Montana
Busse beats Gianforte on latest fundraising haul • Daily Montanan
Money talks, as the old saying goes, and right now it may be telling the story that Republicans are more vulnerable than previously thought, according to fundraising reports and a political scientist.
On Wednesday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse, who is challenging Republican incumbent Greg Gianforte, announced its campaign had raised more money during the previous quarter than Gianforte, notable for several reasons.
Gianforte, a multi-millionaire, has largely been able to bankroll his own elections to both Congress and the governorship. However, his donations haven’t kept pace with his opponent, who has been hammering on the message of property taxes, which have hit many Treasure State residents hard.
In official campaign finance reports filed with the State of Montana, Busse reports $525,533 raised from June 15 through Aug. 15, not including more than $135,000 it transferred from its primary account to the general election account. In that same period, Gianforte raised $355,404 for the general election but that number does not include $94,302 received for his primary account.
In other words, Busse hauled $170,129 more than Gianforte in the most recent quarter if transfers and primary contributions aren’t counted.
Even though Busse showed larger fund-raising results during the quarter, the incumbent governor still sits on substantially more cash than his Democratic opponent by a wide margin. In the same report, Gianforte reported having $745,819 on hand to Busse’s $234,302.
Paul Pope, associate professor of political science at Montana State University-Billings, said that Busse’s recent fundraising success could be the result of several different influences, including Gianforte’s vulnerability on statewide issues, or the surge of enthusiasm that was created when U.S. President Joe Biden decided to step aside, allowing Vice President Kamala Harris to emerge.
Pope said Gianforte is vulnerable because of the deeply unpopular property increases, despite a program to offer rebates of as much as $675 to homeowners per year.
That decision on property taxes has rankled Republican members of Gianforte’s party as county-level Republicans have been frustrated by Gianforte, who they’ve said has lied about out-of-control spending at the local level. It hasn’t been the first time that Republicans have been alienated by the governor.
“That’s where (Gianforte) is losing people,” Pope said. “The tax cuts and his hype about the property taxes just doesn’t match the follow through.”
Last year, Republicans in the Legislature struck a deal with Democrats on how to allocate funding from recreational marijuana taxes, which included support for veterans and wildlife habitat. That measure was vetoed by Gianforte, which upset many members of his own party, and also led to a protracted legal battle and unsuccessful veto override. That strongly bipartisan deal included additional money for county roads, a perennial challenge for county governments across the state.
Gianforte’s popularity, especially in a state that has trended toward increasingly conservative candidates and a Republican supermajority in the Legislature, has been stalled. Gianforte has consistently showed a neutral favorability rating in a state where every major office holder is a Republican and only one statewide Democrat, incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Tester faces a tough challenger in Bozeman businessman Tim Sheehy.
“I think Gianforte may be taking for granted who he is — that he’s a Republican in a Republican state,” Pope said.
Pope’s department leads the Mountain States Polling project at MSU-B, which conducted a survey of Montana prior to the primary election, and will conduct another poll this fall in October, closer to Election Day.
He said that the momentum for the Democrats has been positive since Biden stepped aside, Harris’ selection and her selection of Tim Walz. Also, that the topic of abortion is on the ballot could also factor into the fundraising.
“All that energy at the top,” Pope said, “That excitement opens up purse strings. You can feel the energy.”
Still, as successful as one quarter of fund-raising may be for Busse, Pope warned that history is also a powerful indicator, and Democrats have underperformed in statewide races recently. Moreover, Montanans have to be convinced to vote for a Democrat, and that takes an “all-of-the-above strategy,” Pope said.
“The question is: Does Busse have enough time?” Pope said. “He has to use every tool in the arsenal. He’s got to take to the air game with advertisement, the ground game with door knocking and become visible.”
However, he said, the consistently neutral favorability rating of Gianforte, a Republican in a Republican-dominated state recently, spells trouble.
“He’s incredibly vulnerable. He’s not expecting to be, so the question is: Can Busse tap into it?” Pope said. “The Democratic Party has been extremely lackluster in getting good candidates, so many time the good ones are on their own.”
DILLON, Mont. — Low oxygen levels and excess nutrients led the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to officially determine that the Big Hole River is impaired, state officials said.
The conditions are affecting aquatic life and recreation along parts of the river. Officials said the nutrients can fuel algae and plant growth, especially during hot, low-water conditions.
The Big Hole has been the focus of water quality restoration efforts for decades, with more than $1.3 million in federal Clean Water Act funding invested since 1988.
The impairment will be included in DEQ’s next water quality report. Restoration work and funding for the watershed will continue.
In these Montana towns a stranger rarely stays a stranger for long. Shopkeepers in Philipsburg know their regulars by name. Bigfork neighbors fill the same theater seats every summer. Livingston locals still swap trail tips with visitors over coffee. The welcome here comes from people who greet newcomers like they belong. These eight communities show what small-town Montana hospitality looks like up close.
Whitefish
Whitefish sits within an hour of Glacier National Park, and that proximity shapes everything about the town. Central Avenue runs on covered Old West walkways lined with local shops, restaurants, and galleries, and the crowd shifts with the seasons as skiers give way to summer hikers.
Glacier National Park draws visitors with hundreds of miles of hiking trails, alpine lakes, and the scenic Going-to-the-Sun Road. Closer to town, Whitefish Lake offers public beaches, boat rentals, paddleboarding, and fishing during the warmer months. When winter arrives, Whitefish Mountain Resort becomes the area’s main attraction, with ski runs, snowboarding terrain, and gondola rides overlooking the Flathead Valley. Even after a day outdoors, many visitors return to downtown Whitefish to browse local shops or settle in at the town’s restaurants and breweries.
Bigfork
Sitting on the northeastern shore of Flathead Lake, Bigfork pairs a working harbor with a downtown built around its artists. Galleries and studios cluster within a few walkable blocks, and the water is never out of sight for long.
Flathead Lake is the town’s biggest draw, with boating, kayaking, fishing, and swimming on the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River in the lower 48 states. Just offshore, Wild Horse Island State Park lets visitors hike among native wildlife, including wild horses, bighorn sheep, bald eagles, and mule deer. Theater lovers can catch a Broadway-style production at Bigfork Summer Playhouse, which has staged live performances for decades. Before leaving town, visitors can browse the independently owned galleries and studios showcasing paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and other work by Montana artists.
Philipsburg
Philipsburg made its money in silver, and the painted storefronts along Broadway Street date to those boom years. The old buildings now hold local businesses, and the mining past is easy to trace from one block to the next.
A visit to Gem Mountain Sapphire Mine lets visitors sift through mining gravel for Montana sapphires, many of which can be cut into finished gemstones. Just outside town, Granite Ghost Town State Park preserves the remains of a silver mining community, with abandoned buildings that mark the region’s boom years. Those interested in local history can stop at the Granite County Museum, where exhibits cover the area’s mining industry and early settlement. Before leaving, many visitors make time for The Sweet Palace, a candy store that has become one of the town’s signature stops.
Livingston
Livingston sits on the Yellowstone River and serves as a northern gateway to Yellowstone National Park. Restored commercial buildings house an active arts scene, and the Absaroka Range rises just south of the rooflines.
The historic downtown works as the town’s main visitor area, with independent bookstores, outfitters, cafes, and long-standing local businesses inside restored commercial buildings. At the Yellowstone Gateway Museum, exhibits trace the region’s history through Indigenous presence, railroad expansion, and early settlement in the Yellowstone Valley. Small galleries across the downtown core show work by regional artists whose subjects often reflect the river valley and the mountains around it.
Red Lodge
Red Lodge marks the start of the Beartooth Highway, one of the highest paved roads in the country. Its compact, walkable downtown keeps locally owned shops and restaurants busy in every season.
The Beartooth Highway climbs into the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness and continues toward Yellowstone National Park, with steep mountain passes, alpine lakes, and long-range views. In winter, Red Lodge Mountain becomes a major recreation area for skiing and snowboarding, with terrain that draws residents and visitors alike. During the warmer months, hiking trails in the surrounding mountains open onto forests, ridgelines, and wildlife viewing areas. Downtown Red Lodge stays active year-round, with local businesses and historic buildings packed into a walkable core.
Choteau
Choteau sits where the prairie meets the Rocky Mountain Front, and dinosaurs put it on the map. Fossil beds nearby produced some of the most important dinosaur nesting discoveries in North America, and the town leans into that history.
At the Old Trail Museum, exhibits cover the region’s natural history, including fossil finds and artifacts tied to its prehistoric past. The surrounding country is known for wildlife viewing, with elk, deer, and many bird species in the foothills and open plains near town. Just outside Choteau, fossil sites linked to major dinosaur discoveries have built the area’s reputation in paleontology research. The Rocky Mountain Front opens onto hiking routes and wide viewpoints where the plains give way to the peaks.
Stevensville
Stevensville is the oldest permanent settlement in Montana, founded in 1841 as St. Mary’s Mission. It sits in the Bitterroot Valley between the Bitterroot and Sapphire mountains, and the town center still runs at a slower pace.
St. Mary’s Mission is the town’s most significant landmark, preserving the mission’s early buildings and marking the first permanent Euro-American settlement in what became Montana. The Bitterroot Valley around Stevensville is known for its orchards, farmland, and mountain views, and it serves as a corridor to nearby communities and recreation areas. Local boutiques and small shops fill a compact town center that reflects its long history. Hiking trails in the nearby foothills reach forested terrain, open meadows, and views of the Bitterroot Mountains, drawing the most traffic during the warmer months.
Virginia City
Virginia City boomed after an 1863 gold strike in Alder Gulch, and much of that town survived. Wooden boardwalks, original storefronts, and period buildings still line the Main Street, so a walk here doubles as a walk through the 1860s.
Historic structures throughout the town can be toured to see how miners, shopkeepers, and early settlers lived during the gold rush era. Several small museums and preserved buildings cover mining equipment, frontier life, and local governance during the 1800s. Costumed interpreters run seasonal reenactments as well, recreating daily routines and events from Virginia City’s early years.
Small Towns Worth the Detour
These eight towns show how much Montana packs into its smaller communities. Livingston and Whitefish put national parks within reach of a walkable downtown, while Philipsburg and Virginia City keep their mining-era streets intact and open to visitors. Choteau turns fossil country into a point of local pride, and Stevensville carries the state’s oldest roots. Anyone looking for genuine small-town hospitality will find plenty of it across these Montana communities.
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 9, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from July 9 drawing
08-21-24-29, Bonus: 16
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 9 drawing
02-15-22-54-58, Bonus: 04
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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