Women in the Montana government

The only woman elected as governor of Montana, as of 2022, is Republican Judy Martz who held office from 2001 to 2005, and did not seek a second term.[2][9] She was known for her income and capital gains tax cuts, as well as a budget surplus at the end of her term.[10] Additionally, Martz led the push for the federal Healthy Forest Act amongst fellow governors.[10]

There have only been three female Lieutenant Governors out of the total 37 people who have served in the position.[9] The current Lieutenant Governor of Montana is a Republican woman, Kristan Juras. She has served since 2021, and is a lawyer who had previously ran for the Montana Supreme Court in 2016, but was unsuccessful.[11] The first Lieutenant Governor was Republican Judy Martz, who served in the position from 1997 to 2001, under Republican Governor Marc Racicot.[12] The first female Democratic Lieutenant Governor was Angela McLean, who served as Lieutenant Governor from 2014 to 2015 under Governor Steve Bullock.[9] She resigned from the position in 2015 because of her impending appointment to the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education.[13]

As of 2022, the Montana Secretary of State is a woman, Republican Christi Jacobsen.[14] Of the 22 people who have served in the position, there have been two women. The first was Democrat Linda McCulloch who became the first female Secretary of State from 2009 to 2017.[15] McCulloch previously served in the Montana House of Representatives for six years, and as a Superintendent of Public Instruction.[16][17] There has never been a female Attorney General in the state of Montana.[18] The first woman to run for Attorney General in Montana was Ella Knowles.[19] Following her successful lobbying of the 1889 Montana Legislature to allow women to take the bar exam, Knowles became be first lawyer in the state of Montana and the first female notary. She was the first woman to run for Montana Attorney General on the 1892 populist ticket.[19]

The position of Superintendent of Public Instruction has overall shown the most representation for women in any executive branch position for the Montana government.[6] The current Superintendent of Public Instruction is a woman, Elsie Arntzen.[20] First elected in 2016, she is now in her second term in the position.[20] Prior to serving in this position, she served in the Montana Legislature—both in the House and the Senate—as a Republican.[20] Since 1889, six of the Superintendents of Public Instruction have been men, and the remaining other 11 who have served have been women.[6] The first woman to be elected to the position was Mary Trumper in 1916, who went on to serve for 12 years. During her term, she instituted many reforms that female county superintendents had been proponents for, such as improved teacher training and certificate exams and the statewide mandated 180 day school term.[6] Five of the six men elected to the position were before the appointment of Mary Trumper; following her term, all but one of the Superintendents of Public Instruction have been women.[6]

*Appointed.

In calendar year 2020, there were 11,450 full- and part-time employees in the executive branch of the Montana state government.[21] According to the Montana Department of Administration, there were nearly equal numbers of women and men in the executive branch workforce.[21]

In the 67th Legislative Session (2021), both the House Majority Leader and Minority Leader were women, Republican Sue Vinton as Majority Leader and Democrat Kim Abbott as Minority Leader.[25] The first woman in House leadership was in 1979, with Democrat Ann Mary Dussault serving as Minority Leader. Marian Hanson was the first Republican woman in House leadership, serving from 1993 to 1997 as Speaker Pro Tempore.[25] In 1999, Emily Swanson served as House Minority leader, followed in 2001 by Kim Gillan.[25] In 2007, a second Republican woman served as Speaker Pro Tempore, Debby Barrett. Jenny Eck served as Minority Leader in 2017.[25] In total since 1889, eight women have served in Montana House leadership.[25] There has never been a female House Speaker.[25]

In the 67th Legislative session (2021), of the four Montana Senate leadership positions, only the Senate Minority Leader was a woman, Democrat Jill Cohenour.[25] The first woman in Senate leadership was Democrat Carroll Graham in 1975, who served as President Pro Tem.[25] The next woman to serve in Senate leadership was Democrat Carol Williams, who served three legislative sessions in leadership, from 2007 as Minority Leader to 2009-2011 as Minority Leader.[25] The first Republican woman in Senate leadership was in 2013, with Debby Barrett serving as president pro tem.[25] She served again in 2015 as Senate President.[25] In total, there have been four women since 1889 that have served in Senate leadership in any capacity.[25]