Missoula, MT is the geographic center of Montana. It is a vibrant city with a diverse economy and growing population. The political landscape in Missoula reflects its diverse resident base. There are several political organizations and groups active in the city and county that work to bring awareness to issues impacting local residents. Local elections draw out candidates from both major parties, as well as independents, who focus on issues such as economic development, infrastructure improvements, health care reform and environmental protection. The City Council plays an important role in shaping policy that directly affects the Missoula community. Residents have multiple options for getting involved with local politics, including attending council meetings, participating in voter registration drives and volunteering with campaigns or advocacy groups.
The political climate in Missoula, MT is moderately liberal.
Missoula County, MT is strongly liberal. In Missoula County, MT 60.6% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 36.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.5% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Missoula county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 60.6% to 36.8%.
Missoula county voted Democratic in the last five Presidential elections, after voting Republican in 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Missoula, MT is moderately liberal.
Missoula County, Montana is strongly liberal.
Missoula Metro Area is strongly liberal.
Montana is moderately conservative.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index is based on recent voting in national elections, federal campaign contributions by local residents, and consumer personality profiles.
VoteWord™
Displaying 20 years of Presidential voting, visualized in one word.
Missoula, Montana: r d D D D D
How It Works:
Here at BestPlaces, we were looking at the voting patterns since the 2000 election and realized that we could express the results of each election as one letter. R if the Republican Party candidate won, D if the Democratic Party candidate won and I if the Independent Party candidate won. The six elections (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) would be expressed as six-letter word (R R D R R).
Then we went a little further and added the dimension of magnitude. If the difference of victory was greater than 10 percent, the letter is upper case, and lower case if the difference was less than 10 percent. This allows us to see interesting voting patterns at just a glance.
Here's the VoteWord for Iowa d r d d r. In the last six elections the state has been closely contested, voting narrowly for the Republican Party candidate in 2016 and 2020 after voting for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2012. Virginia (r r d d d D) has voted for the Democratic Party in the last three elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Missoula, MT
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 30,356 contributions totaling $3,506,182 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $116 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 1,821 contributions totaling $983,579 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $540 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)