Independent Seth Bodnar Surges as Montana Voters Reject the Failed Two-Party Status Quo

While Kurt Alme (R) and Alani Bankhead (D) lose ground, Seth Bodnar (I) is building momentum: rising in the polls, earning key endorsements, and connecting with voters across the Treasure State.

MISSOULA, MT — With less than seven weeks until Election Day, Independent U.S. Senate candidate Seth Bodnar's campaign is building momentum on every front, rising in the polls, earning new endorsements, and drawing packed rooms across the state, while both major-party nominees lose ground.

“Seth Bodnar is building a coalition of Montanans who are ready for an Independent senator who will fight to lower costs, end corruption, protect our freedoms, and stand up to anyone, in either party, who fails to do the same,” said Kelly Webster, spokesperson for the Bodnar campaign. “Kurt Alme is a failed prosecutor who was installed on the ballot to be a rubber-stamp for Party Bosses in D.C., and Alani Bankhead’s past ties to far-right, anti-choice and anti-LGBTQ institutions are raising real questions for voters. Seth is offering a different choice.” 

A Montana Free Press-Rutgers Eagleton poll released earlier this month showed Bodnar posting the biggest gain of any candidate in the race, up seven points since spring, while both Kurt Alme and Alani Bankhead have lost support over the same period. Bodnar is winning Independents outright, more than two to one over Bankhead, and more than half of self-identified Montana Democrats say they'd rather vote for Bodnar than their own party's nominee.

A second polling memo released this week tells the same story from a different angle. The survey of 715 likely Montana voters found Bodnar already the strongest alternative to Alme in the race, leading Bankhead by 18 points overall, and building support simultaneously among Democrats, independents, and Republicans, a cross-partisan coalition rather than gains concentrated in a single faction. After voters heard substantive messaging about the candidates, Bodnar's support jumped nine points, overtaking Alme outright.

The polling momentum comes alongside a new endorsement from Planned Parenthood Action Fund, joining a coalition that already spans the political spectrum: End Citizens United, Montana Conservation Voters, SEIU 775, the Montana Federation of Public Employees, VoteVets, Independent Veterans of America, and the Montana AFL-CIO, along with individual endorsements from Democratic former U.S. Senators Jon Tester and Max Baucus, Republican former Governor Marc Racicot, former Montana Republican Party Chair Susan Geise, Democratic former legislator Dorothy Bradley, former Independent congressional candidate Gary Buchanan, and former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger.

In just the last last six weeks, Bodnar has visited Montana towns from White Sulphur Springs, Anaconda, Ennis, Big Sandy, Havre, Helena, Bozeman, Billings, Kalispell, Whitefish, Hamilton, Missoula, Lewistown, Livingston, Great Falls, Dillon, Butte, Absarokee, Eureka, Libby, Plains, Thompson Falls, Malta, Glasgow, Fort Belknap, Fort Peck, Glendive, Philipsburg, to Lame Deer and more, holding “Showing Up Statewide” events and meeting face-to-face with Republicans, Democrats and Independents.

Bodnar will continue crisscrossing the state through Election Day, with additional stops planned in every corner of Montana between now and November 3rd. Visit www.sethformontana.com/events to find an event near you.

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.

###