1980Flipped from DemocraticFinal results
1980 election for Montana Senate District 17
Montana State Senate · Montana
Gary Lee (R) won with 57.0% of the vote, defeating Walter H. Savoy (D) by 14.1 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
Gary LeeRepublican · winner
57.0%3,198
Walter H. SavoyDemocrat
43.0%2,410
5,608 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1980
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET