
As of August 18, 152 statewide measures have been certified for the ballot in 40 states, 10 more measures than the average number certified at this point in other even-numbered years over the past decade (2014 to 2024). Over the past two weeks: The most recent signature deadline for ballot initiatives was August 3, 2026,…

Three ballot initiatives were certified for the November ballot on Aug. 17 in Montana. The initiatives address judicial elections, the initiative and referendum power, and political spending by artificial persons. CI-132 is a constitutional amendment that would provide that judicial elections remain nonpartisan. Montana has elected its judges since 1889, when it ratified its first…

Sam Forstag (D), Aaron Flint (R), Nick Sheedy (L), and Kimberly Persico (I) are running in the general election for Montana's 1st Congressional District on Nov. 3, 2026. Incumbent Rep. Ryan Zinke (R) did not run for re-election. Forstag and Flint lead in polls, noteworthy endorsements, fundraising, and media attention. Subsidiaries of the Democratic and Republican Parties identified this as a competitive election. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) identified it as a target district and named…

Alani Bankhead (D), Kurt Alme (R), Kyle Austin (L), and Seth Bodnar (I) are running for the U.S. Senate in Montana in the November 3, 2026 general election. Alme, Bankhead, and Bodnar lead in polling and media attention. On March 4, 2026, incumbent Steve Daines (R) withdrew his candidacy and endorsed Alme, who filed to…

On July 1, Arkansas and Montana began implementing work requirements for Medicaid enrollees, becoming the second and third states to do so after President Donald Trump (R) signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) on July 4, 2025. The OBBBA established the first federal work requirements for Medicaid and requires states to adopt these…

In four states—Arkansas, Missouri, Montana, and Nebraska—campaigns submitted signatures for ballot initiatives that would limit legislative changes to the initiative process. Voters could decide the measures in Nov. 2026. Each of the 26 states with a citizen initiative and referendum process has laws governing how the process operates and the state legislature’s role in it.…

Montanans Decide, the committee sponsoring Constitutional Initiative 133, filed more than 100,000 signatures with county officials on June 18. Constitutional Initiative 133 would add the initiative and referendum power to the state's Declaration of Rights (Article II). It would provide that the "right guarantees impartial, predictable, transparent, and expeditious processes for proposing a ballot issue,…

A campaign submitted 50,000 signatures to county officials on June 16 for verification to qualify a ballot initiative that would prohibit nonprofits, trusts, partnerships, corporations, trade associations, or unincorporated associations, and all entities doing business in Montana from contributing to campaigns, ballot measure elections, or political parties. The initiative classifies these entities as artificial persons…

Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts filed signatures for a ballot initiative that would add a section to the Montana Constitution stating that “Judicial elections shall remain nonpartisan.” Montana has used nonpartisan judicial elections since 1936. If the amendment is approved by voters in November, making judicial elections partisan would require another voter-approved constitutional amendment to enact.…

Two Republican incumbents lost in the Montana Senate primaries on June 2. This was the first year since 2010 in which more than one incumbent lost in the chamber's primaries. At the start of Montana's 2025 state legislative session, nine Republican senators voted with the chamber's Democrats to change procedural rules for the session. In…