by Stacy Rye, Missoula
I voted for Alani Bankhead in the Democratic primary because I didn’t think the alternative was the better choice. That said, she wasn’t my first choice—Seth Bodnar was, but he wasn’t on the ballot. I hoped Bankhead would recognize that much of her support came from voters looking for an alternative rather than from broad enthusiasm for her candidacy, and that she would step aside to give the strongest possible candidate a chance to turn the Senate seat purple.
Trying to understand her vision for flipping the seat from the MAGA stranglehold, I watched a podcast where she said her plan to win the election was to ask everyone who voted for her to donate $5. Bankhead raised $45,000 in the second quarter of fundraising. Grassroots fundraising has its place. But this isn’t the kind of money that makes this seat competitive, no matter how much activists want it to be. Bodnar raised the majority of his $1.9 million in the second quarter from individual donations. Unfortunately, this is the money needed to flip this seat.
Are we better off putting parties over country? Tilting at Bernie’s windmills even though I’ve seen firsthand Montana change over the past six years? As a democrat, I can clearly see that the only path for our values to survive is for anyone but MAGA to win this seat.
Democrats are outnumbered in this state. The population of disappointed Republicans appears to be growing. It could be any number of reasons in Trump’s second term. Trump ran as a populist. Instead, he and his family commit breath-taking corruption to enrich themselves; fleece the treasury with legislation that has focused on giving a small number of billionaires more money; cost the rest of us thousands in tariffs and inflation, and has other insane policies that hurt swaths of people from farmers to the self-employed. Many independents and Republicans are looking for a different path and are not going to vote for Bankhead. They might consider Bodnar. I’m supporting Independent Seth Bodnar and hope that Bankhead will find a way to do the same.
CAV says
Stacy makes a lot of unfounded claims and relies on false slander for her argument much like every other Democrat who chimes in on this page.
Bodnar “Claims” he will vote for Congress not being allowed to trade stocks. Even if he was telling the truth which I highly doubt EVERY Democrat in Congress just voted Nay on a Republican bill to ban stock trading. EVERY ONE OF THEM!. There is no chance he is telling anything remotely close to the truth other than to try and garner votes.
WMA says
Cav:
Missing valuable context. Democrats did not vote against limiting stock trades per se. Republicans slipped an unrelated provision into the bill that would limit the ability of millions of Americans to vote. Democrats wisely voted against that.
Kevin says
Bodner is not a good choice! During the “free college education” for all hiccup, I did not ever hear or see Seth offer to reduce his salary? He did however agree to give U of M funding to “DE-WHITEN” Missoula back in 2019-20 to the tune of $75,000 accompanied by the $150,000 Engan agreed to cough of the city taxpayers tough earnings. At least it didn’t go to the 2.6% bike enthusiasts.