https://dailymontanan.com/2026/03/04/bodnar-announces-independent-campaign-for-u-s-senate/



On the final day of candidate filing in Montana, former University of Montana President Seth Bodnar filed to run as an independent in the U.S. Senate race to unseat Steve Daines.

“For too long, Montanans have watched as the American Dream has been held hostage by a broken political system that allows Washington politicians to divide us and line their own pockets while families across our state face higher costs and fewer opportunities,” Bodnar said in an early morning press release on Wednesday. “I’m running for Senate as an Independent because Montanans deserve a leader who bridges divides with commonsense solutions, stands up to political elites in Washington, and answers only to Montana, not national party bosses or D.C. insiders.”

Bodnar had been rumored to be mulling a run for Senate for weeks after a text message attributed to former Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester expressed support for an independent Bodnar campaign.

News of the possible candidacy from the head of the Missoula flagship roiled political insiders, who debated whether an independent in a red state or a party-backed Democrat would be better equipped to face Daines — a popular incumbent who is well connected within the national Republican Party.

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