Democratic Party Announces State Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy’s Withdrawal from Eastern District House Primary

State Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy has dropped out of the Democratic primary for U.S. House representing Montana’s Eastern Congressional District, according to a Thursday morning announcement by the Montana Democratic Party. In a video statement posted Thursday afternoon to the Facebook page of Lance FourStar, and later removed, director of the state Legislature’s American Indian Caucus, Windy Boy said he is suspending his campaign, citing his declining health. MTFP reached out to Windy Boy for comment Thursday but had received no reply by publication time. 

Democratic Party Chair Shannon O’Brien today released a statement saying “Jonathan Windy Boy has notified me that he will be dropping out of the race for the 2nd Congressional District” and stating that she is “deeply troubled to learn about allegations of serious sexual abuse against Mr. Windy Boy.”

“Democrat or not, Windy Boy should be investigated and held accountable, as should anyone else with allegations of this nature,” O’Brien wrote.

The statement contained no additional information or context regarding the allegations. The Montana Democratic Party declined to make a representative of the party available for an interview. 

Windy Boy is a state senator from Box Elder who has served as a representative and senator in the Montana Legislature since 2003. O’Brien’s statement called on Windy Boy to resign his Senate seat.

Sen. Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, also asked Thursday for Windy Boy’s resignation in a statement that referred to the allegations as “deeply disturbing.”

An investigation found that in 2017 a legislator later identified as Windy Boy sent harassing text messages to a female colleague in the Legislature, according to reporting by The Associated Press in 2019. According to that reporting, legislative leaders in 2018 discussed disciplining Windy Boy, and then-Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen suggested removing him as a committee chairman. According to Knudsen, as reported by AP, Democratic legislators asked to meet with Windy Boy before any disciplinary action was taken. Windy Boy later resigned from his committee chairmanship prior to the 2019 legislative session. No legal action was instigated regarding the 2017 incident. 

It’s not known if the “allegations of serious sexual abuse against Mr. Windy Boy” referenced in the Democratic Party’s announcement are related to the 2017 incident.

Helena attorney Brian Miller, one of two candidates competing with Windy Boy in the 2026 Democratic primary, released a campaign statement in March criticizing Windy Boy over the 2017 harassment allegations. 

Two Democrats remain in the Eastern District primary: Miller, and Sam Lux, a farrier in Great Falls. 

The seat is currently held by one-term Republican incumbent Troy Downing, who won by 30 percentage points in 2024. 

This story originally appeared in the Montana Free Press, which can be found online at montanafreepress.org.