In red Montana, majorities voted for privacy and reproductive rights in key races

With nearly all votes counted, it appears that former President Donald Trump won Republican-leaning Montana in the 2024 election by a 58%-38% majority, as expected. But other statewide races in which voters said privacy and abortion rights were important issues showed that most Montanans do not embrace the Republican Party’s extreme platform in those areas.

In a statewide referendum, 58% of Montanans voted for an amendment to explicitly enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution. Though Republican officials in the state unsuccessfully attempted to keep the question off the ballot entirely, the state government will now be constitutionally prohibited “from denying or burdening the right to abortion before fetal viability.”

In the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Democrat Jon Tester’s campaign emphasized his support for abortion rights and warned that Republican challenger Tim Sheehy backed abortion bans. Sheehy won the race, but his 53%-45% margin was less than half of Trump’s 20-point victory.

The Montana Republican Party adopted a platform in June that included a declaration that life begins at conception, opposed the freedom to marry for same-sex couples, and called for a “complete ban on elective abortion.” 

Tight races for two open seats on the Montana Supreme Court also focused on the candidates’ positions on privacy rights. 

In the race for chief justice, Broadwater County Attorney Cory Swanson, who was endorsed by the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America but refused to reveal publicly his position on the issue, won by just 54%-46%. His opponent, former federal Magistrate Judge Jerry Lynch, had campaigned as a defender of “Constitutional freedoms” including privacy, abortion, and contraception rights.

Montana 7th District Court Judge Katherine Bidegaray, who promised to defend “our legal system and the rights it protects,” including the right to privacy, abortion, and contraception, won an associate justice seat on Montana’s high court by a 54%-46% margin. She defeated Flathead County District Court Judge Dan Wilson, who was endorsed by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. 

“Yesterday’s results are a victory for reproductive freedom in Montana. From baseless lawsuits to candidates hiding their stances on key issues, voters faced a flood of inaccurate and deceptive tactics over the last year, but Montanans saw through it and voted for their Rights,” Akilah Deernose, the executive director of the ACLU of Montana, said in a press release. “The passage of a constitutional amendment to protect the right of Montana women to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions, and the election of a justice who has committed to protect our rights to the Montana Supreme Court, will serve as a critical firewall against threats to our civil rights and civil liberties for generations to come.”