On November 4, Montana voters in the 22nd State Senate district defeated Senator Lane Larson for re-election. Larson had authored the 2007 bill (which was signed into law) moving the non-presidential independent candidate petition deadline from June to March. He has also been President of the Greater Yellowstone Labor Council, and was the Democrats majority whip in the Senate.

The margin was 4,990 for Republican Taylor Brown, to 4,122 for Larson. The Senate had previously had a Democratic majority, but the new Senate has a Republican majority.

The ACLU has a lawsuit pending against the March petition deadline.