Montana Viewpoint: A fine mess

Jim Elliott

It used to be that political party bosses hand-picked the candidates who would run for national and statewide positions. That began to change around the 1950s when the party primary came into its own. The primary election, it was believed, took the selection process out of the “smoke-filled rooms” and put it in the hands of the people.

That seems to be changing somewhat in Montana. Neither of the two most prominent candidates for United States Senate came through a normal selection process. Kurt Alme, the Republican nominee, was shoehorned into the prime spot by retiring Senator Steve Daines at the last moment, and that’s when Daines who had filed for the position early on, withdrew from the contest. Alme then was immediately endorsed by Daines, Governor Gianforte, and President Trump.

Meanwhile, former senator Jon Tester was instrumental in convincing University of Montana President Jeff Bodnar to resign that position and file for the Senate as an Independent. After Tester’s loss to Sheehy in 2024 Tester called the Democratic label “toxic” and distanced himself from the Party he had once controlled. Bodnar also garnered the endorsements of former major Democratic and Republican officeholders and a fundraising apparatus to match the big names supporting him.

There was indeed a Republican primary which certified Alme’s anointment officially. The Democratic primary was of the more common type. Generally political parties do not choose their candidates and whoever wants to run picks the party under whose banner they want to run. Most state parties do not favor or endorse a particular candidate in primaries and that is certainly true of the Montana Democratic Party. They do, however, support the candidate who wins their primary election. In the Democrat’s case that is Alani Bankhead, who claims to be running a grassroots campaign. With the amount of money she has raised, about $60,000, that’s about all she can do.

Oddly enough, she won the primary with $3.3 million worth of help from Progressive Vet PAC, run by former Tester supporter Moffie Funk, and a former Sheehy supporting PAC called More Jobs-Less Government, which spent $700,000 on Bankhead’s behalf. They have both now abandoned the Bankhead cause. The larger question is why did both a left-leaning PAC and a right-leaning PAC support Bankhead?

Now, many Democrats are calling for Bankhead to withdraw from the race and leave it open for Bodnar who is believed to be a far stronger candidate against Alme.

These actions are not good for creating trust in Montana politics. Because Alme is Trump endorsed the displeasure in the Republican ranks should be somewhat muted. In the Democratic Party the struggle between the Bankhead and Bodnar factions has the potential to tear that organization apart. If Bankhead withdraws, the Party faithful will feel betrayed by the very Democratic politicians they have supported for years. If she stays in, Bankhead and the Party will be held to blame for the election of Alme. It is not a pretty picture. Well, not for the Democrats, the Republicans should be ecstatic.

Democratic candidates in other states have withdrawn from their races to give the edge to Independent candidates. One, in South Dakota, did not go gracefully. He claimed he and his family had been subjected to “intimidating threats” and he will not support the Independent candidate.

As of this writing Bankhead and the Democratic Party of Montana are standing their ground. After all, their job is to elect Democrats say Party leaders.

In my view, the Democrats supporting Bodnar have put their Party in a hard place, and it will be interesting to see if it can be mended.

Montana Viewpoint has appeared in weekly and online newspapers across Montana for
over 30 years. Jim Elliott served sixteen years in the Montana Legislature as a state
representative and state senator. He lives on his ranch in Trout Creek.