HELENA — While they haven’t seen the multimillion-dollar spending of Montana’s U.S. Senate race, the elections for governor and other state-level offices have also seen higher fundraising numbers as November approaches.
Sept. 20 was the deadline for state candidates to submit their fundraising reports for the last month to the Commissioner of Political Practices. Those reports give us one more look at the financial picture in these races before mail ballots go out to voters on Oct. 11.
The most expensive state campaign by far has been the race for governor. Democratic challenger Ryan Busse raised more than incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte from Aug. 15 to Sept. 15 – $272,975 to $226,776. Busse also outraised Gianforte in the last reporting period – but Gianforte has raised more overall since the start of the race, and his campaign still has significantly more cash on hand, with $938,896 to Busse’s $375,686.
Both candidates have spent around $2 million during the campaign, but the spending is significantly lower than in 2020, when Montana had one of the only open governor’s seats in the nation. Gianforte and Democratic candidate Mike Cooney together had spent more than $8 million by this point in that race.
Another difference is that Gianforte had put $3.6 million of his own money into the 2020 race by September. This year, he has only contributed about $62,000 to his own campaign, mostly through in–kind .
In the races for the four other statewide executive offices, Republicans outraised their Democratic opponents in three. Attorney General Austin Knudsen brought in $65,585 over the last month to challenger Ben Alke’s $35,935, incumbent Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen raised $23,489 to Jesse Mullen’s $13,983, and James Brown brought in $47,008 to John Repke’s $15,255 in the open race for state auditor.
In the race for superintendent of public instruction, Democratic candidate Shannon O’Brien raised $51,456 in the last reporting period, to $24,570 for Republican candidate Susie Hedalen.
Outside of the governor’s election, the most money raised from Aug. 15 to Sept. 15 was in the two races for open seats on the Montana Supreme Court. Cory Swanson raised $77,395 during the period and Jerry Lynch raised $51,892 in the campaign for chief justice. Lynch has raised and spent more overall since the race started, but Swanson had more cash on hand – $209,774 to Lynch’s $48,922.
In the race for an associate justice position, Katherine Bidegaray raised $71,245 in the latest period, and Dan Wilson brought in $65,416. Bidegaray’s campaign has raised and spent more and had $243,160 in the bank, to Wilson’s $171,903.
Libertarian candidates Kaiser Leib, running for governor, and John Lamb, running for secretary of state, did not report raising or spending any money during the latest period.
The next campaign finance deadline for state candidates is Oct. 20, covering the period from Sept. 16 to Oct. 14. Those will be the final reports published before Election Day.
