Alani Bankhead, Montana’s Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, reaffirmed Monday that she will not withdraw from the race. Monday was the last day for candidates to withdraw from the general election and not appear on the ballot. Some members of Bankhead’s own party have encouraged her to d rop out to improve the chances of independent candidate Seth Bodnar. Bankhead has called for Bodnar to withdraw from the race, which he has declined to do. The presence of both Bankhead and Bodnar on the ballot is expected to boost the prospects of Republican Kurt Alme. At a press conference in an East Helena park Monday, Bankhead declared her intention to win the race, despite her campaign being almost broke. “We are going to win this in November,” Bankhead said. “We’re going to get government working for the people again. I’m not a politician. I’m a public servant, and it will be an honor to fight for Montana.” The Democratic nominee said, “Montana doesn’t want politicians who are bought and paid for.” She pointed to Bodnar and Alme as recipients of corporate PAC money and warned voters not to be influenced by “dark money.” Bankhead received a significant boost from PAC support during the Democratic primary, which she won with 47.3% of the vote. Alme is the beneficiary of both Bankhead and Bodnar staying in the race, said Jeremy Johnson, head of the political science department at Carroll College in Helena.  “With both of them in there, it would be hard not to somehow split the vote,” Johnson said.  Montana’s 2026 Senate election is unusual. For only the third time in 40 years, there isn’t an incumbent in the race. Both Alme and Bodnar launched their campaigns in March with little name identification as candidates. Bodnar is a former University of Montana president, and Alme is a former U.S. District Attorney in Montana. Bankhead started her campaign in January.  Bankhead, an Air Force veteran and Christian life coach, was the surprise winner of the spring Democratic primary, largely because super PACs raised the first-time candidate’s profile with more than $4 million in advertising and election services. Polling conducted for MTFP less than two weeks before voting began in May showed that only 30% of Montana voters recognized Bankhead’s name. She reported having less than $24,000 to campaign with. After the primary ended, Progressive Vet PAC, the super PAC that spent the most on ads and in-person phone calls to potential Bankhead supporters, left the race. A second super PAC, the conservative More Jobs, Less Government, which spent $866,000 promoting the Democrat, went quiet until the week before Monday’s deadline to withdraw, when it launched a Bankhead-related text messaging campaign. The $4 million in super PAC ads favorable to Bankhead put her on par with super PAC spending on Bodnar and about $1 million ahead of super PAC ad buys for Alme. The independent and the Republican have each raised about $2 million in contributions, including $93,0000 in political action committees for Bodnar. Alme’s PAC contributions are about $577,500. Several high-profile Democrats, including dozens of state legislators and former congressional and gubernatorial candidates, have encouraged party members to back Bodnar. Some have cosigned letters asking Bankhead to drop out. A message briefly posted to the Montana Democratic Party’s X account late Monday stated incorrectly that Bankhead had suspended her campaign and that the party respected her decision and would throw its resources behind the campaign of Democratic Western District U.S. House candidate Sam Forstag. The post displayed both the MTDEMS logo and that of Bankhead’s campaign. Party spokesperson Sofia Perez said the message was posted in error. The party had planned a post for every scenario, she said, and the incorrect one got posted. Since 2014, Democratic candidates have won only two of 26 races for statewide or federal office in Montana. In a text message to party members in January, former U.S. Sen. Jon Tester called the Democratic Party brand “poison” to his campaigns. Tester won three U.S. Senate elections before losing by 43,000 votes to Republican Tim Sheehy in 2024. It was the second drubbing for a Democratic Senate nominee in four years. In 2020, then Gov. Steve Bullock lost his challenge to incumbent U.S. Sen. Steve Daines by 61,000 votes. Bullock and Tester each picked up roughly 273,000 votes, while Republicans surged to new levels of support.   Bankhead on Monday tried to dispel any suggestion that she couldn’t win, saying, “So often we hear terms like electability and viability, and it’s all made up. There is not a single consultant or anybody anywhere who can accurately predict any election, and so your responsibility is to vote in accordance with your values.” The post Bankhead: Still in the running appeared first on Montana Free Press. ...read more read less