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 85 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 September 4, 2026.
Who's on the record — and who isn't
Across 85 propositions · current as of September 4, 2026 · every candidate's positions located and sourced the same way
Kurt AlmeRepublican
23
Alani BankheadDemocrat
78
Seth BodnarIndependent
30
Kyle AustinLibertarian
18
This chart measures one thing: who has put clear, sourced positions on the record — not who is right. Every gap is marked, Alani’s included. By that measure Alani has taken specific positions on more of these 85 propositions than any other candidate — more than Alme and Bodnar combined.
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 themAgriculture 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 RepQualifiedPlanPraises the Working Families Tax Cuts Act — the bill Bodnar blames for the cuts — and its Rural Health Transformation Program.
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 LibQualifiedPlanWarns recent Medicaid changes could drop eligible Montanans, but supports work requirements for benefits.
Guarantee universal coverage through public financing
Sources: 2·5·4·13
Kurt Alme RepOpposesStanceOpposes subsidizing insurers; favors patient choice, competition and market pricing.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanA TRICARE-style model — public financing delivered through private doctors and community hospitals; says it is not a government takeover.
Seth Bodnar IndQualifiedStanceBacks “universal coverage with still some competition” — said “no” to Medicare for All, but calls a “government-run” system one the nation can’t improve without; pairs it with prevention and price transparency.
Kyle Austin LibOpposesStanceSays costs rise whenever government gets involved, including through insurance subsidies.
Restore the expired ACA premium tax credits
Sources: 2·16
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanRestore the ACA premium tax credits that expired and doubled people's premiums.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceRestore the expired ACA premium tax credits.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Add a public option people can choose
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanAdd a public option people can choose alongside private plans; not a mandate.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
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
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemOpposesStanceOpposes; says the paperwork drops eligible working people without boosting employment. Would protect Medicaid.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsPlanSupports work requirements, particularly for SNAP.
Health care · Costs, drugs and middlemen
Break up the health care monopolies
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanBreak up the vertically-integrated giants — three companies (CVS Caremark, Optum, Express Scripts) run about 80% of U.S. prescriptions and own the insurer, the drug middleman, and the pharmacy at once; Americans pay about 2.8 times what other wealthy countries pay for drugs.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Protect Medicare Part D drug-cost relief
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanProtect the Medicare Part D gains: the $2,000 out-of-pocket cap, $35 insulin, free vaccines, and Medicare drug-price negotiation; about 198,000 Montanans rely on Part D.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Mandatory hospital price transparency
Sources: 5
Kurt Alme RepSupportsPlanPosted prices so patients can compare before treatment; calls health care the only industry that hides cost until after purchase.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanWould make the CMS hospital price-transparency rule real and enforceable, so prices are posted before treatment; calls it part of breaking up the self-dealing middlemen.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Health care · Rural access and workforce
Expand telehealth to close the rural access gap
Sources: 5
Kurt Alme RepSupportsStanceNames telehealth expansion as a way to ease hospital burden.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanMake telehealth permanent, including audio-only for low-broadband areas, back interstate licensure compacts, and pair it with rural-workforce recruitment.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceSupports telehealth plus rural workforce incentives.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Grow the rural doctor and provider pipeline
Sources: 2·5
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
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 LibNot foundNo position located.
Cut provider licensing rules and credit on-the-job learning toward credentials
Sources: 4
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemNot foundNo position located.
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
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanHalf of Montana's counties are maternity-care deserts; fund rural and tribal OB care and the maternal-health workforce, restore the cancelled women's-health research including the Women's Health Initiative, and put women fully into clinical trials.
Seth Bodnar Ind—StanceTouches the rural-OB-access piece: would protect rural hospital funding and fix Medicare/Medicaid rates that underpay rural obstetrics. No women's-health-funding, research, or maternal-workforce plank.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Protect and properly fund Medicaid long-term care
Sources: 2
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 year in a nursing home now runs a median of about $127,750.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
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 1,749-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
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 IndNot foundNo position located.
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 DemSupportsPlanProposes it as a direct supply incentive.
Seth Bodnar IndQualifiedStanceBacks 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: 5
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanWould bar Wall Street private-equity firms from bulk-buying single-family homes through federal limits on institutional buyers.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanWould put rules in place to prevent it.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Cut construction red tape to increase housing supply
Sources: 5
Kurt Alme RepSupportsStanceSays overregulation created the shortage and government must get out of the way.
Alani Bankhead DemQualifiedPlanCut needless permitting delays without gutting protections, paired with tax incentives for affordable-housing supply.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceCut red tape, use tax-code incentives, fix supply chains.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStanceReduce construction barriers; zero tariffs on materials; expand logging and mills.
Balanced federal budget as the primary cost-of-living fix
Sources: 5·4·11·3
Kurt Alme RepSupportsStanceSays deficit spending causes high prices and balanced budgets do not.
Alani Bankhead DemQualifiedPlanRecover use-or-lose federal waste through independent audits to free budget room; won't balance it on the backs of rural hospitals.
Seth Bodnar IndQualifiedStanceWants 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 LibSupportsNamed 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
Kurt Alme RepQualifiedStanceBacks cutting wasteful spending and balanced budgets as fiscal discipline; no recovery mechanism identified.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanPoints to the hundreds of billions burned each year to avoid losing next year's allocation. Would recover it through independent, expert audits and redirect it to rural health and other domestic needs, with no cut to capability.
Seth Bodnar IndQualifiedStanceFrames confronting reckless Washington spending and the national debt as priorities; no use-or-lose recovery mechanism identified.
Kyle Austin LibQualifiedNamed onlyWould “DOGE” federal and state government; targets state regulatory spending rather than a federal recovery mechanism.
Protect seniors from being taxed out of long-held homes
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceFrames it as a specific commitment for lifetime Montana homeowners.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Protect Social Security and shore up its solvency
Sources: 2·3
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanNo benefit cuts and no privatization; protect it from the 2033 cut, 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 Social Security payroll-tax cap so the highest earners pay in on all their income, with no benefit cuts.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Lower interest rates as a housing lever
Sources: 5
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemNot foundNo position located.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsNamed 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 restore the expanded, fully refundable Child Tax Credit.
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
Kurt Alme RepQualifiedNamed onlyLists “protecting public lands” as a priority; no measures or absolute commitment located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStance“No selling of public lands ever. No opening up public lands for exploitation ever.”
Seth Bodnar IndQualifiedStanceCalls public lands a birthright and opposes outside interests overriding Montanans; no explicit no-sale pledge located.
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
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceBacks a moratorium on new large-scale data centers until enforceable cost and utility-rate safeguards are in place.
Seth Bodnar IndOpposesStanceTold the Beer, Buds & Big Sky podcast “no” to a two-year moratorium and called data centers inevitable; favors transparency and cost limits instead.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Ban AI and large-scale data centers on public lands
Sources: 2·6
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceA “no” for her, without qualification.
Seth Bodnar IndQualifiedStanceHas not addressed public-land siting; 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
Kurt Alme RepQualifiedStance"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."
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 IndQualifiedStanceWants transparency, community consent, and costs borne by providers rather than ratepayers, but says he would “have to look” at federal options and has named no binding limit.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Require public reporting of data centers' power and water use
Sources: 2·15·18
Kurt Alme RepQualifiedStanceCompanies "need to be transparent... come in early... no cutting corners" with all questions answered, and water rights and quality protected — 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
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanWould force timely, accurate impact studies and full disclosure of a project's power demand, water use, and the runoff it leaves behind before it can move. No deciding blind, no taking the company's word.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
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 DemQualifiedStanceBacks science-based thinning near towns and forest restoration as real, year-round work, but is honest the mills are not coming back and leads with protecting homes and firefighters over expanding timber.
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
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 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 DemSupportsStancePriority is affordable, reliable power built on the co-op tradition.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Make polluters, not taxpayers, pay to clean up abandoned mines
Sources: 2
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 IndNot foundNo position located.
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.
Agriculture and trade
Reassert congressional authority over tariffs
Sources: 5
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanWould reassert Congress's trade authority by requiring a congressional vote on across-the-board tariffs; tariffs are a tool, not a toy.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStance“Tariffs should be used as tools, not toys.” Would push back when their careless use hurts Montanans.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Zero tariffs with allies; tariffs as leverage with non-allies
Sources: 4
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemNot foundNo position located.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsPlanCalls current tariff policy misdirected; zero on imports and exports with allies.
0% USDA financing for agricultural producers
Sources: 5·4
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemNot foundNo position located.
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
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemNot foundNo position located.
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
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceNames consolidation and rising costs as what is pushing family operations out.
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 LibNot foundNo position located.
Schools
Fund IDEA at the 40% federal share Washington promised
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanWould fund IDEA to the 40% federal share Washington promised; it now pays about 13%, 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
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceCites about $36,682, dead last nationally, as a pipeline problem.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Rights and the courts
Federal protection for reproductive freedom
Sources: 2·14·16
Kurt Alme RepOpposesStancePro-life: says human life deserves legal protection from conception; endorsed by SBA Pro-Life America.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceBacks the right to choose; cites Montanans enshrining it in the state constitution.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceSays the government has no business in a woman’s doctor’s office.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Supreme Court ethics and structural reform
Sources: 2·3
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 LibNot foundNo position located.
Bar transgender girls from girls' school sports
Sources: 1
Kurt Alme RepSupportsNamed onlyLists “keeping boys out of girls sports” among the values he'd protect.
Alani Bankhead DemNot foundNo position located.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Federal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Montanans
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceFrames it as human rights and says she will not tolerate hate toward any group.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
A national digital privacy law and data-broker limits
Sources: 2
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 IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Voter ID and documentary proof of citizenship to register
Sources: 1·4
Kurt Alme RepSupportsStanceCalls both common sense; ties them to election security.
Alani Bankhead DemQualifiedStanceFine to verify name and address the common-sense way; opposes new proof-of-citizenship laws that disenfranchise eligible voters.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStanceSupports voter ID and REAL ID; questions why noncitizens should influence elections.
Tribal sovereignty and consultation as a standing federal obligation
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanWould fully fund the Indian Health Service and make Tribal consultation a standing federal obligation, supporting tribes without asking anything in return.
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 DemSupportsStance“Nothing about us without us.”
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
Kurt Alme RepOpposesStanceNRA endorsement and “A” rating; lists defending the Second Amendment.
Alani Bankhead DemQualifiedPlanA 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.
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
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanSecure the border and go after traffickers, clear the visa backlog, and move immigration courts out of the DOJ into independent judges; “treat people like people.”
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanSecure the border and build an orderly, fair immigration system: reliable legal labor for farmers and ranchers, constitutional protections for everyone on American soil, and immigration recognized as a source of prosperity.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Federal drug prevention and treatment funding alongside enforcement
Sources: 5
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 IndNot foundNo position located.
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 DemSupportsPlanThree of four people sent to Montana State Prison are there for supervision failures, most technical — a missed appointment, 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 RepOn recordTouts 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 DemSupportsPlanThis isn't "defund" — it's sending the right responder: a mental-health or addiction crisis should get a clinician or a co-responder crisis team, not only an armed officer. 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 DemSupportsPlanHit the demand side — go after the buyers, not only the supply — and hold the online platforms where victims are recruited and advertised accountable for what they enable.
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 the country fights this crime; its full reauthorization lapsed in 2021 and keeps stalling. Reauthorize it and fund it.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Restore tribal jurisdiction and resource MMIP investigations
Sources: 2·17
Kurt Alme RepOn recordAs 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 VAWA tribal jurisdiction, fully implement Savanna's Act and the Not Invisible Act, and resource the corridor investigations.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
War and foreign policy
Enforce the War Powers Resolution as written, without exception
Sources: 2·5
Kurt Alme RepQualifiedStanceSays Congress must enforce its role, but warns against tying the commander-in-chief's hands.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlan48-hour notice to Congress, forces home within 60–90 days without a vote, and repeal the stale 2001 and 2002 war authorizations.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsStanceSays Congress must declare war and is ceding too much power to the executive.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStanceCalls the 60-day framework a good balance of power.
Congress should halt U.S. involvement in Iran
Sources: 2·4·7
Kurt Alme RepOpposesStanceCriticized “forever wars” but balked at Congress halting Trump's involvement in Iran.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceCompletely opposed to the war; cites DNI testimony that Iran was not building a weapon.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibSupportsStanceAnti-endless-wars: calls Iran an enemy but says it is “not our war,” and faults the strait operation as not thought through.
End U.S. support for Israeli operations in Gaza
Sources: 2
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsStanceCites a UN commission finding that 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 DemSupportsStanceCalls it among the cheapest national-security tools, and something Montana grows.
Seth Bodnar IndNot foundNo position located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Sentinel missile program must use union Montana labor
Sources: 5
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanIf built in Montana, built by Montana union labor, with the benefit staying in surrounding communities.
Seth Bodnar IndSupportsPlanWould fight to keep out-of-state contractors off it and direct benefit to surrounding communities.
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.
How they would actually serve
Will caucus with a party in the Senate
Sources: 5·4
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 IndOpposesStanceSays he will caucus with neither party. Analysts note this could complicate committee assignments.
Kyle Austin LibQualifiedStanceSays he would caucus with Republicans and Democrats “when necessary.”
Regular public town halls and a duty to answer for votes
Sources: 2·5
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 IndQualifiedStanceRuns on reforming broken politics; no town hall commitment located.
Kyle Austin LibNot foundNo position located.
Overturn Citizens United and get big money out of politics
Sources: 2·3
Kurt Alme RepNot foundNo position located.
Alani Bankhead DemSupportsPlanWould overturn Citizens United, pass the DISCLOSE Act and the TRUST in Congress Act to ban congressional stock trading; 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 LibNot foundNo position located.
DOGE-style cuts to federal and state government
Sources: 5·4·10
Kurt Alme RepQualifiedStanceCut wasteful spending and balance budgets, framed as fiscal responsibility rather than DOGE. No recovery mechanism identified.
Alani Bankhead DemQualifiedPlanRecover real waste (use-or-lose spending) rather than DOGE, which the GAO found overstated its savings by $110B.
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 RepOn recordU.S. Attorney 2017–20 and 2025–26; prosecuted trafficking organizations.
Alani Bankhead DemOn recordMore 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. GAO found that $110 billion of DOGE's claimed savings carried estimates that were incorrect or lacked supporting evidence. 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 and "A" rating, May 12, 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)
- 14iVoterGuide 2026 candidate profile (Kurt Alme); SBA Pro-Life America Candidate Fund endorsement, April 22, 2026
- 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)