HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s 2022 candidate filing season is entering its final week.
As of Friday, March 4 at 5 p.m., 256 candidates had submitted filings for Montana’s statewide, state district, and legislative seats.
Ten new legislative candidates filed last week, with all 10 declaring for Montana’s House of Representatives. A total of 180 candidates have filed for house races, while 45 more are running for state senate seats. Of the 225 legislative candidates, 83 are incumbents and 41 currently have at least one challenger for their seat.
As of Friday evening, 31 legislative races were scheduled for a primary election on June 7, 2022. Only six incumbents are currently scheduled for a primary election.
Thirteen candidates remained in the race for Montana’s two congressional seats — six competing for western Montana’s House District 1 and seven slated to appear on the ballot for House District 2.
Cora Neumann, Al “Doc” Olszewski, Mary Todd, Ryan Zinke, Monica Tranel, and Matt Jette remain candidates for U.S. House District 1.
Meanwhile, Charles Walking Child became the latest candidate to file for U.S. House District 2, joining previous filers Skylar Williams, James Boyette, current Representative Matt Rosendale, Kyle Austin, Mark Sweeney, and Penny Ronning. Walking Child officially filed at the Secretary of State’s Office on Thursday.
Two new filings were also submitted for Montana Supreme Court Justice positions last week. Incumbent Supreme Court Justice Jim Rice filed on March 1, as did Judge Mike McMahon. Rice filed for Supreme Court Justice #1, while McMahon became the second candidate for Supreme Court Justice #2, joining Justice Ingrid Gustafson.
Statewide, state district, or legislative candidates can file online, in person at the Secretary of State’s Office, or by mail or fax (the filing fee must be paid at the time of filing). Local candidates file with the county election office.
For more information about candidate filing and the offices on the 2022 ballot, visit the “File For Office” page on the Montana Secretary of State’s website. Montana’s 2022 Election Calendars are also available online.
Candidate filing closes at 5 p.m. on March 14, 2022.
Note: Two candidates (Lynn Hofland and Allen McKibben) were pending withdrawal from the U.S. House District 1 race at the time of this release.
