U.S. Chamber of Commerce Backs Alme in Senate Race
The organization lauded Alme in a Monday event in Kalispell, as the former U.S. attorney outlined his plans to root out fraud in government programs, cut taxes and require Congress to pass a balanced budget, should he win election
By Mariah Thomas
Affordability is the top issue Republican Kurt Alme has heard about when he appears in front of voters during his run for the U.S. Senate, and part of attacking it, in the candidate’s estimation, is providing Montanans with good jobs. But to do that, Montana must remain a business-friendly state, something he hopes he can help with should he win the Senate seat this November.
On Monday afternoon, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — the world’s largest business organization, which advocates for pro-business policy — put its weight behind Alme in Montana’s four-way race for the Senate. Alme appeared alongside former Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, who serves as the U.S. Chamber’s head of government affairs, at Kalispell-based company GL Solutions, which belongs to both the Kalispell and U.S. chambers of commerce.
“Pro-jobs, pro-family, pro-business — all those type of policies make our community stronger, and I’m looking forward to working together with the U.S. Chamber, GL Solutions and small businesses all across the state to keep delivering results for Montana,” Alme said. “We all want good-paying jobs. We want a strong economy. We all want the opportunity to raise our families here without having to leave the state to find those good-paying jobs like we used to have to do in days gone by.”
Alme’s backing from the chamber marks the latest of several high-profile endorsements from right-leaning groups the Republican has earned in his bid for the Senate seat that currently belongs to U.S. Sen. Steve Daines. The U.S. Chamber’s endorsement joins ones from the National Rifle Association, the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life American Candidate Fund and, more locally, the Montana Stockgrowers Association’s Agricultural Political Action Committee as Alme paints his run as one focused on Montana.
At Monday’s event, Alme pointed to his record serving in the administrations of Montana Govs. Judy Martz and Greg Gianforte, both of whom have slashed taxes during their tenures, as examples of his pro-business bona fides.
If elected, he promised he’d build on that record by championing legislation requiring Congress to pass a balanced budget or risk their pay. Alme heralded his support of President Donald Trump’s working families tax cut, which passed as part of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” in July 2025. He also said he hoped to cut taxes and get rid of government waste, with a specific focus on rooting out fraud in programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. And he placed the blame for inflation on “reckless government spending” under former President Joe Biden — though inflation has also gone up since Trump took office in 2025, in part due to high oil and gas prices driven by the war in Iran.
As the U.S. Chamber endorses Alme and Alme trumpets a focus on affordability, the issue is one that has become a buzzword across the aisle as Montanans report tightening pocketbooks and dollars that don’t stretch as far. Alme’s opponents, the independent Seth Bodnar and Democrat Alani Bankhead, have each also pointed to the cost of living and need to increase job creation as critical factors in this year’s election. Both have placed blame with Trump and his administration’s policies on issues like the Iran war and tariffs as driving costs up.
Alme’s positions, on the other hand, fall in line with wider Republican Party ethos on spending and the economy, which often poses tightening the government’s belt and cutting taxes across the board as answers to reining in spending and cutting costs. Those positions also fall in line with Trump’s economic agenda, which Davis said the U.S. Chamber supported.
“As a matter of fact, we work with the Trump administration on a regular basis, and without President Trump and Republicans in the House and the Senate passing the One Big Beautiful Bill, every single small business and every single family in this nation would have seen the largest tax increase in American history,” Davis said.
Taxes were primed to go up in 2026 because the changes made within the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 were set to expire at the end of 2025, prior to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s passage.
“Working together with all of them shows us that the affordability crisis that many Americans are experiencing right now would’ve been worse without action from President Trump and congressional and senatorial Republicans,” Davis continued. “Kurt Alme’s gonna be the type of leader who’s going to follow in the footsteps of Senator Daines, Congressman [Ryan] Zinke, Congressman [Troy] Downing, and also a former congressman and your governor, [Greg] Gianforte.”
Alme, who has been endorsed by the president, said he thinks the president’s policies still exemplify Montanans’ prevailing views on affordability and beyond.
“I think that people in Montana still support the policies of the president,” Alme said. “Whether we’re talking about, you know, affordability issues, dealing with that, dealing with public safety issues, dealing with quality-of-life issues — people in Montana, I think, still align with the president and his policies. I don’t think that’s changed since the last election.”