Greg Gianforte visits Missoula during his gubernatorial campaign in September. Gianforte won election to the U.S. House of Representatives last week.
SEELEY LAKE-Bozeman businessman Greg Gianforte won the special election for Montana's lone house seat Thursday, May 25. The Associated Press called the race just after 10:30 p.m.
Gianforte defeated Democratic nominee Rob Quist by more than 20,000 votes, receiving 50.2 percent compared to Quist's 44.1 percent. Libertarian Mark Wicks received 5.7 percent.
"Together, tonight, we won a victory for our Treasure State," Gianforte said in his victory speech.
Gianforte was the favorite throughout the campaign, but that was thrown into question after he was charged with misdemeanor assault on Wednesday, following a confrontation with a journalist in Bozeman. According to Fox New reporters who were present, Gianforte slammed Ben Jacobs of the Guardian to the ground and struck him.
The story, and accompanying audiotape, went viral across the nation within hours. The Billings Gazette and the Missoulian withdrew their endorsements of Gianforte on Election Day. Despite this, Gianforte cruised to a comfortable victory in Montana.
Gianforte took time during his victory speech to apologize to Jacobs and the Fox News team that witnessed the assault.
"When you make a mistake, you have to own up to it. That's the Montana way," he said. "That's not the person I am and that's not the way I'll lead in this state."
According to University of Montana Professor and political analyst Lee Banville, Gianforte's win was unhampered by the assault charges because of early voting. Gov. Steve Bullock tried to make the election mail-in only to reduce costs. Even though he did not get his way, nearly 70 percent of Montanans had cast ballots before election night. This, in addition to better name recognition and experience after running a nearly successful gubernatorial campaign last fall, gave Gianforte the edge.
Missoula County voted overwhelmingly for Rob Quist, with 63 percent of voters casting ballots for the Democrat. Voter turnout in Missoula County was 54.5 percent, in line with the state turnout of 54.2 percent.
Potomac, Swan and Seeley precincts voted 55 percent, 65 percent and 55 percent for Gianforte respectively. They mirrored the state return rate with 66 percent of the ballots from Potomac, 63 percent of the Swan and 72 percent of the ballots from Seeley cast prior to Election Day.
Gianforte joins Montana Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines in Washington D.C. for the rest of the Congressional session.
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