MISSOULA - MTN is continuing to take a look at the candidates who are running for mayor of Missoula.
“I feel we have real momentum to continue to build trust in government by being a more responsive government to deliver better public services, to continue to address the cost of living here in Missoula, and also continue to strengthen our local economy,” said Missoula mayoral candidate and incumbent mayor Andrea Davis.
Davis, who is a long-time Missoula resident with a background in affordable housing development, says that she is seeking reelection to continue her work on delivering community needs.
“I've charged our departments with a cost-of-living lens to think about when we make decisions. As we carry out an initiative or a project or a program, thinking through the impacts to our residents and that might mean that we need to evaluate the trade-off,” said Davis.
Davis also says that during her time as mayor, she has made progress on addressing the top issues for the residents of Missoula. She pointed to the example of how the city listens to the community by compiling a database of various problems residents of Missoula call the city about.
Missoula mayoral candidate profile: Andrea Davis
“We have been able to put together a constituent tracking system that helps us coordinate with our department so we can ensure that there is effective response to the constituents. And customer service is one of the areas that we are always striving to improve. Better customer service and people get their information differently these days. And by being able to examine how we communicate with the community and ways in which we can engage with folks so we can actually hear people's ideas, suggestions, concerns and then do something with that,” explained Davis.
She says that because of this, the city has been able to directly discuss things like sidewalk construction, land use and planning, upcoming zoning code reform and the speed of processing building permits. All with the goal of increasing the affordability of the city.
On the topic of affordability and the city’s budget, she says that her budget for fiscal year 2026, which was passed unanimously by the Missoula City Council, balanced the city’s needs against tax law changes the state legislature made in its last session.
“Our choice as a city is to either decrease our level of service or be able to reasonably pass small property tax increases like we did in order to be able to maintain the great service that we provide,” said Davis.
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On the topic of the city’s homeless and unhoused residents, she says that the housing-first approach she has taken has yielded not insignificant results.
“The solution to homelessness is housing and the city will focus its precious resources and efforts on housing-focused solutions. And so what that looks like is when we had to make the very difficult decision to close the Johnson Street temporary emergency shelter, we did that over a five-month period and we stood up a housing sprint adjacent to that. So we have been working with our team here at the city and service providers and partners from across the city to intensively work with guests at the shelter to housing problem solve with them. And ultimately, where we are today is that we have around 40 people that have access to permanent housing one way or the other,” said Davis.
She also says that if reelected, she will continue the progress that she views the city has made towards addressing community needs.
“Day one, I am getting right back to work on the main priorities that I have talked about today. Those priorities again are delivering a more responsive government for better public service, addressing the cost of living for Missoulians and working on strengthening our economy, and addressing housing affordability and choice,” answered Davis.
Overall, she hopes that Missoula will re-elect her so she can continue delivering results to the community.
“I believe that we have got an incredible amount of momentum to help Missoula continue to be a wonderful place for everybody to live, to recreate, to learn, to retire in,” said Davis.
And as a reminder, this primary election is mail-in only. You should have already received your ballot. If not, contact the Missoula County elections office right away.
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The mail-in only election takes place on September 9, 2025. You should have already received your ballot. If not, contact the Missoula County elections office right away. People mailing in their ballot must get it in the mail by September 5, as postmarks are not accepted.
Voters can drop off their ballot on election day at the elections center, which is located at 140 N. Russell St. (Building B), 2385 Flynn Lane (Hellgate Elementary Baseball Fields) and on South Russell St. between the fairgrounds and YMCA.
Residents who need to register to vote, change their address or make other updates to their registration will need to do that in person at the Elections Office. By law, the office will be closed to new voter registration between noon and 5 p.m. Monday, September 8.
Voters can still drop off a ballot, receive a replacement ballot or pick up an undeliverable ballot during that time. Voters can check that their address and other information are up to date online at myvoterpageMT.com.
