Hype for Bodnar in Montana

 

I don't have a lot of connection to Montana, so I haven't been following the US Senate race out there ... until today. There's an Independent in the race, Seth Bodnar, who's coming on strong and pulling even with the Republican candidate in at least one poll. There's also a Democrat on the ballot, polling at about 17% (more on her below). Here's a Bodnar campaign video that I especially liked:

 

 

Seth Bodnar is a Green Beret, former GE Transportation executive ("chief digital officer"), president of the University of Montana for the last eight years -- and a very sudden political rising star. I've examined his issues page -- surprisingly extensive and often specific on details -- and he rarely deviates from what I'd call progressive political ideology. He's not a liberal on guns, but consider the state he's seeking to represent: "He opposes a federal assault weapons ban, a new universal background check mandate, and a federal red-flag law," according to his website. He's pro-choice and a pretty fierce defender of Montana's public lands, vowing to oppose any sale or transfer of any acerage. He also -- along with the Republican in the race -- takes a hardline about new data centers.

That Republican in the race, Kurt Alme, is a Harvard-trained attorney and longtime veteran of government work, directing Montana's Department of Revenue, serving as Montana's U.S. attorney under DJT, and working as budget director under Gov. Greg Gianforte. The seat is open because its current inhabitant, Sen. Steve Daines, announced he wouldn't be running for another term literally at the last minute of the open filing period, and Kurt Alme walked in, like, a minute later and filed for the seat. Clearly, they had hatched a plan for the hand-off. Alme has the blessing of the GOP establishment in Montana, and the resentment of some rival camps in the party who were blindsided by Daines's sudden retirement.

The Democratic candidate, Alani Bankhead, served 21 years in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. Her assignments included counterintelligence and human-intelligence operations, work in Iraq, and protective security for senior Pentagon officials. After military service, she became a life coach. Running in the Democratic primary against four others last June, Bankhead surprised the field, getting 46% of the vote. The political action committee Progressive Vet spent millions promoting her candidacy. They stopped supporting her after the primary, perhaps flummoxed by not one but now two distinguished veterans running for the same office. And the DCCC also announced it wouldn't be sending any support, and prominent Democrats, like Sen. John Tester, began endorsing Bodnar as the more viable candidate, and it seems likely that Sen. Chuck Schumer was part of the pressure campaign on Bankhead. In an October 9 Washington Post op-ed, Bankhead squealed on a sitting but unnamed Democratic senator who had allegedly offered her a job, which she presumed was conditional on leaving the race. Then about a week later, in an interview for Montana's PBS, Bankhead said she had been offered a made-up position at the DNC -- again, a particular job that would require her giving up her Senate campaign. The DNC denied any such offer. And Bankhead has steadfastly refused to end her campaign, while polling puts her consistently under 20% support.

I have my doubts that Bodnar can win with Bankhead splitting the Democratic vote.