CS Knowledge Base

The 1974 Montana House of Representatives election took place on November 5, 1974, with the primary election held on June 4, 1974. Montana voters elected all 100 members of the Montana House of Representatives.^[4] Following the landmark Reynolds v. Sims (1964) US Supreme Court decision, every state had to redraw state electoral districts to be approximately equal in population. Before Reynolds, the Montana House consisted of 100 members from a mix of single- and multi-member districts. After the ruling, the Montana House had to shift to equally populated electoral districts.^[5] In 1972, the voters of Montana ratified the current Constitution of Montana, establishing the structure of the state house that is still used today: 100 representatives each elected from a single-member district.^[6][7] Since 1974, all Montana state representatives are elected in single-member districts in even-numbered years for two-year terms.^[4]

The election coincided with United States national elections and Montana state elections, including U.S. House and Montana Senate.^[8][9]

Following the previous election in 1972, Democrats held a 54-to-46-seat majority over Republicans.^[10][11][12] Democrats increased their majority in the legislature to 67 seats, while Republicans held 33—giving Democrats a net gain of 13 seats.^[10][8][9] The newly elected members served in the 44th Montana State Legislature, during which Democrat Pat McKittrick was elected Speaker of the Montana House.^[3]

Italics denote an open seat held by the incumbent party; bold text denotes a gain for a party.^[4][8][9]