Montana US Senate 2026
Election day is November 3, 2026. A statewide contest in Montana.
Who is favoured in Montana US Senate?
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What the Montana US Senate election decides
The Senate confirms federal judges and cabinet officers, ratifies treaties, and can stop legislation the House passes. With a six-year term and a hundred-member chamber, a single seat is a larger share of the institution than any House district, which is why Senate races draw national money into state contests.
Each state sends two senators regardless of population, so this seat carries the same weight as California's or Wyoming's. Montana voters fill it alongside all 2 of the state's House seats, and a Senate term runs six years, spanning two future Congresses and, in this case, the next presidential election.
How Montana votes
Montana's small population and vast geography give its politics a personal character. Public lands, agriculture and energy dominate, Republicans lead federally, and statewide races have stayed competitive when candidates fit the state. That backdrop is the ground any Montana campaign fights on, and it is what the Electorate HQ simulation reads first when it weighs a ticket's platform against this contest.
About this race
The 2026 United States Senate election in Montana will be held on November 3, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Montana. Republican U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme, Democratic Air Force officer Alani Bankhead, and independent former University of Montana president Seth Bodnar are the major candidates. Republican incumbent Steve Daines is not seeking a third term.
Primaries were held on June 2. In the Republican primary, Daines announced he would seek re-election, but withdrew minutes before the filing deadline and endorsed Alme, who filed to run the same day. As the only major Republican candidate, Alme was nominated with 76.2% of the vote. Bankhead won the Democratic nomination with 43.7% of the vote over former state representative Reilly Neill and tribal historic preservation officer Michael Black Wolf. Bodnar, supported by former Democratic senator Jon Tester, launched an independent campaign shortly after resigning from the University of Montana.
This is the first open Senate election in Montana since 1976.
Latest coverage of the Montana US Senate race
Bodnar vows to stay in Montana Senate race despite ‘speculation, silliness’📈 GOP holds big edge in Montana’s Senate raceBehind the Push to Clear the Field in Montana’s Senate RaceMontana Election 2026: Key Races and Historical Presidential Election Results'I'll never bow down': Montana Democratic Senate nominee refuses to pave way for independentThe rest of the Montana ballot
Every Montana House district, the counties inside each one, and an address lookup that resolves your exact districts are on the Montana state page.
Analysis covering Montana
One seat covers 34 square kilometres. One seat covers 1,713,379.
New York's 12th and Alaska's at-large seat each elect one member of the House. On the ground, one is fifty thousand times the size of the other.
The 2026 Senate map covers 62% of the country and 70% of the states
Thirty-five of fifty states vote for Senate this year. Weighted by people rather than states the share drops, and that gap is the design of the chamber.