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+6[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 and Butte are longstanding Democratic bastions, while Bozeman is more of a swing area. The rural areas, especially the Flathead, are heavily Republican.

Statewide election results

Year	Office	Results
2020	President[4]	Trump 52.2% – 45.3%

Composition

#	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

Cities and CDPs with 10,000 or more people

• Missoula – 73,489
• Bozeman – 53,293
• Butte – 34,494
• Kalispell – 24,558
• Belgrade – 10,460

2,500 – 10,000 people

• Anaconda – 9,421
• Whitefish – 7,751
• Evergreen – 7,616
• Bonner-West Riverside – 5,429
• Columbia Falls – 5,308
• Orchard Homes – 5,197
• Polson – 5,148
• Hamilton – 4,659
• Bigfork – 4,270
• Lolo – 3,892
• Dillon – 3,880
• Four Corners – 3,146
• Cut Bank – 3,056
• Deer Lodge – 2,938
• Libby – 2,775
• Lakeside – 2,669

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	Elected in 2022. Re-elected in 2024.

Recent election results

2022

2022 Montana's 1st congressional district election^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ryan Zinke	123,102	49.65%	N/A
	Democratic	Monica Tranel	115,265	46.49%	N/A
	Libertarian	John Lamb	9,593	3.87%	N/A
Total votes			247,960	100.0%
	Republican win (new seat)

See also

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

References

General

1. "My Congressional District".
2. "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
3. Merica, Dan; Stark, Liz (April 26, 2021). "Census Bureau announces 331 million people in US, Texas will add two congressional seats". CNN. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
4. "Daily Kos Elections' 2020 presidential results by congressional district, for new and old districts". Daily Kos. September 29, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
5. "2022 GENERAL ELECTION - UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE - 1ST DISTRICT". Secretary of State of Montana. November 8, 2022. Retrieved November 14, 2022.

Specific

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present