The 1974 Montana Senate election took place on November 5, 1974, with the primary election held on June 4, 1974. Montana voters elected all 50 members of the Montana Senate. Following the landmark Reynolds v. Sims (1964) US Supreme Court decision, every state had to redraw state electoral districts to be approximately equal in population. Before Reynolds, the Montana Senate consisted of 50 members from a mix of single- and multi-member districts. After the ruling, the Montana Senate had to shift to equally populated electoral districts. In 1972, the voters of Montana ratified the current Constitution of Montana, establishing the structure of the state senate that is still used today: 50 senators each elected from a single-member district.Elison, Larry M. and Snyder, Fritz. The Montana State Constitution: A Reference Guide. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. To stagger state senate terms, senators elected in 1974 were split into two groups: half served just two years and faced re-election in 1976; the other half served full four-year terms and ran again in 1978. This setup made sure not all senate seats were up for election at once.
The election coincided with United States national elections and Montana state elections, including U.S. House and Montana House.
Following the previous election in 1972, Democrats held a 27-to-23-seat majority over Republicans. Democrats increased their majority in the legislature to 30 seats, while Republicans held 20—giving Democrats a net gain of three seats. The newly elected members served in the 44th Montana State Legislature, during which Democrat W. Gordon McOmber was re-elected President of the Montana Senate.
Retiring incumbents Democrats District 4: Gordon E. Bollinger District 4: Stanley Nees District 5: B. J. “Swede” Goodheart District 13: William H. Bertsche District 13: P. J. Gilfeather District 13: Mrs. John Nelson Hall District 13: John K. “Jack” McDonald District 14: David F. James District 16: George Siderius District 19: P. J. Keenan District 19: Luke McKeon District 20: James R. “Jimmy” Shea District 20: Leonard E. Vainio District 23: Arthur N. Jensen
Republicans District 8: Archie M. Cochrane District 8: Herbert J. Klindt District 8: William R. McNamer District 9: Jim Moore District 11: J. W. “Brick” Breeden District 12: George T. Bennett District 12: James T. "Tom" Harrison Jr. District 18: G. W. “Por” Deschamps
Incumbent defeated in primary election Republican District 32: George Darrow
Incumbents defeated in general election Democrats District 5: Gordon McGowan District 7: Percy DeWolfe District 21: C. F. “Smokey” Sorensen District 28: A. A. Zody
Republicans District 8: Fred O. Broeder District 24: Earl Moritz District 33: William R. “Bill” Lowe District 47: Harry T. Northey District 50: Fred G. Carl
Summary of results Italics denote an open seat held by the incumbent party; bold text denotes a gain for a party.
State senate district Incumbent Party Elected senator Outcome 1 Dem Rep gain 2 Rep Rep hold 3 Dem Dem hold Dem 4 Dem Rep gain Dem 5 Dem Rep gain 6 Dem Dem hold 7 Rep Rep gain8 Rep Dem gain Rep Rep Rep Rep Rep 9 Rep Rep hold 10 Rep Rep hold11 DemDem hold Rep Rep12 Rep Rep hold Rep Rep13 Dem Rep gain Dem Dem Dem Dem Dem 14 DemDem hold Dem 15 Dem Rep gain Dem16 Rep Rep hold Rep Dem 17 Rep Dem gain18 RepDem hold Rep Dem Rep 19 DemDem hold Dem20 DemDem hold Dem Dem 21 Rep Rep gain 22 Dem Rep gain 23 Dem Rep hold Rep 24 New district Dem gain 25 New district Dem hold 26 New district Rep hold 27 New district Dem hold 28 New district Rep gain 29 New district Dem hold 30 New district Dem gain 31 New district Dem gain 32 New district Rep hold 33 New district Dem gain 34 New district Dem gain 35 New district Dem gain 36 New district Rep hold 37 New district Rep hold 38 New district Dem hold 39 New district Dem gain 40 New district Dem gain 41 New district Rep hold 42 New district Dem hold 43 New district Dem gain 44 New district Dem gain 45 New district Dem gain 46 New district Dem hold 47 New district Dem gain 48 New district Dem hold 49 New district Dem gain 50 New district Dem gain
Detailed results by district District 1 • District 2 • District 3 • District 4 • District 5 • District 6 • District 7 • District 8 • District 9 • District 10 • District 11 • District 12 • District 13 • District 14 • District 15 • District 16 • District 17 • District 18 • District 19 • District 20 • District 21 • District 22 • District 23 • District 24 • District 25 • District 26 • District 27 • District 28 • District 29 • District 30 • District 31 • District 32 • District 33 • District 34 • District 35 • District 36 • District 37 • District 38 • District 39 • District 40 • District 41 • District 42 • District 43 • District 44 • District 45 • District 46 • District 47 • District 48 • District 49 • District 50__NOTOC__
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
District 48
District 49
District 50
See also 1974 United States House of Representatives elections in Montana 1974 Montana House of Representatives election
References