Montana Question

[old timey villain]

Looking at presidential maps of Montana, it's pretty common to see an extremely Democratic county right next to an extremely Republican county, both with similar population and demographics. This seems to set Montana apart from other states which typically have regional political leanings (like Coastal Oregon and Washington vs Inland). So my question is what factors polarize the electorate in Montana if it's not really a regional or a racial divide?

EDIT: Or am I missing something and it's just the heavily Native American counties that are heavily Democratic?

[traininthedistance]

Looking at presidential maps of Montana, it's pretty common to see an extremely Democratic county right next to an extremely Republican county, both with similar population and demographics. This seems to set Montana apart from other states which typically have regional political leanings (like Coastal Oregon and Washington vs Inland). So my question is what factors polarize the electorate in Montana if it's not really a regional or a racial divide?

EDIT: Or am I missing something and it's just the heavily Native American counties that are heavily Democratic?

Missoula has the university, Butte and Deer Lodge had a giant copper mine that left the memory of union jobs and massive environmental devastation in its wake.

That should pretty much cover it, actually.

[Franknburger]

Glacier, Roosevelt, Big Horn and Blaine counties are at least 45% Native American.

The only county that leaves a bit to explain is Hill county (Havre). However, 17% Native American and 13.5% Norwegian ancestry already provide for a good stock of potentially Democrat-leaning population, and Hill 'only' voted 50% Obama in 2012