Greg Gianforte

Gregory Richard Gianforte ( ; born April 17, 1961) is an American politician, businessman, and software engineer serving as the 25th governor of Montana since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Gianforte served as the U.S. representative for Montana's at-large congressional district from 2017 to 2021. In 1997, Gianforte and his wife, Susan, co-founded RightNow Technologies, a customer relationship management software company. The company went public in 2004; by that time, it employed over 1,000 workers.

RightNow Technologies was acquired by Oracle Corporation for $1.5 billion in 2011. Gianforte was the Republican nominee for governor of Montana in 2016, losing to incumbent governor Steve Bullock. In May 2017, he won a special election for Montana's at-large congressional seat after Ryan Zinke resigned to become U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Gianforte was convicted of misdemeanor assault in state court in June 2017 after assaulting The Guardian political reporter Ben Jacobs the day before the election.

He was fined and sentenced to community service and anger management therapy. Gianforte was reelected in 2018. Gianforte was elected governor of Montana in 2020, defeating Democratic nominee and incumbent lieutenant governor Mike Cooney. He is the first Republican to serve as governor of Montana since Judy Martz left office in 2005. He was reelected in 2024, becoming the first Republican to be elected governor of Montana twice since Marc Racicot in 1996.