ICYMI
MSNOW: Montana Senate Race “Raising Alarm Bells for GOP”
Bodnar makes the case for a senator who answers only to Montanans, calls on Congress to do its constitutional duty on the war in Iran, and draws on the legacy of Mike Mansfield
MISSOULA, MT — Independent U.S. Senate candidate and former U.S. Army Green Beret Seth Bodnar joined MSNOW’s Peter Alexander to discuss Montana’s U.S. Senate race, which MSNOW described as “suddenly ringing alarm bells” in a state Donald Trump won by 20 points. Bodnar discussed new polling showing a neck-and-neck race, the backroom deal that installed Republican Kurt Alme on the ballot, Congress’s constitutional duty to end the war in Iran, and the bipartisan leadership of Montana’s own Mike Mansfield.
Below are key excerpts. Watch the full interview here.
“Montanans have seen nothing but broken promises from a broken system. Farmers and ranchers are in absolute crisis. Diesel is over $6 a gallon. Fertilizer prices are through the roof. Young people can’t afford to live in the communities where they grew up. And they see a political system that is absolutely unresponsive: an endless war, yet another one in Iran, and a total lack of accountability. Montanans are hungry for leadership that represents them.”
“We have a real path to win this race. And here’s the frustrating part: you have a Republican, Kurt Alme, who was installed on this ballot through an insider backroom deal put in place by Steve Daines, the current Republican senator. That same Steve Daines and his super PAC just happen to be the largest contributor to the campaign of the candidate on the Democratic ticket. Montanans see through that. That’s why you see a surge in the polls, with support not just from key Democratic leaders, but also Republican leaders like former Governor Marc Racicot and the former chair of the Montana Republican Party, Susan Geise. This is a campaign that’s bringing Montanans together, not around a party label, but around our shared Montana values, and that’s why we’re going to win on November 3rd.”
“Article I, Section 8 makes it very clear that Congress makes the decision about whether we send America’s sons and daughters into harm’s way to shed blood on foreign soil. I’m so proud to have served in the military. The U.S. military is filled with lions, brave, big-hearted lions who fight to protect us every single day. Unfortunately, we have too many politicians in Washington, D.C., who are sheep. My Republican opponent, Kurt Alme, says his only responsibility on the war in Iran is to support the president. That’s a total abdication of responsibility. We need Congress to step up, do its job, and make the commander in chief give a strategy and a plan.”
“For eight years, walking to work every day at the University of Montana, I walked past a statue of Maureen and Mike Mansfield. They set an example of leadership in the U.S. Senate. He was the longest-serving Senate majority leader in history, a great leader who worked across the aisle and worked with everybody to serve the people of this state and the United States of America. We need more people in the U.S. Senate like Mike Mansfield. I don’t compare myself to Mansfield, other than the fact that we both had wives who were smarter than us, and we listened to them.”
“Ronald Reagan must be rolling over in his grave. He stood up to the threat of the Soviet Union. And let’s be very clear: Vladimir Putin is a dictator who’s terrorizing Ukraine and who wants to restore the Soviet Union. Where are Kurt Alme and Steve Daines speaking out against this?”
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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