ICYMI: Independent Seth Bodnar Endorsed by Planned Parenthood Action Fund

Kurt Alme backed by groups who support national abortion ban, Alani Bankhead’s past ties to far-right, anti-choice and anti-LGBTQ institutions exposed.

MISSOULA, MT — In case you missed it, the Daily Montanan reports that Planned Parenthood Action Fund has endorsed Independent U.S. Senate candidate Seth Bodnar. While Republican Kurt Alme is backed by national groups who support a nationwide abortion ban and Democrat Alani Bankhead’s past ties to far-right, anti-choice and anti-LGBTQ+ institutions come to light, Bodnar will always defend a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions. Read the full article here. Below are key excerpts:

"Planned Parenthood endorses independent in Montana Senate race"

Daily Montanan, Micah Drew, September 18, 2026

Planned Parenthood’s political arm has endorsed the independent candidate in Montana’s U.S. Senate race, a rare departure by the organization that almost exclusively backs Democratic candidates. Montana is uniquely positioned as a state that has all-Republican elected officials at the state and national level, but just two years ago voted to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution by a 15-point margin.
“Montana voters across the political spectrum overwhelmingly chose to protect reproductive freedom in their own constitution,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund. “We know Seth Bodnar will meet this moment with the same clarity and represent the will of Montanans in the U.S. Senate.”
Planned Parenthood’s endorsement of Bodnar follows a recent poll by the Montana Free Press/Rutgers Eagleton showing him gaining ground in a three-way race, pulling 30% of the vote behind Alme’s 38%. Bankhead earned 16%.
“The government has no place in a Montanan’s doctor’s office, whether that government sits in Helena or Washington, D.C.,” Bodnar said in a statement. “Montanans already settled this at the ballot box, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents voted to protect it in our own constitution …That’s exactly the kind of decision I’ll always answer to Montanans on, not a party.
Bodnar’s campaign used its endorsement to take additional shots at Bankhead, questioning her stance on reproductive rights and blasting associations she’s had with the conservative McLean Bible Church in Virginia and other conservative organizations in the past.
“She belonged to a pro-MAGA megachurch whose pastor called abortion ‘a sin against God’ and who celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade,” said Kelly Webster, spokesperson for the Bodnar campaign. “While Bankhead may be comfortable with these far-right views, Montanans believe that a woman should have the right to make her own personal health care decisions without interference from politicians or anyone else.”
Bankhead said she attended McLean Bible Church while stationed in Washington D.C., until 2017. Lon Solomon, who was the pastor at the time, has a sermon on his website titled “Abortion: the American holocaust,” but Bankhead said she never heard him preach any “anti-abortion rhetoric,” while attending the church.

Seth Bodnar is a Green Beret, business leader, and former president of the University of Montana running for the U.S. Senate to be an independent voice for Montana. Seth is guided by a lifelong commitment to duty, honor, and country. He graduated first in his class at West Point and served multiple overseas deployments, leading soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division and the 1st Special Forces Group, and serving as a special advisor to the commanding general in Iraq. After his military service and a successful career in business, Seth spent the last eight years leading the University of Montana. Under his leadership, the university achieved record high graduation rates, doubled research funding, launched the largest infrastructure renewal in campus history, restored financial stability, and was named the #1 military-friendly university in the country. Raised by two public school teachers, he believes leadership is about service, not party loyalty. Seth and his wife, a fifth-generation Montanan, are raising their three children in Montana.

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