Much is clear now that Montana voters have wrapped up the 2024 election cycle. For starters, and as consequential as it’s been throughout this state’s history, Election Day has become trivial.
That reality sunk in when I reminded a friend last month that he had 15 days left to return his absentee ballot, further relegating to a secondary role the once-hallowed rituals of Election Day.
Consider nearly 70 percent of Montana’s 792,000 registered voters were mailed ballots for this 2024 election, with at least 77 percent returned. More significant, Flathead County distributed 56,198 ballots, with 85 percent tallied (hats off to our voters).
Given the ongoing popularity of voting in the comfort of our living rooms, I hereby propose renaming the first Tuesday in November to “Final Voting Day,” “Voter Deadline Day,” or my personal favorite “Ballot Reckoning Day” (given one party’s difficulty in digesting Tuesday’s slam dunk, when Montana somehow turned an even brighter shade of red).
Here in Montana’s First Congressional District, Democrat Monica Tranel couldn’t even perform as well as she did two years ago with her much-anticipated rematch against Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke. The two-time Olympian hung on to the slightest glimmer of hope—and even the lead—early Wednesday morning, yet she knew that Flathead County had yet to dump 63 percent of its ballots in favor of its native son.
The Democratic defeat was even more pronounced in Montana’s Second Congressional District, where Republican state auditor Troy Downing captured upwards of 66 percent of the vote (some ballots remained to be counted) against John Driscoll, who previously served as House majority leader and speaker in Helena.
But the biggest shocker of the night was the resounding takedown of Democratic Sen. Jon Tester by former Navy Seal Tim Sheehy, a first-time political candidate who never before held public office. Withstanding intense scrutiny over his military record, not even Sheehy anticipated his eight-point advantage over the otherwise popular three-term senator and dirt farmer.
Republican incumbent Gov. Greg Gianforte also basked in victory as the sun rose Wednesday morning, capturing an unofficial 60 percent of the vote. His opponent, former firearms salesman Ryan Busse, barely mustered 38 percent support.
And last but not least former President Donald Trump, who as with much of the rest of the country took Montana by storm: 59 percent of the vote to Kamala Harris’ 38 percent (with 14 percent of precincts yet to report).
Ballot Reckoning Day, indeed.
John McCaslin is a longtime journalist and author.