Montana's 2nd congressional district

"MT-02" redirects here. For the state highway, see Montana Highway 2. For other uses, see MT2.

Montana's second 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 2nd congressional district
Montana's 2nd congressional district covers eastern Montana. Points indicate major cities in the district, sorted by population: 1. Billings 2. Great Falls 3. Helena
Representative	Matt Rosendale R–Glendive
Population (2022)	553,536
Median household income	$69,884^[1]
Cook PVI	R+16^[2]

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. The 2nd covered the eastern part of the state, including Billings, Glendive, Miles City, and other towns. After 1993, the second seat was eliminated and the remaining seat was elected at-large.

After the release of the 2020 United States census results, Montana regained its 2nd congressional district.^[3] On November 12, 2021, Montana's Districting and Apportionment Commission approved a new congressional map in which the 2nd congressional district would cover the eastern portion of Montana, in a configuration similar to the 1983–1993 map. However, the state capital, Helena, which had historically been in the 1st district, was drawn into the 2nd district.^[4]

Except for the city of Helena and some Native American areas like Big Horn County and part of longtime national bellwether Blaine County, the district is powerfully Republican. Overall, it is the third-most-Republican district in the West, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+16, and it voted for Donald Trump by nearly 27 percentage points in the 2020 presidential election. Geographically, it is the largest district in the U.S. to not contain an entire state.

Statewide election results

Year	Office	Results
2020	President^[5]	Trump 62.2% – 35.3%

List of members representing the district

Member	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history
District established March 4, 1919
Carl W. Riddick (Lewistown)	Republican	March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1923	66th 67th	Elected in 1918. Re-elected in 1920. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
Scott Leavitt (Great Falls)	Republican	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 re-election.
Roy E. Ayers (Lewistown)	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1937	73rd 74th	Elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. Retired to run for Governor of Montana.
James F. O'Connor (Livingston)	Democratic	January 3, 1937 – January 15, 1945	75th 76th 77th 78th 79th	Elected in 1936. Re-elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Re-elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1944. Died.
Vacant		January 15, 1945 – June 5, 1945	79th
Wesley A. D'Ewart (Wilsall)	Republican	June 5, 1945 – January 3, 1955	79th 80th 81st 82nd 83rd	Elected to finish O'Connor's term. Re-elected in 1946. Re-elected in 1948. Re-elected in 1950. Re-elected in 1952. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
Orvin B. Fjare (Big Timber)	Republican	January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1957	84th	Elected in 1954. Lost re-election.
LeRoy H. Anderson (Conrad)	Democratic	January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1961	85th 86th	Elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
James F. Battin (Billings)	Republican	January 3, 1961 – February 27, 1969	87th 88th 89th 90th 91st	Elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Resigned to become judge of the U.S. District Court of Montana.
Vacant		February 27, 1969 – June 24, 1969	91st
John Melcher (Forsyth)	Democratic	June 24, 1969 – January 3, 1977	91st 92nd 93rd 94th	Elected to finish Battin's term. Re-elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
Ron Marlenee (Scobey)	Republican	January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1993	95th 96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd	Elected in 1976. Re-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 and lost re-election.
District eliminated January 3, 1993
District re-established January 3, 2023
Matt Rosendale (Glendive)	Republican	January 3, 2023 – present	118th	Redistricted from the at-large district and re-elected in 2022.

Recent election results

2022

 

Results of the 2022 election by county

2022 Montana's 2nd congressional district election^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Matt Rosendale (incumbent)	120,899	56.57%	N/A
	Independent	Gary Buchanan	46,917	21.96%	N/A
	Democratic	Penny Ronning	42,905	20.08%	N/A
	Libertarian	Sam Rankin	2,975	1.39%	N/A
Total votes			213,696	100.00%
	Republican hold

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. Dietrich, Eric (November 12, 2021). "How Montana got its new congressional map". Montana Free Press. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
5. "Daily Kos Elections' 2020 presidential results by congressional district, for new and old districts". Daily Kos. September 29, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
6. "2022 GENERAL ELECTION - UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE - 2ND 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