Gianforte, who received 50.4% of the state's votes, took the stage after his victory, saying, "When you make a mistake, you have to own up to it, that's the Montana way. Last night I made a mistake and I took an action that I can't take back and I'm not proud of what happened. I should not have responded in the way that I did, and for that I am sorry."

Gianforte came under heavy fire Wednesday after audio surfaced of the Republican candidate allegedly body slamming a reporter from The Guardian after he was asked a question about health care.

The victory speech marked Greg's first public comments since the incident. Worth noting, 70% of the votes had been counted prior to the incident.

Democratic candidate Rob Quist received 43.8% of votes and Libertarian candidate Mark Wicks had 5.8%.