“Independent” Seth Bodnar held a press conference today bashing Democrats and insisting he is staying in the Montana Senate race. But records show he is funded by the very Democrats he criticized:
As reported by Inside Elections:
The most expensive effort in the 2026 cycle has been in Montana, where Bodnar, the Green Beret and former president of the University of Montana, is running as an independent in a three-way race against Republican Kurt Alme and Democratic nominee Alani Bankhead.
Several super PACs, including Progressive Vet PAC, Montana Freedom PAC, and Montanans for Public Lands, have popped up to boost Bodnar’s candidacy. The trio has spent nearly $6 million since the beginning of the year in the hopes of setting Bodnar up with a one-on-one matchup against Alme. (Progressive Vet PAC ostensibly supported Bankhead in the Democratic primary, but all available evidence points to its true candidate being Bodnar.)
Three 501(c)4 nonprofits make up the bulk of the source of funding: $2.6 million from Contours, Inc., $825,000 from the Western Futures Fund, and $200,000 from the Global Impact Social Welfare Fund.
Two super PACs, the Wyoming-registered Way Back PAC and the Los Angeles-registered American Values Project PAC, chipped in $900,000 and $200,000, respectively.
Contours, which formed in late 2024 and has yet to file year-end tax documents with the IRS for 2025, has taken an especially public role in elevating Bodnar. The organization commissioned and released several polls of the race this year, exceedingly rare for a 501(c)4. The surveys, conducted by Democratic firms Tavern Research and GQR, had a clear political purpose: to demonstrate that Bodnar was the only candidate capable of defeating Alme, and to put pressure on Bankhead to drop out.
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