A rocky start for independent’s Senate campaign
Jesse James Mullen, chair of the Powell County Democratic Central Committee and was the 2024 Democratic Party nominee for Secretary of State.
The Monitor
March 17, 2026
I first learned then-University of Montana President Seth Bodnar was seriously considering an independent run for U.S. Senate like many politically active or journalist-adjacent people: a text.
“u c the text from Tester ” a friend asked, referencing the former U.S. Senator’s now-infamous anti-Democrat, pro-Bodnar rant, which filled inboxes like a toxic and invasive yellow-flowered fireweed.
Having only met Bodnar once, I turned to my girlfriend, a 25-year resident of Missoula who recently relocated to Butte. “Did you see Seth Bodnar might run for U.S. Senate?” I asked.
“Why? Nobody likes him,” she replied. Turns out, not an uncommon response. In Tester’s “the Democratic party was poison” text, he argued that Bodnar’s success relied on one element: “I fully know to win anybody has to run a near flawless race.”
In the days that followed, calls for Bodnar to resign as UMT president proliferated on social media and in the voicemail boxes of the University Board of Regents. An unfortunate slip of the tongue by a Bodnar representative to a Montana Free Press reporter all but confirmed Bodnar’s intentions. And rather than embrace the moment, Bodnar’s team hid him away, refusing to address questions regarding his potential campaign.
A PAC associated with Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen rolled out an attack ad against Bodnar, fueling speculation that the Senate run is little more than a vanity project by a potential rival for a future governor’s race.
Old stories resurfaced on social media, reviving allegations of sex discrimination by Bodnar, and claims that he told women to smile more, blocked advancement opportunities for middle-aged and older women, and commented on their weight or attractiveness affecting their ability to speak publicly on topics within their areas of expertise.
Within Democratic circles, party officials said the electoral math doesn’t work. He doesn’t have a plausible path to victory as an independent. If he enters the Democratic primary, he’ll at least have a chance to compete for the nomination.
Running independently, he was unlikely to surpass 20 percent of the total vote, and he’d do considerable damage to Democratic chances in the western congressional race and competitive legislative races across the state.
Bodnar held firm and, on the last day of filing, jumped into the race as an Independent.
Hours later, Daines dropped out. Having successfully avoided what he had described as “top-tier” opponents, he was retiring, leaving the race in the hands of the relatively unknown Republican, Kurt Alme.
By filing as an Independent, Bodnar all but ensured a GOP win. Bodnar is the candidate and deserves the blame. But if this failure to launch feels familiar, it might be due to his choice of advisors. Bodnar’s team is stocked with Washington, D.C. insiders who played significant roles in Jon Tester’s 2024 loss to Tim Sheehy and Steve Bullock’s 2020 loss to Daines.
It’s also a team closely tied to the established Washington, D.C. money machine and Sen. Chuck Schumer’s staff. Schumer seems to have a knack for meddling in races where he doesn’t belong while setting back progressive priorities, most recently, supporting Andrew Cuomo, another “independent” candidate with a history of sex discrimination allegations.
The “flawless race” Tester hoped Bodnar might run is gone, replaced by a decadent, consultant-driven candidacy built to raise money, if not persuade actual Montanans. Bodnar will have his money and endorsements from D.C. insiders, with help from the properly maligned D.C. elites whom former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer describes as the “consultant industrial complex.”
But much like 2024, where Jon Tester outraised Sen. Sheehy, Seth Bodnar’s path ends in failure. Consultants will not save him and D.C. validation doesn’t mean jack, 2,000 miles away in the tight-knit communities of rural Montana. Let’s just hope he doesn’t drag anyone else down with him.
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