Gianforte wins second term over challenger Busse

By AMY BETH HANSON and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte won a second four-year term Tuesday, defeating Democratic challenger Ryan Busse.

The victory continues Republican control in a state where the GOP also enjoyed a supermajority in the state Legislature.

Gianforte's first term as governor was mostly controversy free — save for clashes with the Montana Supreme Court over laws on abortion access and gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth — as he put behind him a criminal case that put an early stain on his political career.

In 2017 he body-slammed a reporter and was charged with a misdemeanor. He still went on to win a seat in the U.S. House that year and then won the race to become governor in 2020.

During his campaign, Gianforte touted his administration's use of part of a $2.6 billion pandemic-related budget surplus to reduce income and business taxes, issue income and property tax rebates, pay off the state's debt and fill emergency coffers.

Busse sought to gain ground as a Democrat in a Republican-dominated state while advocating for responsible gun ownership, abortion rights, reduced property taxes and having the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.

In another key race, U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke was facing a stiffer challenge from a veteran campaigner, Democrat Monica Tranel, an environmental attorney he narrowly defeated two years ago.

Zinke has bounced back from his 2018 resignation as interior secretary under former President Donald Trump amid numerous ethics investigations. He was twice elected to the House prior to joining Trump's Cabinet, then returned in 2022 after winning in a newly created congressional district.

Tranel made a campaign issue out of Zinke's ownership of rental properties, including short-term rentals.

In Zinke's financial disclosures as a House candidate, he and his wife report having property worth between $9 million and $39 million. Tranel's disclosure shows she and her husband have retirement and other investments worth between $4.25 and nearly $12 million. The disclosures allow reporting within a wide range of values.

During his first term, Gianforte had a Republican supermajority in the Legislature that passed bills to limit access to abortion, allow the governor to directly appoint judges and justices when mid-term vacancies occurred and block gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. Only the judicial appointment law has been upheld by the courts.

He has noted his $300 million investment in behavioral health, efforts to eliminate government red tape and his creation of a housing task force to recommend legislation to increase the availability of affordable housing in Montana. One recommendation that could be considered by the 2025 Legislature is not taxing a certain portion of the value of an owner-occupied house.

Busse said Gianforte used millions of dollars of his personal wealth to buy the governorship in 2020 and has stood by as Montana has become unaffordable for average citizens, especially due to a spike in housing costs and increased property taxes that he says Gianforte failed to mitigate.

Busse and Tranel tried to paint Gianforte and Zinke as wealthy and out of touch with regular Montana residents.

"Now you may not be hurting — you have four mansions, you fly around in a private jet," Busse told Gianforte during their Oct. 16 debate, "but the rest of us are hurting."

Gianforte and his wife Susan founded the customer service software company RightNow Technologies, which was sold to Oracle for about $1.5 billion in early 2012. Busse's tax returns for 2014-2023 show he and wife earned about $260,000 annually over the past decade.