2026 Montana U.S. Senate · Voter Guide
Proposition by proposition
Where all four candidates — Alani Bankhead, Kurt Alme, Seth Bodnar, and Kyle Austin — stand on 130 specific propositions, side by side. Every position is located and sourced the same way, from the candidates' own words and public filings. A gap means no position was found, not that none exists.
Current as of October 17, 2026.
Who's on the record — and who isn't
Across 130 propositions · current as of October 17, 2026 · every candidate's positions located and sourced the same way
Kurt AlmeRepublican
36
Alani BankheadDemocrat
126
Seth BodnarIndependent
70
Kyle AustinLibertarian
35
This chart counts one thing: how many of these 130 issues each candidate has taken a clear, sourced position on. It doesn’t say who is right. Alani has the most detail: 104 of her 126 positions carry a specific plan, and the other three candidates have 33 plans between them. She has a position on 126 of the 130 issues. The next closest has 70. A short bar means a candidate hasn’t said, and it doesn’t mean they disagree. Some of these issues only Alani has addressed so far, and every candidate’s gaps are marked the same way. Read the rows and decide for yourself.
SupportsOpposes
QualifiedOn recordNot found
Evidence: Plan a mechanism or figure Stance a clear position Named only listed as a value
Coverage and MedicaidCosts, drugs and middlemenRural access and workforceWomen's health and long-term careHousing and the cost of livingPublic lands, and what gets built on themFrontier safety, deepfakes and your likenessAgriculture and tradeSchoolsRights and the courtsGuns, crime and the borderCriminal justice & anti-traffickingWar and foreign policyHow they would actually serve
Proposition
Kurt Alme
Republican
Alani Bankhead
Democrat
Seth Bodnar
Independent
Kyle Austin
Libertarian
Health care · Coverage and Medicaid
Defend Medicaid expansion against the cuts in the 2025 budget bill
Sources: 2·5
Kurt Alme RepMixedPlanPraises the 2025 budget law (the Working Families Tax Cuts Act) and its Rural Health Transformation Program. No position on defending the expansion located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBacks universal coverage; would block the work-requirement paperwork traps that disenroll eligible people and protect the Medicaid funding rural hospitals depend on.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceExplicitly: will defend Medicaid expansion. Says the bill drops 30,000 Montanans and costs rural hospitals $5B.
Kyle Austin LibMixedPlanWarns recent Medicaid changes could drop eligible Montanans, but supports work requirements for benefits.
Guarantee universal coverage through public financing
Sources: 2·5·4·13·43·47
Kurt Alme RepOpposesStanceWould send “healthcare dollars to patients to shop for policies instead of subsidizing insurance companies” (MTFP, Oct. 7); favors price transparency and competition, and says more tax dollars “have just subsidized big insurance companies and big pharma.”
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanGets to universal coverage in steps: finish the ACA, then Medicaid for all, then Medicare for all, on a TRICARE-style model through your own doctor. Each step is independently scored, and the next step doesn't cancel anyone's coverage.
Seth Bodnar IndMixedStanceCalls for a “universal coverage option for every American while maintaining choice and competition” (debate, Oct. 11) but worries about single payer, and answered “no” to Medicare for All. Pairs it with prevention, price transparency and moving “toward expanding coverage.”
Kyle Austin LibMixedPlanHis “Health Care 2.0” plan would “consolidate it all under one program” with “one set of rules” (debate, Oct. 11): Medicare, Medicaid, the VA, TRICARE and other federal coverage folded into a congressionally chartered nonprofit, paid for by redirecting existing federal health spending, with a standard plan for people who can’t afford private coverage (MTFP, Oct. 7). No guarantee of coverage for everyone, and he has said costs rise whenever government gets involved.
Restore the expired ACA premium tax credits
Sources: 2·16·48
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanRestore the expired ACA premium tax credits that doubled people's premiums and make the help permanent, at about $350 billion over 10 years by CBO's estimate, roughly $35 billion a year.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceRestore the expired ACA premium tax credits; told the president (Oct. 13) he disagrees with “letting the health care tax credits expire.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Add a public option people can choose
Sources: 2·19·33·36
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanAdd a public option people can choose alongside private plans, with no mandate.
Seth Bodnar IndPartlyStancePrinciple: “a coverage option for every American, without losing choice or competition.” Names no public option or any other mechanism for getting there.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStance“Healthcare 2.0” would combine Medicare, Medicaid, the VA and TRICARE into “an affordable plan that can compete with private industry”; backs government-funded insurance “available for all who want it, along with private healthcare options.”
Close the Medicaid coverage gap
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceClose the Medicaid coverage gap so low-income people aren't left with no affordable path to coverage.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Work requirements for public benefits
Sources: 4·19
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemOpposesPlanDelay and repeal the federal Medicaid work-reporting mandate, fund the state eligibility systems so eligible people aren’t dropped over paperwork, and protect the exemptions Washington left out. “I’m not against work.”
Seth Bodnar IndMixedStanceWould “repeal or fix” the new Medicaid reporting rules, calling the paperwork a trap that knocks eligible people off coverage; speaks to Medicaid only, not benefits broadly.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsPlanSupports work requirements, particularly for SNAP.
Health care · Costs, drugs and middlemen
Break up the health care monopolies
Sources: 2·19
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBreak up the vertically-integrated giants: just three pharmacy benefit managers handle about 8 in 10 prescriptions, each owned by a parent that also owns an insurer and a pharmacy chain. Back the bipartisan Patients Before Monopolies Act. Americans pay nearly three times what other wealthy countries pay for the same medicines.
Seth Bodnar IndPartlyPlanTargets the same players by oversight, not breakup: rein in insurers that “make money by saying no,” force PBMs to disclose what they charge, expand Medicare negotiation. No divestiture or breakup mechanism.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Protect Medicare Part D drug-cost relief
Sources: 2·19
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanProtect the Medicare Part D gains: the yearly out-of-pocket cap ($2,100 in 2026), $35 insulin, free vaccines, and Medicare drug-price negotiation. About 198,000 Montanans rely on Part D.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanExpand Medicare drug-price negotiation “well past the early rounds” and into doctor-administered drugs; cap insulin at $35 a month for every Montanan, not only those on Medicare.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Cap what patients pay out of pocket and take the pharmacy middlemen’s cut
Sources: 2·19
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanLower what you can be billed in a year: support efforts to cut the out-of-pocket ceiling on private plans (current efforts target $5,000) and extend Medicare’s yearly drug cap to every patient, paid for by the middlemen’s margins. Ban PBM spread pricing, pay PBMs a flat fee instead of a percentage of list price, and pass rebates through at the pharmacy counter.
Seth Bodnar IndPartlyPlanPBMs “ought to have to say plainly what they are charging Montana pharmacies and patients,” and insulin and other lifesaving drugs “should be capped at $35 a month for every Montanan.” No wider out-of-pocket cap and no PBM fee or rebate reform.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Mandatory hospital price transparency
Sources: 5·19·40
Kurt Alme RepSupportsPlanPosted prices so patients can compare before treatment; calls health care the only industry that hides cost until after purchase.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanMake hospitals and insurers post real prices before you’re treated: write the price-transparency rules into law with penalties that bite, and pass the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act and the Health Care PRICE Transparency Act.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlan“Making prices honest”: the posting rules hospitals and insurers already face “need teeth,” and the surprise-billing system has become a windfall for hospitals and insurers and needs fixing.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Health care · Rural access and workforce
Expand telehealth to close the rural access gap
Sources: 2·5
Kurt Alme RepSupportsStanceNames telehealth expansion as a way to ease hospital burden.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanMake telehealth permanent: Medicare’s telehealth coverage now runs only through the end of 2027, so pass the bipartisan CONNECT for Health Act. Back the telehealth licensure compacts so rural and reservation Montanans can reach the right provider, and grow rural providers with NHSC loan forgiveness.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceSupports telehealth plus rural workforce incentives.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Grow the rural doctor and provider pipeline
Sources: 2·5·4
Kurt Alme RepSupportsStanceSays Rural Health Transformation Program funds “can be invested to help recruit, train, and retain doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals.”
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanLoan forgiveness for providers who serve rural and tribal Montana, and take on the medical-education costs that keep the pipeline too small.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanWould invest in rural health-care workforce recruitment and fix Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement rates that underpay rural obstetrics and emergency care.
Kyle Austin LibMixedStanceWants a national licensing database, saying state-by-state licensing “prevents people from coming to Montana to practice healthcare in rural communities where we need them the most”; no new funding.
Cut provider licensing rules and credit on-the-job learning toward credentials
Sources: 2·4
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemMixedStanceBack the telehealth licensure compacts, and make military experience count toward the civilian credential; no broader cut to licensing rules.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStanceBlames licensing paperwork for pharmacy workforce shortages and higher consumer costs.
Health care · Women's health and long-term care
Close maternity-care deserts and fund women's health
Sources: 2·19
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanNearly half of Montana’s counties are maternity-care deserts. Fund rural and tribal OB care and the maternal-health workforce, restore the women’s, maternal, and minority-health research Washington cancelled, defend landmark studies like the Women’s Health Initiative, and put women fully into clinical trials.
Seth Bodnar IndMixedStanceCovers the maternity-desert piece: end the underpayment of rural childbirth and emergency care, protect ambulance access, and meet women veterans’ maternity-care needs. Still no women’s-health-funding or research plank.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Pass the Momnibus and act on maternal deaths: doulas, postpartum care and bias training
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanPass the Black Maternal Health Momnibus. Protect 12 months of postpartum Medicaid, send mothers with high blood pressure home with a cuff and someone checking the numbers, set a federal training floor for Medicaid-paid doulas and train doulas in rural and tribal communities with the IHS, and require bias training and warning-sign protocols in every maternity unit.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Protect and properly fund Medicaid long-term care
Sources: 2·19
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanRaise Medicaid reimbursement to the true cost of care so nursing homes can staff up and stop closing. A private nursing-home room now runs a median of about $127,750 a year.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceProtect the Medicaid coverage that holds up nursing-home and in-home care. For families caring for an aging parent or a disabled adult child, “there is no backup plan if it goes away.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Make home- and community-based care a guaranteed Medicaid benefit
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanGrow federal HCBS funding to clear Montana's 2,100-person waiver waitlist and make home- and community-based services a guaranteed part of Medicaid, not the first thing cut.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Housing and the cost of living
Raise the capital-gains exclusion on a home sale from $250k to $500k
Sources: 2·5·44
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanWould raise the home-sale capital-gains exclusion from $250k to $500k. The 1990s-era cap keeps owners from selling, and lifting it adds inventory and eases prices.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStancePlatform: “Raising the capital gains exemption on home sales to encourage longtime owners to sell.” Names no amount.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Tax breaks for builders whose portfolio is at least 30% affordable housing
Sources: 5
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanTax breaks for builders who make at least 30% of their units genuinely affordable, paired with the HOPE for Homeownership Act so Wall Street funds can’t buy up the homes that get built.
Seth Bodnar IndMixedStanceBacks targeted tax incentives for affordable and workforce housing in rural and small-town Montana; no 30%-portfolio threshold specified.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Bar private equity firms from bulk-buying single-family homes
Sources: 2·5·48
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBack the HOPE for Homeownership Act: a 15% tax (at least $10,000) on every single-family home a hedge fund buys, no more tax breaks for those homes, and $5,000 a home each year until the funds sell back to families.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanWould put rules in place to prevent it, and offered (Oct. 13) to work with the president on “stopping Wall Street investors from buying up starter homes.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Cut construction red tape to increase housing supply
Sources: 5·40·43·44
Kurt Alme RepSupportsStanceSays overregulation created the shortage and government must get out of the way.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanCut the delays that keep homes from getting built: speed up federal reviews and permits without gutting clean-water protections, and pass the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceCut “the red tape slowing new housing construction” and back “zoning and code reform that expands supply” (platform); at the debate, “we need zoning and code reform to build more homes,” plus infrastructure investment to unlock supply.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStanceReduce construction barriers; zero tariffs on materials; expand logging and mills.
Federal down-payment help for first-time home buyers
Sources: 2·23
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBack the Downpayment Toward Equity Act (up to $20,000 for first-generation buyers), the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Act (up to $15,000) and the Homeownership Promise Act (a 5-to-1 match on savings, up to $50,000).
Seth Bodnar IndPartlyMentioned only“Explore down payment assistance through programs such as the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development loans.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Crack down on appraisal bias and fund Native lenders and bonding for tribal businesses
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanCrack down on appraisal bias and help first-time buyers with the down payment. In Indian Country, fully fund the Native lenders that make the loans banks won’t, use federal bond guarantees so tribal contractors can win the work, and back tribes building their own financial institutions without giving up any sovereignty.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Balanced federal budget as the primary cost-of-living fix
Sources: 5·4·11·3·1
Kurt Alme RepSupportsPlanSays his first bill would stop Congress’s pay if it can’t balance the budget (“if Congress can’t balance the budget, they don’t get paid”), then cut “line by line.”
Alani Bankhead DemMixedPlanClaw back use-it-or-lose-it federal waste through independent, expert audits with the authority to act on them, and put the savings toward keeping rural hospitals open; no balanced-budget pledge.
Seth Bodnar IndMixedStanceWants a sustainable fiscal path and an end to using the debt ceiling as a political weapon, framed as not passing the bill to the next generation rather than as a cost-of-living lever.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsMentioned onlyWants to “DOGE” federal and state government to cut spending and lower taxes.
Recover federal waste, starting with end-of-year use-or-lose spending, and redirect it to Americans
Sources: 2·5·27
Kurt Alme RepMixedStanceBlames fraudulent Social Security and Medicaid payments for much of the federal debt (as reported); backs cutting waste, with no plan to recover and redirect it.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanClaw back wasteful “use-it-or-lose-it” federal spending to offset the cost of keeping rural hospitals open, and find the real waste with independent, expert audits that have the authority to act on them. Verified savings, not a press release.
Seth Bodnar IndMixedStanceFrames confronting reckless Washington spending and the national debt as priorities; no use-or-lose recovery mechanism identified.
Kyle Austin LibMixedStanceWould “redirect the wasteful spending into offering 0% financing through the USDA to our farmers and ranchers” and “DOGE” government; no use-or-lose or audit mechanism named.
Protect seniors from being taxed out of long-held homes
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceMontanans who spent a lifetime working shouldn’t be taxed out of the homes where they raised their families: partner with the state on property-tax relief for Montanans living on Social Security.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Protect Social Security and shore up its solvency
Sources: 2·3·43·37·44
Kurt Alme RepPartlyStance“I will never support a cut in benefits for seniors” (debate, Oct. 11). Backs the 2025 tax law’s Social Security deduction and would start with “what I know best,” stopping fraud. No solvency plan beyond fraud recovery.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanNo benefit cuts and no privatization; protect it from the automatic cut coming in late 2032, lift the wage cap so the wealthiest pay in on all their income, end the federal tax on benefits, and stop docking caregivers' pay from a senior's check.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceWould lift the payroll-tax cap on the highest earners and rule out benefit cuts, including a higher eligibility age. At the debate: “we need a fair approach to taxation,” since a $75,000 earner pays on all of their income and a $2 million earner on “less than ten percent.” “You fix that situation. You fix Social Security.”
Kyle Austin LibMixedStanceWould “take care of the people currently on Social Security,” but for future generations proposes “a trust fund where your money goes into your account, your investment … It’s your money, not the government’s money” (debate, Oct. 11).
An annual wealth tax on the largest fortunes
Sources: 2·16·22·27·33
Kurt Alme RepOpposesStanceSigned the Taxpayer Protection Pledge to oppose any tax increase; no statement on a wealth tax itself located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanPass the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act (S. 4246): 2 cents on every dollar of net worth over $50 million and 3 cents over $1 billion, leaving 99.85% of households alone. Make it stick: fund the IRS to audit the very top instead of working families, require independent valuations of hard-to-value assets, and close the escape hatch for anyone who renounces citizenship to dodge it. Close the carried-interest break and reject top-heavy tax cuts.
Seth Bodnar IndOpposesStance“I’m not a supporter of a thing like a wealth tax… I don’t think we need to punish success”; called a billionaire wealth tax “not enforceable.”
Kyle Austin LibOpposesStanceDisagrees that “people who can afford to pay more taxes should do so in order to provide relief for working families”; no statement on a wealth tax itself located.
Make the biggest corporations pay at least the 15% minimum, with a higher rate only above $1 billion in profits
Sources: 2·27·41
Kurt Alme RepOpposesStanceSigned the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which commits him to oppose any increase in income tax rates for individuals or businesses.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanEnforce the 15% minimum tax the largest companies already owe and close the loopholes that let them write their bills down to zero; raise the rate only on corporations making more than $1 billion in profits, so small businesses and family operations don’t pay a dime more.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibMixedPlanWants “a pure flat tax… an equal 2.5% across the board” with credits and deductions eliminated, “because that is where the big corporations are winning”: closes loopholes, but no higher rate for the largest companies.
Block a national right-to-work law and protect the right to organize
Sources: 2·28
Kurt Alme RepMixedMentioned onlyEndorsed by the painters’ union; says workers “need to be able to have an opportunity to negotiate for a fair wage and fair benefits.” No position on the PRO Act or right-to-work located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBlock the National Right-to-Work Act (H.R. 1232 / S. 533), pass the Protect America’s Workforce Act and the PRO Act, keep the NLRB working, pay prevailing wage and use project labor agreements on federal builds, put two-person train crews into law, end misclassification, and build portable benefits for seasonal work. Montana is not a right-to-work state, and no act of Congress should make it one.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceLabor Day statement: “opposing Right to Work, defending the right to organize and bargain collectively”; pledges to “always defend the right to organize.” Does not name the PRO Act.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Raise the federal minimum wage to $17 an hour by 2030 and index it to inflation
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanRaise the federal minimum wage to at least $17 an hour by 2030 and index it to inflation, the way Montana already does, so the floor never sits frozen for 17 years again.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Lower interest rates as a housing lever
Sources: 5·23·35
Kurt Alme RepPartlyStanceSays “we’ve got to control spending to bring inflation and mortgage rates down”; ties rates to deficit spending, with no interest-rate policy named.
Alani Bankhead DemNot foundNo position located.
Seth Bodnar IndPartlyStanceSays the national debt “crowds out private borrowing and drives up interest rates for all of us”; no interest-rate policy named.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsMentioned onlyLists lowering interest rates first among his housing measures.
Federal action to make child care affordable and available
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanExpand CCDBG with rural and Tribal supply-building grants where no providers exist, cap child-care costs as a share of income, support providers earning a living wage, and make the Child & Dependent Care Tax Credit bigger and refundable. 59% of Montana counties are child-care deserts.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Enforce child-care safety, inspections, and accountability
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanFund and enforce the CCDBG background checks, health-and-safety standards, and inspections already required; give parents a public provider record; and act when a provider abuses or neglects a child.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Protect Head Start and restore the expanded Child Tax Credit
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanProtect Head Start and Early Head Start, and bring back an expanded Child Tax Credit so families have real breathing room.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Public lands, and what gets built on them
No sale or transfer of public lands, under any circumstance
Sources: 2·5·1·8·23·43·44·48
Kurt Alme RepPartlyStance“I will always fight to keep our public lands in public hands, and I’ll fight against anyone who tries to sell them off” (debate, Oct. 11). Nothing said on transfer to the states.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlan“No selling of public lands ever. No opening up public lands for exploitation ever.” Pass the bipartisan Public Lands in Public Hands Act.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceWill “oppose any sale or transfer of public land, full stop,” and any budget provision that uses public lands as a bargaining chip. At the debate: “We do not need to repeal the roadless rule.” To the president (Oct. 13): “I disagree with any effort to sell off, transfer, or open up our public lands to the highest bidder.”
Kyle Austin LibPartlyStance“Public lands will remain public lands” (debate, Oct. 11). Nothing said on transfer to the states.
Fund and staff the Forest Service, BLM and Park Service to meet the need
Sources: 2·43·44
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanFund the Forest Service, BLM and Park Service to meet the documented need, from trails and campgrounds to fire prevention, and hire the people it takes; about 360 Montana Forest Service workers were let go in 2025. Keep at least 80% of park fees in the park where they were paid.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStancePlatform: “Fully funding the Forest Service, BLM, and Park Service” and “reversing cuts to the federal agencies that manage our forests.” At the debate: “we’ve seen those agencies gutted in the past year.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Defend Montana’s Stream Access Law against any federal move to erode it
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceDefend Montana’s Stream Access Law: our rivers and streams belong to everyone who wades them, and no federal move should chip away at that.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Defend the Antiquities Act and Montana’s national monuments
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceDefend the Antiquities Act and Montana’s national monuments, the Upper Missouri River Breaks and Pompeys Pillar, against efforts to shrink or undo them.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Use the Land and Water Conservation Fund to buy land from willing sellers and open locked-up public land
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanFully use the Land and Water Conservation Fund to buy land from willing sellers and open locked-up public land to hunters, anglers and families.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Pass the River Runs Through It Act as written
Sources: 2·44·49
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemMixedPlanPass a version that keeps the 130,000 acres of new wilderness Montanans spent twenty years building, without opening 181,000 acres of roadless backcountry to logging or stripping protection from the Hoodoo Mountain and Wales Creek Wilderness Study Areas.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanPlatform: “Passing the River Runs Through It Act and similar collaborative conservation efforts.” Wild Montana Action Fund’s voter guide says he has pledged to introduce it in the Senate.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Legal right to corner cross between public parcels
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStance“I support corner crossing. Period.”
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
A temporary moratorium on new large-scale data centers
Sources: 2·13·30·43·44·48
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBack the federal moratorium on the largest AI data centers (the 20-megawatt AI Data Center Moratorium Act, S. 4214) and the moratoriums Montana communities are pushing: a pause until the studies, the data, and the standards are in place, with a federal right-to-know standard to give it teeth.
Seth Bodnar IndOpposesStanceTold the Beer, Buds & Big Sky podcast “no” to a two-year moratorium. His campaign now says he opposes “construction of AI data centers” (Oct. 13) and headlines his plank “Fight Data Centers,” but the policy underneath stops projects one at a time: “any data center that raises Montanans’ power bills, threatens our water or wildlife habitat, or moves forward without the community having the final say,” plus ratepayer protection and a local veto. No moratorium, ban or pause.
Kyle Austin LibMixedStanceOn AI data centers: “We’re not stopping it,” but wants safeguards, privacy protection and a “kill switch”; “I don’t want data centers in my backyard in Montana, but I want them in the ocean” (debate, Oct. 11). On Sept. 1: “Until there’s transparency out there, I’m completely against data centers in Montana.”
Keep large AI data centers off public lands
Sources: 2·6·15
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceWould not allow large AI data centers on public lands.
Seth Bodnar IndMixedStanceHis AI Pledge opposes “any AI data center that threatens Montana’s water, our wildlife habitat, or our public land” (a conditional, not a siting ban); no ban on building on public lands, and says a moratorium is likely a county matter.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Data center limits are a federal responsibility, not just a county one
Sources: 2·6·13·18·23·43
Kurt Alme RepMixedStanceSays "Let the local communities make that decision" but backs federal guardrails: a "big supporter" of the congressional Ratepayer Protection Act, and wants comprehensive power, water, land and jobs guardrails "for every data center company." At the debate: companies must “guarantee that there’ll be no electricity increases on Montana families,” and even then “need to work with local communities to get their acceptance.”
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanWould set a federal right-to-know standard for data-center siting, cost, and disclosure, not leave it to counties alone.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanPlatform now names the federal mechanisms: champion the Ratepayer Protection Act, tie federal tax incentives to ratepayer-protection compliance, and mandate federal real-time water and energy disclosure, alongside explicit local authority to reject.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Require public reporting of data centers' power and water use
Sources: 2·15·18·23
Kurt Alme RepMixedStanceCompanies "need to be transparent... come in early... no cutting corners" with all questions answered, and water rights and quality protected. That's transparency to the community, but no public-reporting mandate stated.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBacks one national standard to measure and disclose what each project actually uses in power and water, independently metered, building on the Data Center Water and Energy Transparency Act (S.4213).
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStancePledges full transparency and public disclosure of every data center's real-time water and energy consumption.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Require independent, pre-approval impact studies with no NDAs
Sources: 2·15·34
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanWould force timely, accurate impact studies and full disclosure of power demand, water use, and runoff before a project can move, and no nondisclosure agreement may hide it from the town that lives with it or gag a landowner from warning the neighbors.
Seth Bodnar IndPartlyStanceObjects to “redacted agreements getting struck in the middle of the night” and to companies that “make that call in private, with no one from the community in the room”; proposes no pre-approval impact study or NDA ban.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Close the reporting loopholes: third-party audits and no 'islanding' off the grid
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanOne national standard, third-party audited so every county sees the same numbers. Makes them pay 100% of their own grid upgrades and bring their own power. No islanding off the public grid, and no tax breaks.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Expand logging and mill capacity
Sources: 5·11·3
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemMixedStanceBacks science-based thinning near towns and forest restoration as steady, year-round work. Puts protecting homes and firefighters first.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceRejuvenate Montana’s wood-products industry through science-backed forest management.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStancePromotes “responsible logging” and new mills for jobs and cheaper building materials.
Protect homes and towns as the front line of wildfire policy
Sources: 2·23
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanHome-hardening tax credits plus up-front Community Wildfire Defense and FEMA grants for renters and fixed-income families, faster wildfire recovery, better pay and year-round status for wildland firefighters, and prescribed and Indigenous good fire.
Seth Bodnar IndPartlyStanceBacks “active management of our forests in the wildland urban interface to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire”; no plan to harden homes and towns.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Treat climate change as real and fund Montana’s resilience to drought, fire, and flood
Sources: 2·22·26·27
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanClimate change is real and people are driving it. Get Montana ready: home hardening and prevention near towns, drought and fire recovery for ranches, restore the clean-energy tax credits through co-ops (incentives, never mandates), finish the charge on wasted methane (vented or leaked, it traps about 80 times as much heat as carbon dioxide over 20 years), and make foreign polluters pay at the border. Full plan: alaniformt.com/climate.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Keep Montana's electric cooperative model at the center of energy policy
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBack Montana’s electric co-ops as they add local solar and battery storage, through tax credits and low-cost financing, never mandates, and protect the direct-pay option that lets co-ops use the clean-energy credits.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Make polluters, not taxpayers, pay to clean up abandoned mines
Sources: 2·23
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanA federal hardrock-mining royalty and a dedicated cleanup fund, and reinstate the full “polluter pays” Superfund taxes to fund abandoned-mine and Superfund cleanup.
Seth Bodnar IndPartlyStanceEnergy plank: cleanup and reclamation costs on private industry, not taxpayers, and fair-share royalties from energy companies on public lands (prospective); names no abandoned-mine legacy cleanup program.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Defend clean drinking water and limit PFAS
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanEnforce and fully fund the Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Acts, including federal limits on PFAS “forever chemicals.”
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Take the Sheep Creek rare-earth project off the federal fast track and give it a full environmental review
Sources: 2·42
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanTake Sheep Creek off the federal fast-track list; a full environmental review instead of the lowest level the Forest Service has, real public comment, and a real say for Ravalli County. Get critical minerals the smart way first, like the water Butte already treats at the Berkeley Pit.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceCalls the fast-tracking “unacceptable” after officials “substituted a categorical exclusion, the lowest level of oversight on the books”; “Montanans of all political stripes are not going to stand for it.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Artificial intelligence · Frontier safety, deepfakes and your likeness
Binding safety testing and incident reporting for the most capable AI systems
Sources: 2·25·23·4·1
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanIndependent testing before deployment and mandatory reporting of serious safety and security incidents (the standard already applied to aircraft and weapons systems), aimed at the handful of frontier systems, not a Bozeman startup.
Seth Bodnar IndPartlyStanceAI Pledge: “mandatory, independent safety review and certification for major new AI models before they are released.” No incident-reporting requirement.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Regulatory authority to pause high-risk AI development, with the burden of proof on the developer
Sources: 2·25·23·4·1
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanRegulators can pause development or deployment past defined high-risk capability thresholds, and where a system could create catastrophic public risk, the developer proves it is safe to proceed, not the other way around.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
No deployment of a superintelligent system that cannot be shown to remain under human control
Sources: 2·25·23·4·1
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanA bright line: "we think we can control it" has never been an acceptable answer for any system that can kill people when control is lost.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
A human in the loop for every life-or-death decision; nuclear decisions categorically human
Sources: 2·25·23·4·1
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanMilitary targeting, force protection and cyber operations included; automated defenses stay bounded, supervised, and pointed at missiles, never at people; nuclear decisions human at every step of the chain.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Due-process rights when government AI touches your benefits, claim, or rights
Sources: 2·25·23·4·1
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanIncluding at the VA: the right to know, the right to an understandable explanation, and the right to appeal to a named human being with the power to change the outcome.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Your likeness is your property: NO FAKES, funded 48-hour takedowns, and a victim's right to sue
Sources: 2·25·23·4·1
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanPass the NO FAKES Act, enforce and fund the TAKE IT DOWN Act's 48-hour removal rule, pass the DEFIANCE Act so victims can sue. No blanket immunity for apps built for abuse.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
A federal ban on deceptive AI impersonation of candidates and election officials
Sources: 2·25·23·4·1
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanOutlaw counterfeit candidates, with parody, satire, and commentary explicitly protected. Montana's SB 25 drew this line. After a federal judge blocked it for one challenger in September 2026, a national standard has to go after deception, not satire, and be written to survive the courts.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
AI proven safe in safety-critical jobs before it takes the job; federal restraint everywhere else
Sources: 2·25·23·4·1
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanWhere health, safety, or personal freedom is at stake, AI is proven safe in the job before it takes the job. Where none of that is at stake, Washington stays out of what tools a Montana shop, farm, or business uses.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Protect workers through the AI transition: antitrust enforcement plus retraining and trades pathways
Sources: 2·25·23·4·1
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanEnforce antitrust so AI's gains aren't captured by a handful of firms, and back real retraining and the trades pathways that let people land on their feet.
Seth Bodnar IndPartlyStanceAI Pledge: companies profiting from AI displacement “will owe real wage support and retraining to the workers they push out.” No antitrust component.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Content-provenance standards so official government communications can be verified as genuine
Sources: 2·25·23·4·1
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanThe answer to a world where anything can be faked is proving what's real, starting with authenticated official communications.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Binding federal safeguards for AI connected to critical infrastructure
Sources: 2·15·25
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceAI should never run unattended in critical infrastructure, and never gets the ability to change how the power grid, water systems, or hospitals operate. It can help the people running those systems, but it does not get the controls.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanAI Pledge: “mandatory security standards for AI systems connected to critical infrastructure,” plus defense funding for the Montana National Guard “to fully develop their cyber capabilities.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Agriculture and trade
Reassert congressional authority over tariffs
Sources: 2·5·37·48
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanFinish unwinding the blanket tariffs the Supreme Court struck down in February, and review the ones still standing under the older trade laws country by country: keep the ones that stop real cheating, phase out the ones that just raise prices. Then write the ruling into law: a vote of Congress before any across-the-board tariff takes effect, so the next president can’t try it under a different statute.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStance“Tariffs should be used as tools, not toys.” Says Article I “gives that power for trade… to the Congress” and that Congress has “ceded that power”; would push back when careless use hurts Montanans. Told the president (Oct. 13) he disagrees with “the blanket tariffs on Canada, our largest trading partner.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Zero tariffs with allies; tariffs as leverage with non-allies
Sources: 2·4·35·48
Kurt Alme RepMixedStanceHopes the president continues “to use tariffs as a negotiating tool to try to bring about better agreements for us”; no zero-tariff position for allies.
Alani Bankhead DemMixedStanceUse tariffs only against genuine cheating, dumping, illegal subsidies, and intellectual-property theft, never as a blanket tax on everyday goods and our own trading partners; no zero-tariff pledge.
Seth Bodnar IndMixedStanceDisagrees with “the blanket tariffs on Canada, our largest trading partner, that have cost Montana farmers markets they spent decades building”: “Tariffs should be tools, not toys” (letter to the president, Oct. 13). No zero-tariff position for allies.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsPlanCalls current tariff policy misdirected; zero on imports and exports with allies.
0% USDA financing for agricultural producers
Sources: 2·5·4
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemMixedStanceFinancial safety nets for family farmers and ranchers: FDIC-style crop insurance and low-interest loans; no 0% USDA financing.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStanceWould redirect wasteful spending to fund it.
Build domestic fertilizer production so producers aren't import-dependent
Sources: 5·4·40
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBreak the fertilizer squeeze: keep funding new domestic fertilizer plants, put farmer-owned co-ops first in line, and have antitrust enforcers look hard at fertilizer pricing.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStanceNames it among five agriculture measures, alongside rail and highway investment.
Address agricultural consolidation squeezing family operations
Sources: 2·11·3·23·5·43·48
Kurt Alme RepPartlyMentioned only“It’s good to see the U.S. Department of Justice having the big four meatpacking plants under antitrust investigations” (debate, Oct. 11). No consolidation measure of his own.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBreak the meatpacker chokepoint (four packers now control about 85% of beef processing): enforce the Packers & Stockyards Act, pass the American Beef Labeling Act to restore mandatory country-of-origin labeling, fund small and local processing, and defend the right-to-repair wins in the new farm bill.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanTake on meatpacker and agribusiness consolidation and rebuild the local mills and packing plants it hollowed out; pass a full five-year Farm Bill, Right to Repair, and Country-of-Origin Labeling.
Kyle Austin LibPartlyStanceWould “eliminate the corruption and fraud of the markets that leave our farmers and ranchers with the bottom dollar”; no consolidation measure named.
Schools
Fund IDEA at the 40% federal share Washington promised
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBack the IDEA Full Funding Act to reach the 40% federal share Washington promised. It now pays less than 12%, dumping the gap on Montana classrooms and property taxpayers.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Federal action on Montana's lowest-in-the-nation starting teacher pay
Sources: 2·5·22·23·35
Kurt Alme RepMixedStanceSays federal education money spent on Washington bureaucracy should come home: “We ought to be spending that money in Montana on teacher salaries”; no pay measure named.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBack the American Teacher Act, which uses federal grants, not mandates, to lift starting salaries to $60,000, adjusted for inflation, and protect collective bargaining. Montana’s about $36,682 is dead last among the 50 states.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanPlatform: federal rural-education funding directed to classrooms and teacher pay, plus loan forgiveness for teachers who commit to rural districts. Calls the pay level “a complete moral failure.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Restore federal funding for tribal colleges and make states fund HBCU land-grant universities fairly
Sources: 2·44
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanRestore and grow federal support for Montana’s seven tribal colleges, paid for by closing the carried-interest loophole. Enforce the 1890 law’s fair-funding rule and full state match for HBCU land-grant universities (16 states shorted them by more than $12 billion), and stop waiving it.
Seth Bodnar IndPartlyMentioned onlyPlatform: “Supporting tribal colleges as cornerstone institutions in their communities.” No funding commitment, and nothing on HBCU land-grant funding.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Rights and the courts
Federal protection for reproductive freedom
Sources: 2·14·16·33·34
Kurt Alme RepOpposesMentioned onlyEndorsed by SBA Pro-Life America, which calls him “a true pro-life champion”; no abortion position in his own words located (he left iVoterGuide’s abortion questions unanswered).
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanPro-choice: back the Women’s Health Protection Act and a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights, pass the Right to Contraception Act, oppose any federal abortion ban or revival of the Comstock Act, and protect EMTALA emergency care. Montanans enshrined the right in 2024.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlan“In the Senate, I will vote to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade”; his campaign also commits him to protecting access to contraception and IVF.
Kyle Austin LibOpposesStanceWould allow elective abortion only for “Rape, or a decision of life or death of the mother”; opposes taxpayer funding for abortion providers and agrees the Comstock Act should be enforced.
Supreme Court ethics and structural reform
Sources: 2·3·41
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBacks a binding Supreme Court ethics code and 18-year terms. A Court taking undisclosed gifts and overturning settled rights has lost public confidence.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanPolitical Reform Agenda: term and age limits plus financial transparency for the Supreme Court, a congressional insider-trading ban, and a lifetime lobbying ban.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStance“We do have to have ethics in all levels of government”; says Congress, not the courts, should write the judiciary’s ethics rules and oversee them, and wants judges kept from “ruling from the bench.”
Bar transgender girls from girls' school sports
Sources: 1·32·33
Kurt Alme RepSupportsStanceCommits to “keep boys out of girls’ sports.”
Alani Bankhead DemNot foundNo position located.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStanceAnswered “Strongly Agree” that “biological males should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports.”
Federal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Montanans
Sources: 2·44
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanChampion the Equality Act to guarantee nondiscrimination in housing, employment, and public life; defend the Respect for Marriage Act; protect access to gender-affirming care, ban so-called “conversion therapy,” and fund crisis and suicide-prevention services for LGBTQ+ youth.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStancePlatform: “Seth will oppose discrimination against any Montanan, including LGBTQ+ Montanans, in employment, housing, or public life,” and defends the right to marry. Names no federal bill such as the Equality Act.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
A national digital privacy law and data-broker limits
Sources: 2·24·30·34
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanTake Montana's constitutional privacy standard national: one clear privacy law, a warrant before the government can track you, limits on data brokers, and an end to your every move being bought and sold.
Seth Bodnar IndMixedStanceCalls on Congress to pass the Flock-Off Act, which bars federal funds for license-plate readers and biometric surveillance cameras, and says he would push it in the Senate; points to Montana closing the police data-broker loophole (“It’s time Washington caught up to Montana”). No comprehensive national privacy law proposed.
Kyle Austin LibPartlyStanceOn AI: “My biggest concern is privacy… how is it going to be used against the citizens of the United States to invade your privacy and your rights?” No privacy law or data-broker measure named.
Voter ID and documentary proof of citizenship to register
Sources: 1·4·43·44
Kurt Alme RepSupportsStanceCalls both common sense; ties them to election security.
Alani Bankhead DemMixedPlanFine to verify name and address the common-sense way; opposes the SAVE Act’s proof-of-citizenship paperwork wall, since more than 21 million voting-age citizens lack ready access to a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization papers.
Seth Bodnar IndMixedStanceSupports “Montana’s existing voter ID law,” but “will oppose federal mandates that strip states of that authority, from either party.” No position on documentary proof of citizenship.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStanceCalls the SAVE America Act “a great act”; supports voter ID and REAL ID and questions why noncitizens should influence elections. Also says “I stand behind mail-in ballots” and “I will secure our mail-in ballots” (debate, Oct. 11).
Tribal sovereignty and consultation as a standing federal obligation
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanHonor tribal sovereignty and the federal trust responsibility, treating funding as an obligation, not charity: fully fund the Indian Health Service, and put tribal leadership at the table with direct access to the federal delegation.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanCalls tribal sovereignty "a legal obligation"; would honor treaty and trust obligations as binding, ensure tribes are "genuinely consulted — not just notified," and protect the Indian Health Service and tribal health system.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Disability policy set with disabled people at the table
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlan“Nothing about us without us”: a permanent disability advisory group with a named point of contact; protect rental assistance and Section 811 supportive housing; invest in rural and tribal transit; pay family caregivers and expand their tax credits.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Protect local news from media consolidation
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanWrite the 39% national TV ownership cap into law and end the FCC’s power to waive it, review media mergers for what they do to local news with local and employee buyers first, and create a Local Ownership Certificate. No fairness doctrine, and no government deciding which newsrooms survive.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Guns, crime and the border
New federal firearm restrictions
Sources: 2·1·9·4·22·35·44
Kurt Alme RepOpposesStanceEndorsed by the NRA (“AQ” rating). “We got to defend our Second Amendment rights and our firearms heritage.”
Alani Bankhead DemMixedPlanA gun owner who opposes bans on the semi-automatic firearms Montanans lawfully own, but backs universal background checks and red-flag protections with strong due-process safeguards, and would never repeal the domestic-violence gun ban.
Seth Bodnar IndOpposesStancePlatform: “Seth opposes a federal assault weapons ban, a new universal background check mandate, and a federal red-flag law,” favoring “enforcing the laws already on the books rather than adding new mandates.”
Kyle Austin LibOpposesStanceCampaign site calls for unrestricted access to bear arms; a gun owner and hunter.
Red-flag (extreme-risk) protections with due-process safeguards
Sources: 2·44
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanPetitions only from law enforcement or close family and household members, sworn under penalty of perjury; a judge sees real evidence before any temporary order; a full hearing within days, with the petitioner carrying the burden of clear and convincing evidence; and if the petition fails, the firearms come back right away.
Seth Bodnar IndOpposesStancePlatform: “Seth opposes … a federal red-flag law,” while backing “keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, terrorists, and people who are a danger to themselves or others.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Fund school threat-assessment and attack-prevention programs
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanKeep and grow the federal STOP School Violence grants for threat-assessment teams, anonymous reporting and training, and set federal security standards for large events, with grants so a county fair or small venue can afford trained screeners.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Cartel and trafficking prosecution as the top federal crime priority
Sources: 2·5
Kurt Alme RepSupportsStanceCites prosecutions at a 20-year high; would pursue trafficking organizations to the cartels.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanWould prioritize follow-the-money financial-crimes enforcement to reach the trafficking organizations and the cartels behind them, the approach that worked in her own cases.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Immigration reform beyond enforcement
Sources: 2·5·11·3·43·44
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanSecure the border and go after traffickers, clear the visa backlog, shut ICE down and build its replacement from scratch while enforcement keeps running (Border Patrol, the DEA and ATF stay on the job, and HSI investigators move under other DHS oversight), move immigration courts out of the DOJ into independent judges, keep the military out of immigration enforcement, and oppose family detention. “Treat people like people.”
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanSecure the border and enforce existing law, and fix “a legal immigration system that takes years and doesn’t serve Montana’s ranches, farms, or hospitals.” At the debate he named the H-2A farm-visa process: “We need workers here.” Due process for every citizen.
Kyle Austin LibPartlyStanceEnforcement “has to be done humane”: “an expedited process through a judicial branch” to decide who can stay, plus an “entry fee” on immigrants to pay for deportation instead of taxpayers. Says “the actions of ICE that have gotten out of control” are where he differs from Trump (debate, Oct. 11).
Let Ukrainians here legally stay while the war goes on, with a path to permanent residence
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanExtend Temporary Protected Status for Ukrainians for as long as Russia’s war makes it unsafe to go home, and pass the Ukrainian Adjustment Act so those who came legally and passed vetting have a path to permanent residence. Clear the work-permit backlog so people here legally can work.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Federal drug prevention and treatment funding alongside enforcement
Sources: 5·19
Kurt Alme RepSupportsPlanCites the HEART Fund he helped create as budget director; would build public-private recovery partnerships.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceFund prevention and treatment alongside enforcement. You can't arrest your way out of addiction.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceTreat mental health and addiction “as the crisis it has been for years”: build behavioral health into primary care and schools, and fund addiction treatment that reaches tribal communities and one-stoplight counties.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Criminal justice & anti-trafficking
Fully fund the units that hunt child predators, the victims' fund, and the rape-kit backlog
Sources: 2·17
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanFully fund the ICAC child-predator task forces (20M+ tips went unworked last year), stiffen the penalties for child sex crimes, and build the federal-state-tribal task forces that close the jurisdictional loopholes predators exploit; stabilize the VOCA victims' fund after a ~40% cut and finish testing the rape-kit backlog. Washington passed these laws and never paid for them.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Roll back federal mandatory minimum sentences
Sources: 17
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanRoll back the mandatory minimums that force a sentence to match a chart instead of the actual crime.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Clear the record barriers that lock people out of work, housing, and food aid
Sources: 17
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceTear down the record barriers that cut a person's job odds roughly in half for life, and the housing and food-aid bans that block a fresh start. Steady footing is the strongest protection against reoffending.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Stop imprisoning people for technical probation and parole violations
Sources: 17
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanIn 2021, 7 in 10 Montana parole revocations were for breaking a rule, like a missed check-in or a court-ordered program that doesn't exist within 100 miles. Stop jailing people who haven't hurt anyone.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Get profit and lockup quotas out of prisons, and rein in out-of-state transfers
Sources: 17
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBan private-prison lockup quotas (in ~two-thirds of contracts) by conditioning federal dollars, put the profit motive out of federal prisons in writing, and set real rules on out-of-state transfers. Montana is shipping ~600 prisoners to Mississippi.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Divert to drug and mental-health courts instead of prison
Sources: 17·18
Kurt Alme RepRecordTouts expanding drug courts and tribal healing-and-wellness courts as budget director and U.S. Attorney, framed as cutting drug demand; no stated position on diversion instead of prison.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanEvery Montana county is a mental-health-provider shortage area. Fund diversion and drug and mental-health courts (they cut reoffending from ~50% to ~38%) and treat addiction and mental illness upstream.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Send the right responder to mental-health calls, with real police accountability
Sources: 17
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanSend a clinician or a co-responder crisis team to mental-health and addiction calls, alongside officers. Fund de-escalation and crisis-intervention training, and set real use-of-force standards and accountability for misconduct.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Fund public defense and end wealth-based pretrial jailing
Sources: 17
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanFund federal public defense (defenders worked unpaid in 2025) and stop jailing people before trial just for being too poor to make bail. The gap falls hardest on Native Montanans.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Trace and seize trafficking finance, and route the assets to survivors
Sources: 17
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanTrafficking is a ~$236B business. Fund the financial-intelligence units to trace its money the way we trace terror and drug finance, seize the assets for victim restitution, and hold the banks that move it accountable.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Go after trafficking buyers and hold the platforms accountable
Sources: 17
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanAim enforcement at the buyers who create the market, never at the victims sold in it, and write child-focused platform accountability that actually works, learning from where the 2018 FOSTA-SESTA law fell short rather than repeating it.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Clear the T-visa backlog and stop prosecuting trafficking survivors
Sources: 17
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanThe survivor T-visa has never once hit its 5,000 cap, yet ~60,000 applications sit backlogged 2.5+ years. Clear it, fund the adjudicators, stop prosecuting victims for what their traffickers forced them to do, and let them clear those records.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Enforce the forced-labor import ban to clean up supply chains
Sources: 17
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanFully fund customs enforcement of the 1930 forced-labor import ban (the 2021 supply-chain law passed the House 428–1) so families aren't unknowingly buying goods made by forced labor, and honest Montana producers aren't undercut.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Reauthorize and fully fund the Trafficking Victims Protection Act
Sources: 17
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanThe TVPA is the backbone of how this country fights this crime, yet Congress let its full reauthorization lapse and keeps letting it stall. Reauthorize it and fully fund it.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Restore tribal jurisdiction and resource MMIP investigations
Sources: 2·17·23·35·43
Kurt Alme RepRecordAs U.S. Attorney, created the office's first Missing & Murdered Indigenous Persons Coordinator and made 20+ reservation visits on MMIP and trafficking.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanNative women are ~3% of Montana but 30–40% of trafficking victims. Restore tribal authority over every crime on tribal land, by anyone (fix Oliphant and lift the tribal-court sentencing cap); fully implement Savanna's Act and the Not Invisible Act; and make the investigations happen: all-ages Native missing-person alerts, staffed joint FBI, BIA, tribal and county task forces, and equal reward money.
Seth Bodnar IndPartlyStanceAt the debate: a senator must take “just as serious a crime that happens on a reservation as one that happens in Billings” and “aggressively go after criminals”; his platform backs treaty obligations and real consultation. No position on tribal jurisdiction or MMIP investigations.
Kyle Austin LibPartlyMentioned onlyCites “barriers between federal law enforcement and tribal law enforcement”; when a reservation needs help, “I will be there to provide that support whether it’s monetary or whether it’s boots on the ground” (debate, Oct. 11). No jurisdiction or investigation measure.
War and foreign policy
Enforce the War Powers Resolution as written, without exception
Sources: 2·5·43·45·48
Kurt Alme RepOpposesStanceNow says “we can’t vote to stop allowing new weapons use against Iran” (debate, Oct. 11) and “We can’t vote to limit the use of force in the Gulf” (MTN, Oct. 6). In April he had said Congress “has to exercise its authority” to keep troops out of another forever war.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlan48-hour notice to Congress, forces home within 60–90 days without a vote, and repeal the stale 2001 war authorization.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceSays Congress must declare war and is ceding too much power to the executive. To the president (Oct. 13): “Congress has a constitutional duty to weigh in” on a war in Iran “that Congress never authorized.”
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStanceCalls the 60-day framework a good balance of power.
Congress should halt U.S. involvement in Iran
Sources: 2·4·7·20·22·27·29·31·41·43·45·48
Kurt Alme RepOpposesStanceCriticized “forever wars” but balked at Congress halting Trump’s involvement in Iran: “Right now, we’ve got to support the president and help him.” On Oct. 6: “So I support the president”; at the debate he said he would “push for a quick and a successful end to the conflict.”
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanCompletely opposed to the war: vote to end it and invoke the War Powers Resolution, and use appropriations and oversight to cut off funding for an unauthorized war. Cites DNI testimony that Iran was not building a weapon.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStance“If I were a senator, I absolutely would vote to check the President’s war power in Iran”; wants a clear rationale, strategy, and exit plan, and calls the war “a complete and total strategic failure.” On Oct. 12 he said Alme won’t stand up to the president “to end the costly war in Iran. I will.”
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStance“No, I do not defend the war in Iran”; “The first thing I’ll do as United States senator is end the war in Iran and bring our troops home” (debate, Oct. 11). Backs the Defend the Guard Act to keep Montana troops home without a declaration of war. In June he had said “I support Trump and his efforts with Iran.”
End U.S. support for Israeli operations in Gaza
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanEnforce the Leahy Law, which in practice means a full arms embargo while the assault continues; end the loan-guarantee program and the Qualitative Military Edge mandate, oppose NDAA Section 219, and keep humanitarian aid reaching civilians. Cites the UN commission finding that it meets the definition of genocide.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Maintain or expand foreign aid
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanRestore USAID and rebuild it stronger with real fraud controls, reauthorize PEPFAR, replenish the Global Fund, rejoin the WHO, and protect the food-aid programs that buy Montana’s peas and lentils. One of the cheapest national-security tools we have.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Keep giving Ukraine the weapons and intelligence to defend itself
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceStand with Ukraine with the weapons, intelligence, and sanctions it needs to hold the line, and make Russia bear the cost of its aggression. In 1994 Ukraine gave up the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal for security assurances Russia broke.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Send frozen Russian assets held in the U.S. to Ukraine’s defense and rebuilding
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanMake Russia pay for the damage: pass the bipartisan REPO Implementation Act and send the frozen Russian assets held in the U.S. to Ukraine’s defense and rebuilding.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Sentinel missile program must use union Montana labor
Sources: 5·40
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceMalmstrom and the Sentinel missile program: build it with Montana union labor.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanWould fight to keep out-of-state contractors off it and direct benefit to surrounding communities.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Raise pay and benefits for military families: housing, food, moves and child care
Sources: 2·40
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanRestore the housing allowance to 100% of rent, scale the food allowance with family size, pay moving costs up front at what a move really costs, pass the Healthcare for Our Troops Act (premium-free TRICARE for every Guard and Reserve member), and pay base child-care workers enough to fill the jobs.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
U.S. leadership on AI, quantum and biotech as a security priority
Sources: 2·11·3
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceSays she spent her career keeping sensitive technology from adversaries and won't cede the lead to China.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceGrow the I-90 Defense Tech Corridor through MSU, UM, and Montana Tech, and invest in defense-tech innovation to keep American military superiority.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Keep a human in the decision when an autonomous weapon uses lethal force
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceAny autonomous weapon tested in Montana keeps a human being in the decision to use lethal force, and Montanans get a say first on where the Pentagon tests and whose land it takes.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
How they would actually serve
Will caucus with a party in the Senate
Sources: 5·4·43·48
Kurt Alme RepSupportsStanceRuns as the Republican nominee and would serve as one.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceRuns as the Democratic nominee and would serve as one.
Seth Bodnar IndOpposesStanceWill serve “caucusing with neither party.” At a joint press conference with independents Dan Osborn and Brian Bengs (Oct. 12), his campaign said the three would cast no vote for either party’s Senate leadership and would negotiate with both parties for committee seats. Calls the committee-assignment problem “a red herring” (debate, Oct. 11).
Kyle Austin LibMixedStanceSays he would caucus with Republicans and Democrats “when necessary.”
Regular public town halls and a duty to answer for votes
Sources: 2·5·31·34
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanWould hold town halls in every one of Montana's 56 counties, on the record, and publish how she voted and why.
Seth Bodnar IndPartlyStanceHolding town halls (Glasgow on Sept. 9, a Helena veterans town hall, virtual town halls) and says “we need our political leaders to show up and take questions”; no standing commitment to regular town halls or to answering for votes.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Overturn Citizens United and get big money out of politics
Sources: 2·3·21·43·46
Kurt Alme RepPartlyStanceAsked to commit to banning members of Congress and their immediate families from trading individual stocks: “the answer is yes” (debate, Oct. 11). No position on Citizens United or campaign money located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanWould overturn Citizens United, pass the DISCLOSE Act and the End Congressional Stock Trading Act, and back small-dollar public financing with strict, real-time disclosure; runs on $0 corporate PAC money. See note on money in politics.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanBacks a constitutional amendment to reverse Citizens United and end “unlimited, anonymous corporate spending,” plus a ban on congressional stock trading. See note on money in politics.
Kyle Austin LibMixedStanceNow urges “Vote NO on I-194,” calling the anti-dark-money initiative “a far left agenda” (X, Oct. 9), after invoking it at the Glendive forum on Sept. 10: “if you want to stand behind I-194 and you want to fight dark money, don’t vote for those that have the dark money.” At the debate he wanted the insider-trading ban extended “to all government employees who have insider information.” No position on overturning Citizens United.
Congressional term limits
Sources: 2·38·39·43
Kurt Alme RepSupportsStance“We also need to pass congressional term limits” (debate, Oct. 11). Names no limit or vehicle.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStance“Support congressional term limits.”
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanSupports “a limit of 3 terms for Senators and a maximum age of 75 at the time they’re sworn into the Senate, Congress, and President.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
No Budget, No Pay: stop Congress’s pay when it fails to do its budget job
Sources: 1·35·38·40
Kurt Alme RepSupportsPlanSays his first bill would stop Congress’s pay if it can’t balance the budget: “No balanced budget, no paycheck!”
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanNo budget, no pay: if Congress misses its budget and spending deadlines, members’ paychecks go into escrow until it acts, as the bipartisan No Budget, No Pay bills are written.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanSupports “suspending Congressional pay and forcing the Senate to remain in session for any period during which the government is shut down.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Keep the Senate filibuster
Sources: 22
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemNot foundNo position located.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceAsked about “nuking the filibuster”: “No, we need to protect it to ensure compromise.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Nonpartisan redistricting to end gerrymandering
Sources: 38·40
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanEnd gerrymandering: back the Freedom to Vote Act’s ban on partisan congressional maps, and let each state build a fair process with Montana’s bipartisan commission as the model.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceSupports “mandatory nonpartisan redistricting at the federal level, modeled on the best state-level examples.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Nonpartisan open primaries and ranked-choice voting in federal elections
Sources: 38·40
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemMixedStanceEach state’s choice: open primaries and ranked-choice voting are decisions for each state’s voters and legislature, and Washington shouldn’t force one system on all 50.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceSupports “nonpartisan open primaries and ranked-choice voting for federal elections, producing winners with genuine majority support.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Ban members of Congress and senior officials from betting on prediction markets
Sources: 38·40
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBan members of Congress, their staff and senior officials from betting on prediction markets: write the Senate’s April ban into law for the House, the White House and every senior appointee.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanWould “sponsor a bill creating an immediate ban on use of prediction markets by Members and staff of Congress, and political appointees and senior members of the Executive Branch.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
A lifetime ban on lobbying the committees and agencies you served on
Sources: 2·23·41·43
Kurt Alme RepSupportsStanceWould “ban individual congressmen from becoming lobbyists” (debate, Oct. 11). Did not say “lifetime” or define the scope.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanMembers of Congress and senior executive-branch officials never lobby the committees or agencies they served on, and never register to lobby for a foreign government; close the loophole that lets former officials call themselves advisors and lobby without registering.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlan“A lifetime ban on members of Congress or senior executive branch officials lobbying the agencies or committees they served on,” plus a lifetime ban on registering to lobby for foreign governments.
Kyle Austin LibMixedStance“Not really banning them from taking another job once they’re done serving the people, but I do feel we need to get lobbyists out of Washington, D.C.”
An independent ethics office for Congress with subpoena power
Sources: 2·23
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanReplace the leadership-appointed House ethics office with a nonpartisan office staffed by career investigators, like the inspectors general, covering both the House and the Senate, with subpoena power and public findings.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlan“Strengthen and expand the Office of Congressional Ethics to operate with full independence and subpoena power.”
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Finish the Epstein files release Congress ordered and hold the powerful accountable
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanFinish the Epstein files release: the Justice Department is still redacting and withholding records the law requires it to publish. Back S. 5005, the Epstein Files Transparency Act II, and hold the “Epstein class” accountable so the wealthy and connected face the same laws as everyone else.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Vote to convict and remove the President if the House impeaches him
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceSigned the Citizens Impeachment pledge: “when the articles reach the Senate floor I’ll vote to convict,” and convict the accomplices too, starting with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
DOGE-style cuts to federal and state government
Sources: 5·4·10·27
Kurt Alme RepMixedStancePraises the cuts but says “where they took them wasn’t necessarily the places where we needed them”; frames it as fiscal responsibility. No recovery mechanism identified.
Alani Bankhead DemMixedPlanRecover real waste through independent, expert audits with the authority to act on them, rather than DOGE: it claimed $110 billion in savings, and the government’s own auditors found much of it was never real.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStance“We need to DOGE the government” at both federal and state level. See note on what DOGE produced.
Montana Department of Labor and Industry overreach as a federal priority
Sources: 4
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemNot foundNo position located.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsPlanHis signature issue: alleges DLI sides with large corporate competitors, ignores civil procedure and violates business owners' rights.
Follow-the-money financial crimes enforcement
Sources: 2·5
Kurt Alme RepRecordU.S. Attorney 2017–20 and 2025–26; prosecuted trafficking organizations.
Alani Bankhead DemRecordMore than two decades on the front lines of child protection. She built the financial-crimes and trafficking cases that put child abusers and traffickers behind bars. The record itself, not a position on it.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
On the two record rows
Where a cell is marked "Record," it reflects professional history rather than a policy commitment. Alme's prosecutorial record and Bankhead's investigative record are both described as they describe them. Litigation involving institutions either has led is a separate matter with its own entity and timeline questions, and is not scored here.
Note on DOGE
Two candidates invoke cutting government waste, and one names DOGE specifically. What that effort produced is a matter of federal record rather than opinion, so it is noted here.
The Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan congressional watchdog, reviewed contracts, grants and leases DOGE listed between January 20, 2025 and July 7, 2026. DOGE's site claimed $110 billion in savings as of July 7, 2026. GAO found that many of those estimates were incorrect or lacked supporting evidence: it could not determine how $37 billion of the contract savings (61%) was calculated, and DOGE could not support about $47.3 billion (96%) of the grant savings it claimed. Among the specifics: 108 of the 264 leases DOGE claimed to have terminated were already being eliminated before DOGE was created, and DOGE reported $1.7 billion saved on a Pentagon Defense Health Agency IT contract it never actually terminated or defunded.
Separately, the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on federal workforce effectiveness, estimated DOGE's actions would cost taxpayers roughly $135 billion in a single fiscal year, counting paid administrative leave, rehiring workers who had been fired in error, and lost productivity. That estimate excludes the cost of defending litigation over DOGE's actions and excludes forgone tax collection from IRS staffing reductions, which the Yale Budget Lab separately estimated at $8.5 billion in 2026.
Independent reviews reached the same place. POLITICO could verify $32.7 billion of the $52.8 billion in contract savings DOGE claimed through July and put actual savings nearer $1.4 billion, noting that even those dollars do not reduce the deficit unless Congress acts, because the money returns to agencies legally required to spend it. The New York Times found 28 of DOGE's top 40 savings claims were inaccurate.
None of this speaks to any candidate's sincerity. It speaks to what the named vehicle delivered.10
Note on money in politics
Two candidates say they want to curb the influence of money in politics. What each campaign has actually raised and accepted is a matter of public FEC record, so it is noted here the same way the DOGE record is.
Bodnar backs a constitutional amendment to reverse Citizens United and end “unlimited, anonymous corporate spending.” His own campaign has accepted about $93,000 in PAC contributions this cycle, including $10,000 from Way Back PAC, a Wyoming shell funded by non-disclosing sources, which keeps those original donors anonymous.12 Bankhead reports $0 in corporate PAC money, runs on small-dollar donations, and endorses I-194 to curb dark money in Montana. Alme led all Montana federal candidates in PAC contributions and benefited from a $350,000 transfer routed through a joint fundraising committee tied to Sen. Daines. Austin reported negligible fundraising.
None of this measures sincerity. It reports what each campaign has accepted and what the public filings show.12
About this guide. It measures one thing: which candidates have taken clear, sourced positions on the record. Same standard for all four: where no clear position turned up, we marked it.
Sources
- 1almeforsenate.com; Kurt Alme guest column, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, May 30, 2026
- 2alaniformt.com/positions
- 3sethformontana.com campaign platform (four issue pillars), accessed Aug. 22, 2026
- 4kyleaustinmt.com platform; MTPR/YPR Q&A, May 6, 2026; KTVH, May 7, 2026; KTVQ, March 2026
- 5Montana Free Press 2026 Election Guide questionnaire, March 2026; identical questions to all four candidates
- 6Daily Inter Lake, July 15, 2026, Bodnar Kalispell event
- 7Bozeman Daily Chronicle interview with Alme, April 2026
- 8Montana Conservation Voters endorsement, May 26, 2026
- 9NRA endorsement, May 12, 2026, and NRA-PVF “AQ” grade (a rating based solely on questionnaire answers, with no voting record), nrapvf.org/grades/montana, checked Sept. 28, 2026
- 10U.S. Government Accountability Office report on DOGE contract, grant and lease savings, August 2026, covering Jan. 20, 2025–July 7, 2026, requested by Sens. Blumenthal and Peters; Partnership for Public Service, April 2025; POLITICO, Aug. 12, 2025; New York Times; Yale Budget Lab
- 11@sethbodnarcampaign, Instagram, Aug. 8, 2026 (6-post positions carousel)
- 12FEC quarterly reports as reported by Daily Montanan (Apr. 17 and July 16, 2026) and Montana Free Press; outside-spending reporting, Montana Free Press and Bozeman Daily Chronicle, July 2026; Public Domain Media, 2026
- 13Beer, Buds & the Big Sky Podcast, “Splitting the Vote? with Seth Bodnar,” July 16, 2026 (18:47; 42:36–49:04; 1:02:00–1:04:10)
- 14SBA Pro-Life America Candidate Fund endorsement, April 22, 2026; iVoterGuide 2026 candidate profile (Kurt Alme), where every question reads “Did not answer”
- 15sethformontana.com, "Protect Montana: AI Pledge," accessed Aug. 31, 2026
- 16Grounded with Jon Tester & Maritsa Georgiou podcast, Sept. 2, 2026 (Bodnar interview); projects.montanafreepress.org 2026 Election Guide profile
- 17Criminal Justice Reform and Human Trafficking & Modern Slavery position papers (Alani Bankhead campaign, September 2026); statistics sourced within (ILO, Walk Free, USCIS, CBP, ACLU of Montana, Prison Policy Initiative, NIJ, Montana DOJ, and others).
- 18Voices of Montana, "Housing, Foster Care, and the Campaign Trail," Aug. 28, 2026 (Alme in-studio; data centers 30:30–33:37; drug courts 26:39–27:00; housing/immigration 17:16–20:11)
- 19“Montana First: Health Care Agenda,” Seth Bodnar campaign, released Sept. 10, 2026 (sethformontana.com/montana-first-agenda-healthcare.pdf)
- 20Seth Bodnar for Montana Meta ad (Iran war), Ad Library ID 1039571152178439, began Sept. 13, 2026; airing also confirmed by MTPR Campaign Beat, Sept. 11, 2026
- 21AAUW Glendive / Dawson Community College Candidate Forum, Sept. 10, 2026; recording at youtube.com/live/fmGqqzC2YZQ (Austin on I-194 at 0:32:12)
- 22Outlaw Beat podcast (Explore Big Sky), Bodnar interview, published Sept. 9, 2026, youtube.com/watch?v=sH8YNhnyS6w (public lands 8:54–9:17; teacher pay 14:35–14:48; rapid-fire incl. guns and Iran 28:27–30:30)
- 23sethformontana.com/platform, full issue text as of Sept. 15, 2026; re-captured Oct. 5, 2026
- 24@sethbodnarcampaign Instagram “FLOCK OFF!” video, Sept. 14, 2026 (post DdRcx35OKzs); coverage: Mediaite, Sept. 14, 2026
- 25alaniformt.com/ai and the Artificial Intelligence position (Sept. 16, 2026). Opponents re-checked Sept. 16: Bodnar platform and AI Pledge, social accounts, and three podcast interviews; Alme and Austin websites.
- 26alaniformt.com/climate (Climate position page, Sept. 28, 2026); Taxes & Fair Share and Labor & the Right to Organize tiles on alaniformt.com/positions (Sept. 28, 2026)
- 27Americans for Tax Reform, “Kurt Alme Makes ‘No New Taxes’ Promise,” April 8, 2026 (Taxpayer Protection Pledge); Daily Inter Lake (Hailey Smalley), “Alme promises ‘big steps’ toward affordability,” Sept. 22, 2026 (energy, DOGE, federal debt, Iran)
- 28Bozeman Daily Chronicle (Dan Astin), “Union endorsements cross party lines in Mont. federal races,” Sept. 9, 2026; Montana AFL-CIO letter (Erin Foley), Whitehall Ledger, July 15, 2026
- 29Daily Montanan, “Montana Libertarian Party cries foul in Senate primary,” June 11, 2026 (Austin on Iran and foreign wars)
- 30Montana Right Now / Nonstop Local, “Montana U.S. Senate candidates weigh in on data centers and AI,” Sept. 1, 2026
- 31@sethbodnarcampaign Instagram: Iran war-powers post, Sept. 23, 2026 (instagram.com/p/DdpjCTJDYpb) and Sept. 27, 2026 (DdwryX3jq0f); town-hall announcements, Sept. 26, 2026 (DdugdgXlyBR)
- 32@KurtAlme on X, Sept. 16, 2026 (girls’ sports)
- 33iVoterGuide 2026 candidate questionnaire (Kyle Austin), ivoterguide.com/candidate/61984/race/33278/election/1479, accessed Sept. 28, 2026; fixed-choice answers selected by the candidate
- 34sethformontana.com/news and /events, checked Sept. 28, 2026: Labor Day statement (Sept. 7, 2026); Montana AFL-CIO endorsement release (June 29, 2026); Flock-Off Act data-privacy release (Sept. 14, 2026); Dobbs anniversary statement (June 24, 2026); Planned Parenthood Action Fund endorsement (Sept. 18, 2026); Smerconish SiriusXM interview excerpt (Sept. 2, 2026); Glasgow Courier town-hall report as reposted (Sept. 16, 2026)
- 35Bozeman Daily Chronicle on Alme at the Lewistown Chokecherry Festival (Sept. 19, 2026) and in Ennis (Dan Astin, Sept. 23, 2026); NonStop Local interview (Bradley Warren), April 3, 2026, youtube.com/watch?v=Yf8UqFfNkjY; U.S. Attorney’s Office (D. Mont.) resignation release, November 2020, as carried by KULR8 and KTVQ
- 36Bozeman Daily Chronicle (Dan Astin), Kyle Austin profile, Aug. 13, 2026 (Fairfield Sun Times reprint)
- 37Indivisible Missoula Senate candidate forum, Sept. 20, 2026 (Bodnar; Alme and Austin did not attend; trade powers at 0:48:52)
- 38sethformontana.com/platform, “Montana First: Reform Agenda” section (insider trading and prediction markets; No Budget, No Pay; term and age limits; redistricting; primaries), read Sept. 28, 2026
- 39Club for Growth candidate page, Kurt Alme (clubforgrowth.org/candidates/kurt-alme), checked Sept. 28, 2026
- 40alaniformt.com/healthcare, /elections and /military, and the Government Accountability, Housing and Agriculture tiles on alaniformt.com/positions (Oct. 3, 2026)
- 41Whitefish U.S. Senate candidate forum, Oct. 1, 2026, livestream (youtube.com/live/gI24q0ZqF9A); quotes checked against a transcript of the recording
- 42Seth Bodnar campaign statement on the Sheep Creek mine, sethformontana.com/news, Aug. 20, 2026
- 43Montana Broadcasters Association / Montana PBS U.S. Senate debate, Bozeman, Oct. 11, 2026 (public broadcast; also carried by C-SPAN); quotes checked against a transcript of the recording
- 44sethformontana.com/issues, issue planks as rewritten Oct. 4, 2026, read Oct. 12, 2026
- 45MTN News (KTVQ), “Kurt Alme draws on Montana roots in U.S. Senate campaign,” Oct. 6, 2026; Voices of Montana, Alme in studio, April 13, 2026
- 46Kyle Austin for US Senate (@Austin4senatemt) on X, “Vote NO on I-194,” Oct. 9, 2026
- 47Montana Free Press, “How Montana’s candidates for U.S. House and Senate plan to tackle healthcare,” Oct. 7, 2026 (unedited 300-word answers from all four Senate candidates)
- 48sethformontana.com/news: joint caucus press conference with Dan Osborn and Brian Bengs (Oct. 12, 2026); letter inviting President Trump to discuss lowering costs (Oct. 13, 2026); statement on the president’s Montana visit (Oct. 14, 2026); @SethBodnarForMT on X, Iran video, Oct. 12, 2026
- 49Montana Free Press, River Runs Through It Act coverage, Sept. 9, 2026 (montanafreepress.org/?p=280923); Wild Montana Action Fund, 2026 Montana Public Lands Voter Guide, U.S. Senate entry, read Oct. 17, 2026