After investigating, the Gallatin County Sheriff issued a citation for misdemeanor assault to Gianforte, who has until June 7 to appear in Justice Court, where he could face a maximum of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

News of the incident exploded on social media and dominated cable news broadcasts that evening and well into election day, with commentators wondering how it would influence decisions at the polls.

Liberal national political organizations poured money into last-minute ads in an attempt to boost Democratic turnout. They shared audio of the incident on social media and texted some potential voters with messages such as, “Hi — did you see Greg Gianforte attacked and choked a reporter last night? …. This is crazy.”

The quick turnaround producing those kinds of attack campaigns is a relatively new phenomenon, said Anthony Johnstone, a campaign finance expert at the School of Law at the University of Montana.

“In this case, they were chasing after a relatively small share of the electorate that hadn’t already voted and an even smaller share of that electorate that isn’t so disgusted by the events that they actually want to show up to the polls on Election Day,” he said.