Montana Gubernatorial Race

Incumbent	Brian Schweitzer
Party	Democrat
Seeking Re-election	Yes
Candidate Website	Governor Website Campaign Website
Hometown	Whitefish, MT
Fundraising Link	ActBlue

Potential Challenger	Link Starbureiy - Businessman
Party	Independent
Source of Information	MT Political Report
Hometown	Missoula
Candidate Website	Campaign Website

Challenger	Roy Brown
Party	Republican
Office	State Senator
Source of Information	Announced
Candidate Website	Campaign Website
Hometown	Billings, MT

Challenger	Larry Steele
Party	Republican
Source of Information	Politics1
Candidate Website
Hometown

Background information

Rancher-turned-candidate Brian Schweitzer won election as Montana's Governor in 2004 after Republican Judy Martz retired. Schweitzer garnered slightly over 50% of the vote, prevailing over Republican Secretary of State Bob Brown (who only got 46%).

Although Montana has traditionally been regarded as a solid 'red' state (Bush carried MT 59%-39% in 2004), it has recently handed wins to Democrats. Schweitzer won election to an open seat in 2004, and later campaigned heavily for Democratic Senate candidate and fellow farmer Jon Tester (also a populist Democrat), who later unseated Republican incumbent Conrad Burns. It is believed that his campaigning helped Tester win his seat in the Senate, and a November SurveyUSA poll indicated that Schweitzer had a 70% approval rating (24% disapproved).

Resources

Below you will find links to more information about the 2008 Gubernatorial race in Montana.

Schweitzer (D-incumbent)

Official Governor's website
Wikipedia: Brian Schweitzer
2004 Campaign website

Local Blogs

Left in the West