Matt Rosendale, who currently serves as Montana's sole member of the U.S. House of Representatives, cruised to victory over fellow candidates in Tuesday's GOP primary election for the state's newly-created second seat.
The state gained the second House seat following the 2020 federal census, after 30 years as a single statewide district. The new eastern congressional district includes the cities of Billings, Glendive, Great Falls, Helena, and Miles City.
His three opponents were Kyle Austin, James Boyette, and Charles Walking Child.
The Associated Press called the race for Rosendale at 8:42 p.m.; at the time, he was leading the candidates with 72% of the vote, compared to 14% for Austin, 8% for Boyette, and 5% for Walkingchild.
Rosendale will now advance to the general election in November 2022, squaring off against the winner of today's Democratic primary and Libertarian primary.
Just before 9 p.m., Penny Ronning was leading the Democratic contenders with 67% of the vote, compared to 16% each for Mark Sweeney and Skylar Williams. Sweeney died suddenly on May 7 of natural causes; at that time, it was too late to remove his name from the ballot.
The three Libertarian candidates are Sam Rankin, Roger Roots, and Samuel Thomas. As of 9 p.m., Rankin led with 41% of the vote, followed by Thomas with 27% and Roots with 24%.
