Running for office in Custer County, Montana.

The short version.

A plain-language guide to how county ballot access works in every one of Montana's 56 counties. Filing for the 2026 election cycle is over -- the candidate filing deadline closed March 4, 2026, and even the write-in deadline for the November general closed August 5, 2026 -- so this guide covers what is still ahead (the November 3, 2026 general election itself) and the next filing window most county offices will actually use, ahead of the 2030 cycle. It also carries your county's Clerk & Recorder, the office that runs the election itself and accepts every candidate filing.

Most Montana county row offices -- County Attorney, Clerk & Recorder (who also serves as Treasurer and Election Administrator in every county), Sheriff, Superintendent of Schools, and, where a county has one, Auditor -- are elected together on a 4-year cycle (Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 7-4-2203, 7-4-2205) and were last on the ballot in 2026, so those seats are not up again until 2030. County Commissioner is different: it is a staggered 6-year term, with only one seat up in a typical election year, so whether your county has a Commissioner race in 2028 or 2030 depends on when that specific seat was last filled. The Clerk & Recorder, listed for every county below, is the office that actually runs the election, accepts filings, and is the right first call for anything county-specific this page does not answer.

This page covers that for Custer County and points you at your local election office for anything specific to your county. It is not legal advice; the official rules live with your election office and the Montana Secretary of State.

Custer County by the numbers.

Montana election calendar (2026).

Montana runs one statewide primary and general election calendar for every county. The dates below cover the 2026 cycle that already closed and the next filing window most county row offices will actually use, ahead of the June 2030 primary.

• Tue June 2, 2026Montana's 2026 primary election -- already held. Candidate filing for this cycle's county offices closed March 4, 2026, 90 days beforehand (Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 13-10-201, 13-1-403).
• Wed Aug 5, 2026Deadline for a write-in candidate to file a Declaration of Intent for the November general election -- already closed, 90 days before the general (Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 13-10-211).
• Tue Nov 3, 2026Montana's 2026 general election -- still ahead (Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 13-1-104).
• Tue Feb 22, 2028 - Wed Mar 8, 2028Candidate filing window for the 2028 cycle, 105 to 90 days before the June 2028 primary (Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 13-10-201, 13-1-403). This is the window that matters for a County Commissioner seat coming up in 2028; the row offices below are not up again until 2030.
• Tue June 6, 2028Montana's next primary election -- the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June (Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 13-1-107).
• Tue Feb 19, 2030 - Wed Mar 6, 2030Candidate filing window for the 2030 cycle -- the one that matters for County Attorney, Clerk & Recorder, Sheriff, Superintendent of Schools, Auditor and most Justice of the Peace seats, all last elected in 2026.

These dates are set statewide by statute, not by each county individually -- but confirm the current-year date with your Clerk & Recorder before relying on it, and check whether your specific office is even on the ballot in a given year; Commissioner seats stagger and not every office is up every cycle.

Offices on the ballot in Custer County.

Montana law lists eleven county offices that may be elected (Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 7-4-2203): County Attorney, Clerk of the District Court, County Clerk (the Clerk & Recorder), Sheriff, Treasurer, County Superintendent of Schools, County Surveyor, Assessor, Coroner, Public Administrator, and at least one Justice of the Peace, plus a County Auditor where a county has authorized one (Sec. 7-6-2401). In practice, most counties combine several of these under one elected Clerk & Recorder/Treasurer, and the Sheriff and Coroner are frequently the same elected official. County Commissioner is a separate, staggered 6-year seat (Sec. 7-4-2105) elected at the same general elections.

• County Attorney -- elected countywide, 4-year term, last up 2026, next up 2030.
• Clerk & Recorder -- elected countywide, 4-year term; also serves as County Treasurer and, in every county, as the county's Election Administrator. Last up 2026, next up 2030.
• Sheriff -- elected countywide, 4-year term, often also serving as Coroner. Last up 2026, next up 2030.
• County Superintendent of Schools -- elected countywide, 4-year term, last up 2026, next up 2030.
• County Auditor -- elected countywide, 4-year term, but only in counties that have authorized the office (Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 7-6-2401); most counties do not have one.
• Justice of the Peace -- at least one per county, 4-year term, last up 2026, next up 2030.
• County Commissioner -- staggered 6-year term (Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 7-4-2105); which of your county's seats, if any, is up in a given year depends on when that seat was last filled.
• Clerk of the District Court, County Surveyor, Assessor, Coroner and Public Administrator -- also on the statutory list of elective county offices (Sec. 7-4-2203); several of these are commonly combined with another office rather than separately staffed. Confirm which offices your county fills separately with the Clerk & Recorder.

Anaconda-Deer Lodge and Butte-Silver Bow are consolidated city-county governments rather than standard counties with a Board of Commissioners -- their local government structure differs from the other 54 counties, so confirm which offices are actually elected there with the county's own Clerk & Recorder rather than assuming the standard list applies unchanged.

How to get on the ballot.

Montana offers three routes onto the ballot for county office: file with a party in the primary, petition on as an independent or minor-party candidate, or run as a write-in. All three routes for the 2026 cycle have already closed.

Party primary filing -- a percentage-based fee, every county office.

A candidate for county office pays a filing fee set by statute as a percentage of the office's annual salary, not a flat number (Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 13-10-202): 0.5% of annual salary for a county office paying more than $2,500 a year, a flat $15 for an office paying $2,500 or less, $10 for an office compensated in fees, and no fee at all for an unsalaried office or party position. Because salaries differ by county and by office, the dollar figure is different everywhere -- ask your Clerk & Recorder for your county's current schedule, or use the indigent-candidate process (Sec. 13-10-203) if you cannot pay it.

Independent or minor-party petition -- no fee, but due before the primary.

An independent or minor-party candidate petitions on instead of paying a filing fee (Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 13-10-501). The petition needs valid signatures equal to at least 5% of the total votes cast for the winning candidate for that same office at the last election -- get the exact target number for your office from your Clerk & Recorder.

Write-in candidates.

A write-in candidate files a Declaration of Intent and pays the filing fee at the time of filing (Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 13-10-211). For the primary, the write-in deadline is the same as the regular filing deadline; for the general election, it falls 90 days beforehand. A write-in vote only counts if the voter marks the ballot's write-in oval or box (Sec. 13-15-206), and a primary write-in nominee needs at least 5% of the votes cast for the winning candidate for that office at the last general election to advance (Sec. 13-10-204).

Statutory references: Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 13-10-202 (candidate filing fees, percentage of annual salary for most county offices) · Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 13-10-201, 13-1-403 (candidate filing opens 105 days, closes 90 days before the primary) · Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 13-10-501 (petition for nomination by independent candidates and minor parties) · Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 13-10-204, 13-10-211 (write-in candidate declarations and acceptance) · Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 7-4-2203 (elective county officers) · Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 7-4-2205 (4-year term for county officers named in Sec. 7-4-2203) · Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 7-4-2105 (county commissioner term of office) · Mont. Code Ann. Sec. 13-2-116 (statewide voter file furnished upon request for noncommercial use; the statute does not define 'noncommercial,' and the Secretary of State's office directs requesters with questions about the term to their own legal counsel). Fees and signature counts change; confirm before you file.

The Custer County Clerk & Recorder.

Montana's county ballot access runs through a filing fee, a petition, or a write-in declaration, not this office -- but the Clerk & Recorder below actually administers the election, accepts candidate filings and petitions, and is the right first call for anything this page cannot answer.

Contact details verified 2026-08-14. Official statewide sources: Montana Secretary of State: File for Office · Montana Secretary of State: Election Administrators Contact List · Montana Secretary of State: Write-In Candidate Information · Montana Secretary of State: Election Calendars.

Common questions.

After you qualify: the field operation.

Montana's mix of small rural counties and a handful of larger population centers means turf looks very different county to county -- some races are won door to door in a compact county seat, others cover thousands of square miles where a phone call reaches a supporter faster than a knock ever could.

That is the part Motion51 was built for. You scope your district, cut turf, and send volunteers out with a phone instead of a clipboard. It works offline, so canvassing does not stop where the cell signal does, and every door is logged with a timestamp for your records. Our For Candidates page walks through what that looks like.

Counties next to Custer.

Running in a district that crosses a county line? Each of these has its own guide.

See all Montana counties →