1978 United States Senate election in Montana
The 1978 United States Senate election in Montana took place on November 7, 1978. Following the death of United States Senator Lee Metcalf on January 12, 1978, Montana Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul G. Hatfield was appointed to serve for the remainder of Metcalf's term. Hatfield opted to run for re-election, but was overwhelmingly defeated in the Democratic primary by United States Congressman Max Baucus of the 1st congressional district. Baucus advanced to the general election, where he was opposed by Larry R. Williams, an author and the Republican nominee. Baucus ended up defeating Williams by a solid margin to win his first term in the Senate, and, following Hatfield's resignation on December 12, 1978, he began serving his first term in the Senate.
History of Montana
Though historically a swing state politically, beginning with the 1988 election, the state tended toward Republican party domination until 2004, when the election of a Democratic governor and a return of the legislature to divided party rule temporarily moved the state back into the swing status, solidified by the election of Senator Jon Tester in 2006. In the 2008 and 2010 elections, a Republican majority again gained full control of the legislature, but all five statewide offices remained in Democratic hands. When the 2012 election moved Steve Bullock, a Democrat who had been Attorney general to the office of governor, the Attorney General's office moved to Republican hands for the first time since 1992. In 2014 Governor Bullock later appointed Lieutenant Governor John Walsh to become the new senator to replace Max Baucus, the incoming Ambassador to China. Baucus had served 1979–2014, and played a major role in writing the nation's health care and tax laws. The 2014 Senate election became a contest between Walsh and Republican Congressman Steve Daines.