The 2014 United States Senate election in Montana took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate from Montana, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Democratic Senator Max Baucus, who had announced he would retire and not seek a seventh term, resigned in February 2014 in order to accept an appointment as United States Ambassador to China under President Barack Obama. Democrat John Walsh, the Lieutenant Governor of Montana, who was already running for Baucus' seat when Baucus was named to the ambassadorship, was appointed to replace Baucus by Governor Steve Bullock.
Walsh won the Democratic primary on June 3 and ran for a first full term in office, but withdrew from the race on August 7, 2014 due to allegations that he had plagiarized a term paper while attending the Army War College. Democrats selected Amanda Curtis, a state representative from Butte, to replace Walsh as the party's nominee at a convention in Helena on August 16. Steve Daines, the incumbent U.S. Representative from Montana's at-large congressional district, easily won the Republican nomination.
Daines defeated Curtis 57.9% to 40.0%, while Libertarian Roger Roots won 2.2%. Daines and Arkansas' Tom Cotton became just the 18th and 19th U.S. House freshmen to win U.S. Senate races over the last 100 years, and just the third and fourth over the last 40 years. He became the first Republican to win this Senate seat since 1907.
Democratic primary
Candidates
Declared
Dirk Adams, rancher, businessman and former business law professor
John Bohlinger, former Republican Lieutenant Governor of Montana
John Walsh, incumbent U.S. Senator, former Lieutenant Governor of Montana and former Adjutant General of the Montana National Guard
Declined
Max Baucus, former U.S. Senator
Steve Bullock, Governor of Montana
John Brueggeman, former Republican state senator
Shane Colton, attorney and former commissioner of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks Amanda Curtis, state representative Melinda Gopher, writer and candidate for Montana's at-large congressional district in 2010 Mike Halligan, executive director of the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation and former state senator Denise Juneau, Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Nancy Keenan, former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America and former Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction John Lewis, former state director for Senator Max Baucus (ran for the U.S. House) Monica Lindeen, Montana State Auditor Linda McCulloch, Secretary of State of Montana and former state representative Mike McGrath, Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court and former Attorney General of Montana John Morrison, former Montana State Auditor and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2006 Brian Morris, Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Montana and former associate justice of the Montana Supreme Court Stephanie Schriock, president of Emily's List and former chief of staff to Senator Jon Tester Brian Schweitzer, former Governor of Montana Kendall Van Dyk, state senator Mike Wheat, Justice of the Montana Supreme Court (ran for re-election) Carol Williams, former Majority Leader of the Montana Senate and nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Montana in 2000 Pat Williams, former U.S. Representative Whitney Williams, former director of operations for Hillary Clinton Franke Wilmer, state representative Johnathan Windy Boy, state senator
Endorsements
Polling
Results
Democratic convention
Because Walsh withdrew, a nominating convention was held to pick a new nominee prior to August 20. The state party called a convention for August 16, and voting delegates were members of the State Central Committee, specifically: "one chair and one vice chair from each existing county central committee; one state committeeman and one state committeewoman from each county central committee; all voting members of the State Party Executive Board; the president of each chartered organization of the Montana Democratic Party; Montana State House leadership, and Montana State Senate leaders, and all Democrats currently holding statewide or federal office."