Swanson, Bidegaray win races for open seats on Montana Supreme Court

Cory Swanson, the Broadwater County Attorney, will be heading one county over to become the Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, while district court Judge Katherine Bidegaray will replace outgoing justice Dirk Sandefur on the state’s highest court.

The Associated Press called both races shortly after 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

In the race to replace outgoing Montana Chief Justice Mike McGrath, Cory Swanson had taken and maintained a lead over Jeremiah Lynch early Wednesday morning. Swanson tallied 272,969 votes to Lynch’s 229,953.

“Thank you to all the Montanans who supported us and made this victory possible! I will work every day to reward your trust by delivering fair and impartial legal rulings, and removing partisanship from justice,” Swanson wrote in a post on Facebook.

For Montana Supreme Court Seat 3, Katherine Bidegaray maintained a lead that she had held nearly as soon as results started coming in. Bidegaray had 270,456 votes to district court Judge Dan Wilson’s 234,771. 

There are seven seats on the Montana Supreme Court, including the chief justice. All positions for the state’s highest court, and only appellate court, are elected statewide, rather than by district, and are nonpartisan. 

Both races are for open seats without incumbents. 

The chief justice serves for eight years and serves as the chief administrator for the state’s highest court. Lynch is a former U.S. federal court magistrate who served in that role for 28 years, while Swanson was elected Broadwater County attorney in 2014, a position he still holds.

Bidegaray currently serves on the Seventh Judicial District bench covering Dawson, McCone, Prairie, Wibaux and Richland counties. She’s been elected four times as judge for the district court since 2003. 

Wilson is a former prosecutor who has served as a Flathead District Court Judge for 12 years.