2008 United States Senate election in Montana

The 2008 United States Senate election in Montana was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Max Baucus won re-election to a sixth term by a very wide margin, despite Republican nominee Senator John McCain narrowly defeating Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama in the presidential race.

2008 United States Senate election in Montana
November 4, 2008
 
Nominee Max Baucus Bob Kelleher
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 345,937 128,762
Percentage 72.9% 27.1%
County results
Baucus:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
U.S. senator before election

Max Baucus
Democratic

 Elected U.S. Senator

Max Baucus
Democratic

Elections in Montana
Federal government
Presidential elections
Presidential primaries
Democratic
2004
2008
2016
2020
Republican
2008
2012
2016
U. S. Senate elections
U. S. House elections
Special elections
State government
Gubernatorial elections
Secretary of State elections
State Senate elections
State House elections
Ballot measures
2004
Initiative 96
2016
Initiative 182

Background

Montana generally gives its presidential electors to Republican candidates, but historically has elected several prominent Democrats to the United States Senate, including Thomas Walsh, Burton K. Wheeler, Mike Mansfield, and Lee Metcalf. Between 1913 and 2015, only two Republicans served as U.S. Senator from Montana, Zales Ecton and Conrad Burns. In 2004, the state elected Democratic Governor Brian Schweitzer, reversing a 16-year trend of electing Republicans to the Governorship. In the 2006 elections, the Republican Party took over the state House of Representatives in Montana, the only pick-up of a state legislature for the Republicans.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results
Democratic primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Max Baucus (incumbent) 165,050 100.00%
Total votes 165,050 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates
  • Kirk Bushman, businessman
  • Bob Kelleher, attorney and perennial candidate
  • Michael Lange, State Representative
  • Patty Lovaas, accountant
  • Anton Pearson, rancher
  • Garnett Shay, engineer

Campaign

All Republican candidates trailed Baucus badly in polls. It was revealed that Garnett Shay had an outstanding warrant for his arrest, preventing him from running an effective campaign.[2]

Results
Republican primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bob Kelleher 26,936 36.32%
Republican Michael Lange 17,044 22.98%
Republican Kirk Bushman 15,507 20.91%
Republican Patty Lovaas 7,632 10.29%
Republican Anton Pearson 4,257 5.74%
Republican Garnett Shay 2,788 3.76%
Total votes 74,164 100.00%

General election

Candidates

Campaign

Senator Baucus defeated Kelleher as a Democratic incumbent running in a year that was very successful for his party in general. The Montana Senate race was somewhat unusual, in that it was perhaps the only race that year in which the Republican candidate was more liberal than the Democratic one. Kelleher, a perennial candidate and eccentric figure in Montana politics, took many positions that were highly unorthodox by GOP standards, such as favoring more liberal drug control policies, supporting universal healthcare and affirmative action, and favoring fair trade restrictions. He was, at the time, an 85-year-old attorney and perennial candidate who has run for office on several different party tickets. Kelleher was pro-life, advocated a Parliamentary system of government for the United States, and supported nationalization of the American oil and gas industry and a single-payer health care system.[4] He received no support from the Montana Republican Party.[5]

Polling
Poll Source Dates administered Max
Baucus (D)		 Bob
Kelleher (R)
Rasmussen Reports September 7, 2008 64% 31%
Public Policy Polling November 2, 2008 71% 26%

Results
General election results[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Max Baucus (incumbent) 348,289 72.92% +10.18%
Republican Bob Kelleher 129,369 27.08% -4.65%
Total votes 477,658 100.00% N/A
Democratic hold

See also

References
  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 11, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Gouras, Matt (March 26, 2008). "Recors Show Baucus Challenger has Outstanding Warrant in Indiana". Flathead Beacon.
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 11, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/06/05/news/local/news03.txt
  5. Johnson, Chuck. "Frequent candidate Kelleher dies at 88".
  6. http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2008/2008Stat.htm
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.