Who Has Filed to Run for Office in the Flathead So Far?

Candidates running to represent Montana in a slate of federal and state offices are officially off to the races, as filing for the June primary opened last Tuesday.

Among the contests to be decided in June are a high-profile Democratic primary for who will take on U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke in Montana’s western congressional district; a primary contest between two Republicans for the Public Service Commission district encompassing the Flathead Valley; and several state House and Senate seats, as the Montana GOP continues a longtime debate about how it wants to govern as it has consolidated political power in a historically purple state.

Voters’ preferences on June 2 will set the final contests for November’s general election.

Flathead County has 12 state House districts and seven state Senate districts within its bounds. All 12 House districts and four of the Senate districts are up for re-election this year. Republicans hold all but two of those seats. Only a handful of districts look to have competitive primaries this spring after the first week of candidate filing.

In House District 4, incumbent Republican Rep. Lyn Bennett, who was a freshman legislator in 2025, will contend with a three-way primary. She’ll face Shaun Pandina, an entrepreneur who ran against Rep. Courtenay Sprunger, R-Kalispell, in the 2024 primary, as well as mounting an unsuccessful run for the Kalispell Public Schools board of trustees in 2023. A second challenger, Nathan Purdy, has also filed with the Secretary of State’s office as a Republican to run for HD 4. Purdy does not have a listed campaign website. HD 4 splits Whitefish in half and holds the majority of Columbia Falls in its bounds.

While nobody has officially filed with the Montana Secretary of State for House District 7, which runs through the heart of Kalispell, a competitive race is expected to take place in this primary season. Rep. Sprunger, the incumbent, along with challenger Luke Maxwell, have each filed statements of candidacy with Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices. Both are poised to run as Republicans, setting up another competitive primary for Sprunger to wade through this spring.

In 2024, the primary election cycle also saw Sprunger face off against a challenger from the right in Pandina, whom she defeated. At the time, the Flathead County Republican Central Committee endorsed Pandina, even as Sprunger earned endorsements from U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke and Gov. Greg Gianforte.

On the state Senate side, a competitive Republican primary to replace Mike Cuffe in Senate District 1 has taken shape. Cuffe has long represented the district, which includes much of Lincoln County and part of Flathead County. But he is term-limited out of the Senate this year. Two Republicans — Steve Gunderson and Vincent Backen — have filed to replace him. Gunderson served in the state House from 2017-2024, and his campaign website states he is a retired businessman. Backen does not have a publicly available campaign website.

And Dr. Annie Bukacek, who represents Flathead County on the state’s Public Service Commission, has drawn a Republican challenger for her re-election in David Sanders, of Helena. Bukacek, a physician from Kalispell and an outspoken anti-abortion and anti-vaccine advocate, has represented the PSC district since 2022. Sanders, her challenger, formerly served as the PSC’s executive director in 2024.

The utility regulating body has a long history of controversy, including conflict between members, corruption and office culture issues. A legislative committee is in the throes of a study considering reshaping the board to be appointed, rather than elected. Montana is one of only a handful of states that elects its public service commissioners.

Four Democrats have also filed in Montana’s first congressional district, paving the way for a contest likely to be the year’s highest-profile primary race. It’s a race that has attracted outside attention, as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named the western district one of its “District in Play” for the 2026 election cycle. The western district encompasses both Democratic strongholds like Missoula, and Republican strongholds, like Kalispell.

Candidates running include Ryan Busse, a former firearms executive from Kalispell; Russell Cleveland, a rancher and Navy veteran from Saint Regis; Sam Forstag, a smokejumper and union leader from Missoula; and Matt Rains, a rancher from Simms. All four candidates have touched on similar issues, pointing to healthcare, affordability and housing as important to Montanans in social media posts and at campaign events.

For the U.S. Senate race, five Democrats have registered campaign committees with the Federal Election Commission. Only one, Michael Hummert of Helena, has filed for candidacy with Montana’s Secretary of State so far. Other Democrats with campaign committees angling for a chance to face off against incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Daines include Reilly Neill, a former legislator from Livingston; Alani Bankhead, an Air Force veteran from Helena; Michael Black Wolf, a tribal historic preservation officer from Hays; and Kate McLaughlin, of Kalispell.

Daines has outraised all five Democratic candidates combined thus far. He was the first candidate to file for re-election last Tuesday.

One Libertarian candidate, Kyle Austin, of Billings, has also filed to run against Daines. Despite widespread speculation he’d mount a U.S. Senate run as an independent, former University of Montana president Seth Bodnar has yet to register a campaign committee with the FEC or to file with the Secretary of State’s office.

But the filing window for candidates remains open, and primary races could still see shifting dynamics until they close. Candidates have until March 4 to file their paperwork.

[email protected]