Democratic legislators want a consolidated U.S. Senate race in Montana

Seventeen of Montana’s Democratic legislators signed onto a letter Wednesday asking for one of two U.S. Senate candidates to drop out of the race to unify support against the Republican candidate. 

A three-way race featuring Democrat Alani Bankhead and independent candidate Seth Bodnar against Republican Kurt Alme “substantially increases the likelihood of a Republican victory through a divided center-left vote,” states the letter, first reported by the Montana State News Bureau.

“We recognize that asking either of you to step aside is an extraordinary request and not one we make lightly,” the lawmakers wrote. “Nor do we presume to decide who should continue. That decision belongs to the two of you. We do, however, encourage you to evaluate the objective indicators that consistently determine whether a statewide campaign can succeed.”

In addition to calling attention to the likelihood of splitting votes in the senate race — where Libertarian Kyle Austin is also a candidate – the lawmakers said their concerns extend down the ballot by dividing voters, volunteers, donors and allied organizations. 

“We fear the consequences could be felt in the congressional races, in competitive legislative contests throughout Montana, and on the ballot issues we all support,” they wrote. 

In a statement to the Daily Montanan, Bodnar said he respects Bankhead’s service to the country, and had responded to her and the legislators saying he would find a time to meet. 

“I will meet with any Montanan to talk about the best path forward for our state and our country,” Bodnar said. “Families across Montana of all political stripes are in crisis, and Kurt Alme would go to Washington to be a loyal foot soldier for the D.C. elites that run our broken political system.”

The legislators were emphatic that the letter shouldn’t be read as favoring either candidate. 

“If they both remain, they both lose,” Rep. Josh Seckinger of Bozeman said. 

Bankhead provided a statement to the Montana State News Bureau: “I won the Democratic nomination in an election. Bodnar, like Alme, was handpicked by the establishment to run. And Bodnar hasn’t even won an election. He should drop out because polls show him coming in last place. I’m fighting for the people, not the powerful establishment.”

Incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Daines was the first candidate to file for re-election with the Secretary of State’s office, but just minutes before the filing deadline closed, he withdrew his campaign and Alme filed paperwork. 

Bodnar resigned his post as president of the University of Montana in January and announced his campaign on the last day of candidate filing.

His campaign has drawn attention from the start of the year when it was rumored he might leave his position as UM president to step into politics, which was verified when text messages attributed to former U.S. Sen. Jon Tester were made public, showing his support for Bodnar running without a party label. Tester’s support, and the fact that a number of his former staffers work with Bodnar’s campaign, have led to  accusations that he isn’t truly an independent candidate. 

In his first quarter as a politician, Bodnar out raised all other candidates with nearly $1.4 million reported to the Federal Election Commission, ahead of Alme’s nearly $1 million, and has maintained his fundraising lead. 

Bankhead, who spent 21 years in the Air Force including with the office of Special Investigations before making her first foray into politics this year, raised less than $10,000 during the same time period, third among Democratic candidates. 

But she benefited from outside spending from the Progressive Vet PAC of more than $2.5 million on mailers, text messages and digital ads supporting Bankhead, 

Progressive Vet PAC has since announced it will no longer spend money in Montana, saying it doesn’t see a path forward for a Democratic candidate. 

Bankhead prevailed in a five-way Democratic contest by 11 points over former legislator Reilly Neill, earning nearly 49,000 votes. 

Alme won his three-way primary with 76% of votes — earning more than all Democratic candidates combined. 

And for Bodnar to get onto the ballot as an independent candidate, he submitted about 30,000 signatures supporting his campaign, far exceeding the 13,327-threshold required for a third-party candidate in a U.S. Senate race.

Polls conducted with three candidates in the race show Alme winning by 15%to 20% with Bankhead and Bodnar splitting support equal to Alme’s. 

The letter asks both candidates to assess their own campaigns’ strengths including ability to build a professional team, endorsements from leaders and organizations, fundraising capacity and polling against Alme. 

“Based on the information currently available to us, Seth appears to have an advantage on many of these measures,” the letter states. “At the same time, we recognize that Alani has only recently secured the Democratic nomination and is now in a position to continue building the infrastructure necessary for a competitive statewide campaign. We acknowledge that the situation is evolving and that both of you are in the best position to assess your respective paths forward.”

In addition to a financial lead over all candidates, Bodnar has earned several endorsements from organizations that traditionally back Democratic candidates, including Montana Conservation Voters, Wild Montana and the Montana AFL-CIO, the state’s largest union. 

He also has endorsements from a cross partisan group of former politicians, including Tester, former U.S. Democratic Sen. Max Baucux, former Republican Gov. Marc Racicot and former Chair of the Montana Republican Party Susan Geise.

Bodnar rolled out that slate of endorsements the same day Bankhead gave a speech at the University of Montana Campus in June attacking Bodnar’s tenure as UM president for gender discrimination allegations in a lawsuit settled in 2024.

She said Bodnar is “absolutely the last person on the face of the earth,” she would drop out for.

State law requires political parties to fill vacancies. The Montana Democratic Party bylaws are unclear on whether they allow for the party to either not nominate a candidate if Bankhead drops out, or whether an unaffiliated candidate, such as Bodnar, could be nominated.