Profound partisanship, rather than early voting, may have guaranteed Greg Gianforte’s success in Montana amidst assault charges

Amidst allegations of assault against a Guardian reporter just days before the election, it was speculated that Republican candidate for Montana’s sole House of Representative seat, Greg Gianforte, would suffer at the ballot box. However, though the nature of Montana’s early voting system led some to argue Gianforte would only experience a smaller backlash from voters (given that many votes had already been cast), Mara Suttmann-Lea argues that the nature of partisanship and voting behavior in Montana means that even without early voting, Gianforte may well have won regardless of his assault charges.