HELENA — We still don’t know who Montana voters will be sending to represent them in Congress this election, but one thing we do know is that at least two of them will be newcomers. That means, in 2027, Montana will be low on the list when it comes to congressional seniority.
U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy will be starting the third year of his first six-year term in 2027. If U.S. Rep. Troy Downing is reelected in the eastern congressional district, he’ll also be in his third year. With U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke not seeking reelection, whoever wins their seats in November will be freshmen legislators.
That means, all together, the Montana congressional delegation will have at most four combined years of seniority. Depending on other election results, that could well be less than any other state in the country.
(Watch the video to hear more on what less seniority in Congress could mean for Montana.)
It’s a major change for Montana, a state that has often been represented by long-serving members of Congress. U.S. Rep. Pat Williams spent 18 years in the House. U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns served for 18 years before being defeated by U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, who served another 18 years before his own defeat. Mike Mansfield spent 10 years in the House and 24 in the Senate, including 16 years as Senate Majority Leader. No one represented the state longer than Max Baucus, who was in the House for four years and the Senate for 35.
MTN asked Zinke if a lack of seniority would make it harder for Montana’s voice to be heard in Congress.
“In years past, Max Baucus was in there and he was senior enough to push Montana's agenda,” he said. “So seniority has a play in it, but also it’s the person. You need fire in the gut, you need to be passionate, you need to be able to talk to people, you need to be able to communicate.”
Zinke was elected to the House in 2014 and 2016, then left to serve as U.S. Secretary of the Interior during President Donald Trump’s first term. In 2022, he returned to the House for a second stint. He said coming in with his previous seniority allowed him to get a seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which oversees federal spending.
Still, Zinke says experience alone doesn’t determine how effective a lawmaker is – the ability to build relationships is also key.
“The art of Congress is there's issues in Montana that Montanans feel very strongly about; Florida might not feel the same way,” he said. “But in order to pass a bill, you’ve got to convince the members in Florida and the other members that your issue is important to them too.”
Scripps News chief Washington correspondent Joe St. George says seniority simply is not as big a factor in Congress as it was a decade or two ago. At that time, long-serving lawmakers had much more ability to steer federal dollars to their states and districts.
“Congress has trouble passing a budget anymore; it's hard to keep the lights on – I mean, how often are we reporting on a government shutdown, right?” said St. George. “So the pork, the bacon, whatever you want to call it – it's not flowing for these projects like it used to be, and as a result, seniority has taken a bit of a hit.”
Seniority does still play a role in how lawmakers get their committee assignments and when they’re considered for chairmanships. But St. George says there are other ways of measuring influence in Congress – and during the Trump administration, one of those ways for Republican members is how close they are with the president.
During his campaign rally in Kalispell last week, Trump announced plans for a “super range” – a military facility for testing long-range weapons – in Montana. He specifically cited Sheehy and Daines having lobbied him to bring the project to the state.
“Steve and Tim, they were brutal,” Trump joked. “You know, I gave it just to get them to stop calling me, if you want to know the truth – this way I figured I’d get them off my back. Congratulations, fellas, you deserve it.”
“Sen. Sheehy, Sen. Daines, they've been able to align themselves with the president, be super loyal to the president, defend the president when it's not easy – and he takes notice,” St. George said. “If you do that and you do it enough, he remembers, and then you can get a phone call returned, and in some cases a project delivered – and you can do that and you don't need to be in Washington 10, 20, 30 years in order to make that happen.”
Because of Montana’s relatively small population, it also has one of the smallest congressional delegations. It’s one of 13 states that have four or fewer members of Congress. On the other hand, California has 54, Texas has 40, and Florida has 30.
“You have hundreds of people, all with different priorities, and numbers matter in terms of driving the direction,” said St. George. “So Montana is always at a disadvantage just by not having a large congressional delegation, and when you lose a little bit of seniority, you lose a little bit of influence as well.”
