2016 Montana gubernatorial election

The 2016 Montana gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2016, to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Montana, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

Incumbent Democratic Governor Steve Bullock won re-election to a second term in office with 50.3% of the vote, defeating Republican Greg Gianforte, who later won Montana's Governorship in 2020 when Bullock was term-limited.

In the concurrent presidential election, Hillary Clinton lost Montana by more than 20%, with Bullock thus over-performing her vote share by more than 14% and her margin of defeat by more than 24%. This is the last time Democrats won any statewide election in Montana other than a U.S. Senate race. This is also the last time the winning gubernatorial and presidential candidates in Montana were of different political parties.

Nominee

 * Steve Bullock, incumbent governor
 * Running mate: Mike Cooney, incumbent lieutenant governor

Eliminated in primary

 * Bill McChesney, former state representative
 * Running mate: Mike Anderson

Nominee

 * Greg Gianforte, founder of RightNow Technologies and conservative activist
 * Running mate: Lesley Robinson, Phillips County Commissioner

Eliminated in primary

 * Terry Nelson, planning administrator for Ravalli County, Montana
 * Running mate: Niki Sardot

Withdrawn

 * Brad Johnson, chairman of the Montana Public Service Commission and former secretary of state of Montana
 * Mark Perea, businessman and nominee for the state senate in 2012 (did not file)

Declined

 * Taylor Brown, state senator
 * Jeff Essman, state representative and former president of the State Senate
 * Tim Fox, Attorney General of Montana (running for re-election)
 * Ryan Zinke, U.S. Representative (running for re-election)

Declared

 * Christopher Zarcone

Declared

 * Ted Dunlap, perennial candidate
 * Running mate: Ron Vandevender, perennial candidate

Withdrew

 * Ron Vandevender, perennial candidate

Debates

 * Complete video of debate, September 19, 2016 - C-SPAN

Polling
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;" ! Poll source ! Date(s) administered ! Sample size ! Margin of error ! style="width:100px;"| Steve Bullock (D) ! style="width:100px;"| Greg Gianforte (R) ! style="width:100px;"| Ted Dunlap (L) ! Undecided
 * - valign= bottom
 * SurveyMonkey
 * align=center| November 1–7, 2016
 * align=center| 449
 * align=center| ± 4.6%
 * align=center| 44%
 * align=center| 46%
 * align=center| 7%
 * align=center| 3%
 * SurveyMonkey
 * align=center| October 31–November 6, 2016
 * align=center| 410
 * align=center| ± 4.6%
 * align=center| 45%
 * align=center| 44%
 * align=center| 8%
 * align=center| 3%
 * SurveyMonkey
 * align=center| October 28–November 3, 2016
 * align=center| 403
 * align=center| ± 4.6%
 * align=center| 46%
 * align=center| 46%
 * align=center| 7%
 * align=center| 1%
 * SurveyMonkey
 * align=center| October 27–November 2, 2016
 * align=center| 376
 * align=center| ± 4.6%
 * align=center| 48%
 * align=center| 43%
 * align=center| 7%
 * align=center| 2%
 * SurveyMonkey
 * align=center| October 26–November 1, 2016
 * align=center| 385
 * align=center| ± 4.6%
 * align=center| 51%
 * align=center| 41%
 * align=center| 7%
 * align=center| 1%
 * SurveyMonkey
 * align=center| October 25–31, 2016
 * align=center| 405
 * align=center| ± 4.6%
 * align=center| 53%
 * align=center| 39%
 * align=center| 7%
 * align=center| 1%
 * Mason-Dixon
 * align=center| October 10–12, 2016
 * align=center| 1,003
 * align=center| ± 3.2%
 * align=center| 47%
 * align=center| 45%
 * align=center| 2%
 * align=center| 6%
 * Montana State University Billings
 * align=center| October 3–10, 2016
 * align=center| 590
 * align=center| ± 4.0%
 * align=center| 44%
 * align=center| 32%
 * align=center| 3%
 * align=center| 20%
 * Montana State University Billings
 * align=center| October 3–10, 2016
 * align=center| 590
 * align=center| ± 4.0%
 * align=center| 44%
 * align=center| 32%
 * align=center| 3%
 * align=center| 20%


 * with Ryan Zinke


 * with Tim Fox