2020 Montana Attorney General election

2020 Montana Attorney General election

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Nominee Austin Knudsen Raph Graybill
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 348,322 247,025
Percentage 58.5% 41.5%

Knudsen:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Graybill:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
     No data

Attorney General before election

Tim Fox
Republican

Elected Attorney General

Austin Knudsen
Republican

The 2020 Montana Attorney General election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the Attorney General of the U.S. state of Montana. Incumbent Republican Montana Attorney General Tim Fox was re-elected in 2016 with 67.7% of the vote. Fox was term-limited and was ineligible to run for re-election. Fox decided to run for the Governor of Montana election, losing the nomination to Greg Gianforte.[1] Austin Knudsen defeated Jon Bennion in the Republican primary and defeated Democrat Raph Graybill in the general election by over 14 points.

Republican primary[edit]

Candidates[edit]

Nominee[edit]

Eliminated in primary[edit]

  • Jon Bennion, chief deputy Attorney General[3]

Results[edit]

Republican primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Austin Knudsen 116,113 59.8%
Republican Jon Bennion 78,161 40.2%
Total votes 194,274 100.0

Democratic primary[edit]

Candidates[edit]

Nominee[edit]

Eliminated in primary[edit]

Withdrawn[edit]

  • Jim Cossitt, bankruptcy attorney[5][6]

Declined[edit]

Results[edit]

Primary results by county:
  Graybill
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  Dudik
  •   50–60%
Democratic primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Raph Graybill 79,772 57.1%
Democratic Kimberly Dudik 59,963 42.9%
Total votes 139,735 100.0%

Green primary[edit]

Candidates[edit]

Disqualified[edit]

Results[edit]

Green primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Green Roy Davis 748 100.0%
Total votes 748 100.0%

General election[edit]

Predictions[edit]

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[9] Tossup June 25, 2020

Fundraising[edit]

Campaign finance reports as of October 14, 2020
Candidate (party) Total receipts Total disbursements Cash on hand
Raph Graybill (D) $725,288 $650,110 $75,178
Austin Knudsen (R) $400,167 $359,831 $40,336
Source:[10]

Polling[edit]

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin
of error
Austin
Knudsen (R)
Raph
Graybill (D)
Other
Raph Graybill[1][A] Released September 3, 2020 38% 38% 20%

Results[edit]

Montana Attorney General election, 2020[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Austin Knudsen 348,322 58.51% Decrease9.16
Democratic Raph Graybill 247,025 41.49% Increase9.16
Total votes 595,347 100.00%
Republican hold

References[edit]

  1. ^ Dennison, Mike (January 24, 2019). "Attorney General Fox launches gubernatorial bid". KRTV. Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  2. ^ Drake, Phil (May 20, 2019). "Austin Knudsen enters race for attorney general". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  3. ^ a b DeMarco, Margaret (May 8, 2019). "Great Falls native kicks off campaign for Montana Attorney General". KRTV Great Falls. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  4. ^ Cates-Carney, Corin (December 17, 2018). "Rep Kimberly Dudik Announces Bid For Attorney General's Office". Montana Public Radio. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  5. ^ "KALISPELL ATTORNEY JOINS ATTORNEY GENERAL RACE". Daily Inter Lake. September 14, 2019. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  6. ^ Drake, Phil (October 8, 2019). "Cossitt drops from 2020 attorney general race". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  7. ^ Dennison, Mike (October 23, 2019). "Montana 2020: Former state auditor considers bid for AG or Supreme Court". Missoula News Journal. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  8. ^ Dennison, Mike (August 19, 2020). "Green Party candidates to remain off Montana ballot this November". Missoula Current. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  9. ^ "An Updated Look at Handicapping the 2020 Attorney General Elections". The Cook Political Report. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  10. ^ "Attorney General". The Montana Free Press guide. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  11. ^ "Montana Statewide Election Results". Montana Secretary of State. November 3, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Poll conducted for Graybill's campaign

External links[edit]

Official campaign websites