Flathead County, Montana is a vibrant and diverse area with a rich political history. It is governed by an elected Board of County Commissioners who are responsible for setting the county’s policies and budget. The county also has various other elected officials such as the Sheriff, Clerk of Court, Treasurer, Coroner, and Attorney. At the state level, Flathead County is represented by two Senators in the Montana State Senate and two Representatives in the Montana State House of Representatives. On a national level, Flathead County is represented by one Member of Congress in the United States House of Representatives. \nThe politics of Flathead County are strongly influenced by its rural landscape and close-knit communities. Residents here tend to be very involved in local politics and have deep ties to their hometowns. This results in a passionate dialogue about important issues, such as public safety, natural resource management, taxation, economic development and more. That dialogue helps ensure that everyone has a say in how their county is run. As it stands today, Flathead County is a thriving example of what can happen when citizens come together to make decisions about their future.
The political climate in Flathead County, MT is strongly conservative.
In Flathead County, MT 33.8% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 63.9% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.2% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Flathead county remained overwhelmingly Republican, 63.9% to 33.8%.
Flathead county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Flathead County, MT is strongly conservative.
Kalispell Metro Area is strongly conservative.
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.
Flathead, Montana: R R R R R R
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 for the Democrat and I for the Independent. 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 Flathead County, MT
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 9,134 contributions totaling $1,068,479 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $117 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 2,224 contributions totaling $915,712 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $412 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)