Montana voters chose three electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, against Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan.

Montana was the second-best state performance for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, carrying about 3% of the vote.

Romney performed much better than John McCain had in 2008, when he narrowly won over Obama with only a 2.38% margin of victory.

Most of the counties Obama won were either majority Native American (such as Big Horn, Blaine, Glacier, and Roosevelt) or have some of Montana's most populous cities and towns, such as Missoula County (containing its namesake city, the second largest in the state and home of the University of Montana) and Silver Bow County (home to Butte and Montana Tech).

Obama remains the only Democrat since statehood to win two terms in the White House without carrying Montana either time.