Zinke, Tranel set for rematch in western congressional district (2024)

The Wednesday morning tally from Montana Secretary of State's Office had Zinke with 74%of the primary vote on Tuesday night against Flathead Republican Mary Todd.

The Associated Press called the race for Zinke 40 minutes after the polls closed. Tranel did not face a primary.

After the election night dust settled, Zinke had 63,172 votes to Todd's 22,257.

"Thank you to Montana Republicans for trusting me to carry our flag in November," Zinke said on social media. "This race is about protecting our borders, our kids, our heritage and our paychecks. Monica Tranel is a trainwreck who wants boys in girls sports, men in women's locker rooms, higher Biden taxes and more illegal immigrants. That ain't Montana."

Zinke won the 2022 general election for the newly drawn western district by about 3 percentage points against Tranel, who was running her first statewide campaign for office.

Zinke was among the Republicans who uniformly rejected Trump’s conviction by a jury last week as a "sham" put on political forces trying to tank the Republican presidential frontrunner.

Tranel won just five counties in the 2022 primary, but three of them — Missoula, Gallatin, Silver Bow— count for much of the population of the district that’s largely west of the Continental Divide. The only rural areas that voted for the Democrat were Anaconda-Deer Lodge and Glacier counties.

This round, Tranel faced no Democratic primary challengers, and instead spent the time focusing feedback from community listening sessions into a three-step plan to address Montana’s lack of affordable housing.

"This campaign is built on the hard work of volunteers across the district who contribute their time, energy, and belief that a better Montana is on the horizon," Tranel said in a statement Tuesday night. "I’m so grateful to the Montanans across this district that have already joined our movement fighting for a better Montana, not only for ourselves, but for generations to come. This is my home, and I want my daughters to have the same opportunities I had."

Democratic turnout in this year's primary was roughly on par with last cycle. Tranel claimed 56,295 votes on Tuesday; the 2022 Democratic primary saw a total 57,257 votes cast.

Through mid-May, Zinke had raised nearly $6 million this cycle, with $2.5 million in the bank after expenses. Tranel through the same reporting period had raised $2.3 million and had $1.5 million cash on hand.