Seth Bodnar, Kurt Alme, Alani Bankhead and Kyle Austin attended a debate for U.S. Senate candidates in Bozeman on Oct. 11, 2026. The event took place at the Field and Stream Lodge in Bozeman and candidates discussed their views on a range of issues, including foreign policy, affordability issues in Montana, the environment, and artificial intelligence.
It was the first time all major candidates made an appearance together, as Republican Kurt Alme, the frontrunner in the race, has declined other invitations. Four panelists from various broadcast news agencies took turns asking questions of the candidates. There was no direct back-and-forth conversation between the candidates, but they still took a few shots at each other’s platforms, backers and bonafides, with Libertarian Kyle Austin spending the most time attacking his opponents.
Kurt Alme is the Republican replacement for Sen. Steve Daines, who bowed out of his reelection campaign minutes before candidates filing closed in March, letting Alme slip in without additional Republican or major Democratic candidates getting notice. He is a former U.S. Attorney and served under two Republican governors heading the state’s budget and revenue departments. “I’m the only candidate up here with a proven record of cutting taxes, balancing our state budget, and locking up violent criminals,” Alme said. “I’ve spent my career serving and protecting Montana families, and I’m ready to step up and serve again to make our lives more affordable, make our communities safer, and protect our Montana way of life.”
Democrat Alani Bankhead has made headlines as a political unknown who won the Democratic primary boosted by millions of dollars from progressive dark-money organizations and Republican political actions committees, successfully elevating her over the primary field. A former U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who spent time on antitrafficking task forces and investigating internet crimes against children in Hawai’i, Bankhead has committed to staying in a race despite trailing an independent candidate in many polls. “I’m the only one on the stage who has trust built with D.C. folks who I’ve grown up with since the ‘90s, who are now in charge of things in government, and we’ve spent the last 20 years protecting you from corruption. I’m not beholden to D.C.”, Bankhead said. “I will absolutely fight for the people of Montana because I’m unbought and unbossed and unafraid.”
Seth Bodnar, a Green Beret and former University of Montana president, bucked the hopes of many state Democratic party members and entered the race as an independent back in March. He has consistently outraised all candidates, has support from elected officials from both parties, but was unable to manage a one-on-one race against Alme, which would have put Montana’s Republican-held seat onto a competitive list with other independents making coalition waves across the country. “This country was founded on a promise – the promise that we govern ourselves, and that those that we elect work for us. I put my life on the line to defend that promise, but that promise has been broken today,” Bodnar said. “Washington D.C. is filled with cowards who answer to their party bosses, their corporate donors… We have a chance in Montana to tell Washington D.C. that neither party owns the state and that nobody gets to take us for granted, because you know what? Montana is my party.”
Kyle Austin won the state’s Libertarian primary even as the Montana Libertarian Party said he doesn’t share their values. He has tried to paint himself as the true conservative in the race, and pointed to having experience in agriculture and healthcare as reasons he’ll be effective in Wash
