Montana passes Initiative 194, barring corporate election spending

Montana voters approved Initiative 194 on Tuesday, a measure that bars corporations, unions, nonprofits and trade associations from spending money to influence state elections, according to an Associated Press call reported by Montana Free Press.

The AP declared passage late Tuesday with a margin of about 115,000 votes at the time of the call. The Daily Montanan reported that about 67% of voters approved and 33% opposed, based on 359,527 ballots counted as of 12:20 a.m. Wednesday. Final results are not certified.

The measure, known as the Montana Plan, does not ban donations outright. According to Fortune, it limits the powers Montana grants to “artificial persons” to those that are “necessary and convenient.” It covers entities that do business or hold property in the state. Political action committees, news and editorial content, and individuals are exempt. Violators would lose the state privileges that let them do business in Montana, including limited liability. The measure takes effect Jan. 1, 2027, unless a court blocks it.

Tom Moore, a former chief of staff to Federal Election Commission member Ellen Weintraub and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, devised the legal theory, Fortune reported. Moore argues that states control corporate powers through corporate law and that no court case has required a state to grant corporations the power to spend on politics. He calls the measure a “redefinition,” not a regulation. He says it would close a route in which donors give to nonprofits that fund PACs, while individuals could still give directly.

Jeff Mangan, a former Montana Commissioner of Political Practices, organized the campaign, and a coalition of former public officeholders proposed it, according to Montana Free Press. He has said it is designed to get around the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United, which held that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend on elections. Former Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, former Republican Gov. Marc Racicot and former Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock endorsed it. Mangan said after the vote that he was “very proud of the state of Montana.”

Supporters point to spending in the 2024 U.S. Senate race between Tester and Republican Tim Sheehy, which topped $250 million, the Daily Montanan reported.

Money behind the campaign drew scrutiny before the vote. Montana Free Press reported in June that until late April nearly all of the campaign’s money came from the Transparent Election Initiative, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that is not required to disclose its donors. From the start of 2026 through late May, that group gave the ballot committee $112,000 in cash. Commissioner of Political Practices Chris Gallus wrote to Mangan on May 21 asking whether the group was properly registered as an incidental committee. Mangan said he was confident it was.

The Montana Chamber of Commerce and the Montana Mining Association opposed the measure, and the state Republican Party added opposition to its platform, the Daily Montanan reported. Opponents argued that a wealthy individual could still buy an election. The Montana, Kalispell and Billings chambers of commerce wrote in an op-ed that “family-owned businesses including farms, ranches, restaurants, and retail stores could not respond publicly” to initiatives targeting them, Montana Free Press reported.

Legal challenges are expected. Bradley Smith, a former FEC chairman and Capital University Law School professor, argues that states cannot avoid the First Amendment by recasting political spending as a corporate power rather than a right, according to Fortune. Montana voters passed the Corrupt Practices Act by initiative in 1912 with 76% support, and the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down in American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock in 2012, Fortune reported.

Hawaii enacted a similar law, Act 11, in May. It faces two federal lawsuits, one from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and one from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, Fortune reported. Moore told the outlet he expects the question to reach the U.S. Supreme Court through either Montana or Hawaii.

Montana voters also approved two constitutional initiatives on Tuesday: CI-132, on nonpartisan judicial elections, and CI-133, on the initiative and referendum process, according to AP calls reported by Montana Free Press.