"He should have controlled himself," Sayles said.

But it didn't change how he felt about Quist as an alternative.

"Why did the Democratic Party pick Rob Quist?" Sayles said.

Sayles was a Trump supporter and had hoped to see a change in Washington under the president's leadership. He isn't sure he sees that happening. But he sees Quist as inexperienced compared to Gianforte.

Even as a Gianforte supporter, any move on the candidate's part to limit freedom of the press would be met with strong resistance from Sayles.

"It's unfortunate this country can't have candidates to rally around," Sayles said.

Marielle Gallagher’s vote in Missoula also wasn’t influenced by Gianforte being cited for assault.

"I don't think it really affected my voting choice, but I can see why it would affect a lot of people who might have been looking to vote a certain way," said Gallagher.

She said that "on a cynical level" she didn't find the news of Gianforte's alleged misdemeanor assault on a reporter surprising.