Republican Kurt Alme cruises to Senate primary win; Bankhead gets nod from Dems

In the swiftest race call among Montana’s contested federal primary election results, Republican Kurt Alme has won the primary race for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat.

The Associated Press called the race at 8:23 p.m. on Tuesday, with Alme the presumed winner over Charles Walking Child and Lee Calhoun. Alme has received around 77% of the early vote count. 

In a statement, Alme said winning the primary is the “honor of my life.”

“Tonight, Montanans made clear that we believe in commonsense conservative policies to secure our borders, defend our Second Amendment rights, keep boys out of girls’ sports, take care of veterans, protect our public lands, and secure our elections,” Alme said. “With President Trump’s endorsement, we’re ready to go win this thing and make life more affordable for Montanans, make our communities safer, and protect our Montana way of life.”

Alme is a first-time candidate and the former U.S. attorney for Montana, filed to run for the U.S. Senate with just minutes left before the state’s filing deadline in early March.

Sen. Steve Daines, who had filed for reelection to seek a third term on the first day candidates could submit paperwork, withdrew in the final minutes of the final day, clearing the way for his chosen successor to enter the race, while preventing state Democrats from fielding a top candidate. 

Alme picked up endorsements from Daines, Sen. Tim Sheehy, Gov. Greg Gianforte — who previously tapped Alme to run the state Department of Revenue — and President Donald Trump, who reiterated his support for Alme in a Monday post to his social media site Truth Social. 

The move by Daines and Alme has drawn criticism from Republicans, Democrats and independent candidate Seth Bodnar. The switch has led to some Montana lawmakers considering legislation to prevent similar moves in the future.

Since filing, Alme has campaigned as the presumed GOP nominee, focusing on the general election, which will be against Bodnar, former University of Montana president, and the winner of Tuesday’s Democratic primary. 

Another Republican, incumbent U.S. Rep. Troy Downing, faced no Republican primary challengers and advances to the general election. 

Bankhead wins Dem Senate primary

Alani Bankhead has won the Democratic primary for Montana’s open U.S. Senate seat, defeating Reilly Neill.

With slightly over 23% of the vote in, Bankhead had drawn 44% of the ballots tabulated so far. Reilly Neill was second with 33%, Michael Black Wolf was third with 13% of the vote, with three other candidates drawing the rest on Tuesday. 

About 190,000 ballots have been counted so far, the Associated Press called the race at 9:51 p.m.

“I’m really humbled,” Bankhead said at an event in Helena shortly after the news broke.

Bankhead, who lives in Helena, is a veteran and has leaned into her understanding of the federal government as part of her campaign pitch. Rising prices, cuts to federal jobs and seeing people around her struggle to provide for their families all helped encourage her to run, she said.

Bankhead is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and has made child protection and public safety centerpieces of her campaign. She was also active in discussions around the city, giving public comments in favor of an immigration resolution in Helena earlier this year during her campaign.

“I just want people to know that I’m a real person, just like them,” Bankhead said earlier in the evening, when asked what she wanted people to know about here. “I’m not here because I want power or money. I’m here because my parents told me that you help your community if you have something to offer, and my family, we sacrificed a lot for this campaign, and it hasn’t been easy, but we love Montana.”

Neill, who lives in Livingston with her family, started the Livingston Weekly Current in Park County in 2004 and before that had experience working in commercial kitchens.

Neill served as a one-term legislator in 2012 from House District 62. She was a write-in candidate in the 2024 U.S. House race, gathering about 1,000 votes, which was ultimately won by Rep. Troy Downing, a Republican. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Black Wolf is a preservation officer and community leader from the Fort Belknap Indian Community.

Neill was the first entry in the race, declaring her intentions shortly after the 2024 general election. She spent a significant amount of time in rural Montana during her campaign.

Bankhead saw significant support from the Progressive Veterans PAC, which spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to hit social media, mailboxes and text messages with support for Bankhead in the weeks leading up to the election. Bankhead has repeatedly said she is not coordinating with that PAC.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Kurt Alme and independent candidate Seth Bodnar in the November general election.

“Tonight we proved something bigger than one campaign,” Bankhead said in a statement to reporters at her primary event. “We proved that old political rules are dead. The consultants said you needed to be known to be taken seriously. They said you needed permission. They said you had to wait your turn. They said ordinary people could not compete with billionaire donors, farming machines, and carefully manufactured politics. But the people of Montana tore up the script.”