Happy Friday, Beacon readers! Mariah Thomas here, in a departure from my usual Wednesday newsletter day, to wrap us up for the week — and what a week it’s been. It feels surreal that I started it at the Under the Big Sky music festival, listening to Chris Stapleton and Charles Wesley Godwin (who was honestly the bigger deal to me… his “All Again” is one of my favorite songs of all time), and now we’re ending it with smoke covering that very same big sky. I’m just grateful it waited until after the festival to roll in so that could be checked off the summer bucket list I’m still working through. I’m hoping that it’ll roll out sooner rather than later so I can get up Mount Aeneas next.
But onto more important things than the summer bucket list! Today, I’ve got a Daily Roundup taking a look at the latest quarterly fundraising figures in the U.S. Senate race and western U.S. House race, and what they reveal about where candidates stand. Let’s get into it.
Starting with the House side … Republican radio talk show host Aaron Flint and his opponent, Democrat Sam Forstag, a local union leader and smokejumper, were pretty evenly matched in terms of second quarter fundraising figures as they run for the state’s western congressional district. That seat has been held by U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, who is not running for re-election, since it was recreated in 2022.
Forstag (pictured above) edged out Flint by around $70,000, raking in a total of $688,303.71, while Flint brought in $619,142.90 in the time frame from mid-May through the end of June. Those figures brought both candidates to more than $1.3 million raised in total. They remain relatively even in terms of money left to spend, too, with each boasting more than $500,000 in cash on hand.
Even as Forstag’s bank account outpaces Flint’s, the Cook Political Report ranks the race as “likely Republican.” Little polling has been completed post-primary, but a late June poll from Impact Research — a Democratic pollster — included 500 likely voters in the western district and showed Flint and Forstag in a dead heat to start off the head-to-head race. Both polled at 44% of the vote, while Libertarian Nick Sheedy took another 5%. Sheedy’s fundraising numbers haven’t cleared the threshold of $5,000 to require a financial report. Another 6% of voters remained undecided.
Forstag’s fundraising figures are a sole bright spot for Democrats, whose candidates in the U.S. Senate race and eastern U.S. House races have been heavily out-raised by their Republican and independent opponents.
That’s certainly the case for Alani Bankhead, the Democrats’ Senate candidate. Bankhead, a U.S. Air Force veteran, raked in $34,944.91 for her campaign’s coffers from mid-May through the end of June. It brought her total raised to $58,829.06, of which she reported having $21,484.67 on hand to spend. She was boosted by the mysterious Progressive Vet PAC in the primary, but that funding dissipated at the end of June as the PAC backed out of the race citing recent polling and fundraising reports that “make it clear that a Democrat does not have a viable path to winning the Montana Senate seat.” Still, the Democratic Party’s board and executive director have committed publicly to backing their candidate; and Bankhead has committed to staying in the race.
But Bankhead’s fundraising figures were dwarfed in the second quarter by both her Republican opponent, Kurt Alme, and the high-profile independent in the race, former University of Montana president Seth Bodnar. Kyle Austin, the Libertarian candidate, is well behind the rest of the pack, only raising $100 in the second quarter.
Alme’s campaign reported $800,733.52 in receipts during the second quarter of fundraising, bringing Montana’s former U.S. attorney to a total of $1,984,860.91. He has more than $1.4 million of that war chest left on hand to spend. Another authorized joint fundraising committee for Alme, Team Alme, reported raking in an additional $437,786.60 for the Republican from mid-May through the end of June.
“I’m deeply grateful for every supporter of our grassroots campaign built on Montana values and conservative common sense,” Alme said in a release about his fundraising figures on July 15. “Our message of making life more affordable, keeping our communities safe, and protecting our Montana way of life is resonating, and our momentum is surging by the day. We’ll keep working hard to earn the votes of all Montanans while fighting to secure our borders and elections, defend our Second Amendment rights, keep boys out of girls’ sports, support our veterans, protect our public lands, and put Montana first.”
Bodnar (pictured above), the independent in the race, reported $1,122,037.01 in receipts during the second quarter of fundraising, bringing his total haul to $3,238,150.74 since he announced his run in March. He has $977,779.31 of that in the bank to use.
Even as Bodnar’s fundraising hauls paint a picture of a competitive race, polling in the Senate race shows Alme virtually running away with the race, earning 45% of the vote in a three-way scenario as Bodnar and Bankhead split between 40-47% of the vote, depending on the poll. One recent poll shows a head-to-head race between Bankhead and Alme, in which Alme came out on top with 49% of those polled supporting Alme to Bankhead’s 43%. A May poll pitting Bodnar directly against Alme, without a Democrat in the mix, showed a 50-50 split.
A crescendo of calls to consolidate behind one candidate — either Bankhead or Bodnar — have sprung up as some Democrats hope to put the seat into play.
Seventeen Democratic lawmakers wrote an open letter to the pair, asking that they decide who between them will drop their bid by the Aug. 10 withdrawal deadline. A group of lawyers wrote a letter to the Montana Democratic Party July 16 outlining a legal strategy they said could allow the Democratic Party to back Bodnar, should Bankhead drop out. And earlier this week, Carol Williams, a former legislator and the wife of longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Pat Williams, called on Bankhead to leave the race.
Those calls come as Bodnar — rather than Bankhead — has buttoned up support from several groups that traditionally support Democratic candidates, including VoteVets, a progressive organization committed to electing veterans who support Democratic values, just this morning.
So far, neither candidate has indicated any intention to drop their bid.
And … that’s what I’ve got for you all today, though there will certainly be more to come on these races in the future, so stay tuned. For now, it’s onto the rest of the Daily Roundup we go.
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An Academy of Country Music Top Female Vocalist, multi-platinum artist, and Grand Ole Opry member Sara Evans is the voice behind number 1 hits like “Born to Fly” and “Suds in the Bucket” and “A Little Bit Stronger.” Don’t miss her powerful vocals and and heartfelt lyrics live on the Wachholz stage.
Don’t miss Country Music Hall and lifelong torchbearer of country music Marty Stuart on July 26. Marty has spent over 50 years shaping the genre from performing with Johnny Cash and Lester Flat to building a legendary solo career. He and The Superlatives’ most recent album release “Space Junk” showcases the inimitable interplay and bond between Marty and his longtime bandmates, Kenny Vaughan, Harry Stinson, and Chris Scruggs.
Old 97’s are bringing their legendary high-energy live show to our outdoor stage, joined by rising alt-country opener River Shook. Bring your lawn chair or blanket, kick back under the Big Sky and enjoy an unforgettable night of country-rock from one of America’s best live bands. Tickets are just $20! Food trucks and a bar will be on site.
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