeannette Rankin (Missoula)	Republican	January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943	77th	Elected in 1940. Retired.
Mike Mansfield (Missoula)	Democratic	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1953	78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd	Elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1944. Re-elected in 1946. Re-elected in 1948. Re-elected in 1950. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
Lee Metcalf (Helena)	Democratic	January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1961	83rd 84th 85th 86th	Elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
Arnold Olsen (Helena)	Democratic	January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1971	87th 88th 89th 90th 91st	Elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Lost re-election.
Richard G. Shoup (Missoula)	Republican	January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1975	92nd 93rd	Elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Lost re-election.
Max Baucus (Missoula)	Democratic	January 3, 1975 – December 14, 1978	94th 95th	Elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Retired to run for U.S. senator and resigned when appointed.
Vacant		December 14, 1978 – January 3, 1979	95th
Pat Williams (Helena)	Democratic	January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1993	96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd	Elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Redistricted to the at-large district.
District eliminated January 3, 1993
District re-established January 3, 2023
Ryan Zinke (Whitefish)	Republican	January 3, 2023 – present	118th 119th	Elected in 2022. Re-elected in 2024.

Recent election results

2022

2022 Montana's 1st congressional district election^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ryan Zinke	123,102	49.6
	Democratic	Monica Tranel	115,265	46.5
	Libertarian	John Lamb	9,593	3.9
Total votes			247,960	100.0
	Republican win (new seat)

2024

2024 Montana's 1st congressional district election^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ryan Zinke (incumbent)	168,529	52.3
	Democratic	Monica Tranel	143,783	44.6
	Libertarian	Dennis Hayes	9,954	3.1
Total votes			322,266	100.0
	Republican hold

See also

• Montana's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts