Montana concluded their legislative redistricting in 2023. Redistricting has several criteria, of which even population is the most important. There were also guidelines followed, that somehow managed to become the MOST IMPORTANT CRITERIA. There are a few gerrymandering tricks with common names, such as “cracking”. Cracking occurs when districts are broken up so as to divide a concentration of votes over several districts. Most people recognize that conservatives reside in more rural locals, and democrats flock to more dense populations. What is cracked about Missoula? Based on the 2020 census that was used to calculate the even distribution of districts across the state, Missoula, with its 108000 residents should be represented by just under 10 house districts and 5 senate districts. Instead, Missoula has all or part of 13 house districts and 7 senate districts. These extra districts were drawn by taking Missoula’s rural areas and mixing them in with other counties on the west, north, and east sides. More information here DRA 2020 (davesredistricting.org). Democrat districts are “packed” into the middle of the city. Note that some of the house districts are too small to be shown.
| 2023 House Districts/Missoula County |
| 2023 Senate Districts/Missoula County |
No one is pretending that Missoula County is not liberal, but the skew on districts and how they are likely to vote is beyond the pale. Here are the numbers for 2023 house and senate districts, based on the results from the 2020 governor’s race.
Potential 2024 Montana House or Senate candidates should review their odds going in.
| House District | Total Pop | Democrat | Republican | Democrat Advantage |
| 76 (Seeley Lake and Powell County) | 10723 | 30.6% | 67.4% | -36.8% |
| 89 | 10872 | 51.8% | 45.8% | 5.9% |
| 90 (including Mineral and Sanders counties) | 10825 | 32.1% | 65.9% | -33.8% |
| 91 | 10913 | 55.5% | 42.7% | 12.8% |
| 92 | 10918 | 61.3% | 36.3% | 25.0% |
| 93 | 10802 | 63.0% | 35.1% | 27.9% |
| 94 | 10926 | 59.3% | 38.7% | 20.6% |
| 95 | 10740 | 82.3% | 15.2% | 67.1% |
| 96 | 10773 | 59.5% | 37.8% | 21.7% |
| 97 | 10784 | 60.6% | 36.3% | 24.3% |
| 98 | 10837 | 57.0% | 40.1% | 16.9% |
| 99 | 10724 | 57.2% | 40.4% | 16.9% |
| 100 | 10749 | 76.5% | 20.2% | 56.4% |
| Senate District | Total Pop | Democrat | Republican | Democrat Advantage |
| 38 (Seeley Lake, Powell and Granite and part of Lewis and Clark counties) | 21640 | 33.0% | 64.9% | -31.8 |
| 45 | 21697 | 42.5% | 55.4% | -12.9% |
| 46 | 21831 | 58.6% | 39.3% | 19.3% |
| 47 | 21728 | 61.1% | 36.8% | 24.3% |
| 48 | 21513 | 71.3% | 26.1% | 45.2% |
| 49 | 21621 | 58.9% | 38.2% | 20.7% |
| 50 | 21473 | 66.5% | 30.7% | 35.8% |
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