Key Points: Idaho Montana Democratic Senate Candidates
- Idaho Montana Democratic Senate candidates are struggling with fractured, underfunded campaigns
- Idaho’s David Roth dropped out entirely, leaving an independent as the real GOP challenger
- Montana Democrats are split between Alani Bankhead and independent Seth Bodnar
- Seventeen Montana Democratic lawmakers publicly demanded one candidate step aside
Two of the reddest states in the country are watching their Democratic Senate hopes collapse into infighting this summer, and the party’s own strategists aren’t hiding their frustration.
Idaho’s Democratic Senate Bid Just Fell Apart
Idaho’s Democratic nominee, David Roth, ended his own Senate campaign Tuesday, telling supporters his time is better spent helping down-ballot candidates instead.
That leaves independent Todd Achilles, an Army veteran and former Democratic state legislator, as the only real challenger to Republican incumbent Sen. Jim Risch.
Here’s why that shift matters strategically. Risch is seeking a fourth term, and Democrats haven’t won a Senate seat in Idaho since 1974, a losing streak spanning five decades.
Montana Free Press polling shows roughly 42% of Montanans identify as independent, compared to 39% Republican and just 19% Democratic, a demographic reality shaping both states’ Senate strategies this cycle.
Montana’s Three Way Senate Split Deepens
Montana’s race looks even messier. Democrat Alani Bankhead won her party’s nomination, but she’s now competing directly against independent Seth Bodnar for the same anti-Republican vote.
Bodnar, the former University of Montana president, entered the race in March, positioning himself as a true independent unbeholden to either party’s establishment.
He’s built real financial momentum too, consistently leading all Senate candidates in fundraising reports, including one released July 16 that again showed him outpacing both major parties.
Here’s where internal party tension boiled over. Seventeen Montana Democratic legislators signed a letter July 9, warning that a three-way race “substantially increases the likelihood of a Republican victory.”
That letter asked either Bankhead or Bodnar to step aside, arguing a divided center-left vote would hand Republican nominee Kurt Alme an easier path to victory.
Neither candidate has budged. Reporting from July 26 suggests Bodnar himself may be weighing an exit before the August 10 filing deadline, but only if Bankhead drops out first.
Bankhead has shown no signs of withdrawing either, leaving Montana Democrats stuck in an unresolved standoff just weeks before ballots lock in.
What This Means Heading Into November
Both states reveal the same underlying problem. Traditional Democratic infrastructure is struggling in deep red territory, pushing voters and even some Democratic strategists toward independent alternatives instead.
Whether that shift represents a smarter path forward, or simply a symptom of deeper Democratic weakness in these states, remains the defining question heading into the fall campaign season.