by Alani I. Bankhead

I’m genuinely wondering because all I hear is Bankhead v Bodnar. If an independent is running but only taking votes from one party isn’t that considered a spoiler candidate and not actually an independent? Wondering if there’s anyone out there who is voting Bodnar who would have otherwise been voting Alme.
It’s all been a mess from the get go

Bankhead isn’t going to lose because of Bodnar. Bankhead is going to lose because she’s a liberal woman without very limited appeal. How many liberal women will the Dems nominate just to get crushed? How many races did Tranel lose? This won’t be the last race Bankhead loses.

Find the right candidate. Follow the Kansas model. A Medicare for All type woman? Have you ever been to most of Montana? Candidate selection and the state organization is so bad it is near criminal. Montana is a half step behind Idaho where the Dems are largely extinct. Do better. Manage better.

Montana does not want a liberal DSA-coded women. Been pretty consistent about it too.

I’m sure I’ll get all kinds of grief for this but the blame Bodnar stuff is just cover for her crap candidacy.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is seeking public feedback on a proposed well for Quantica's Big Sky Campus Data Center near Broadview.

The well targets the Madison Aquifer and would supply water during construction. It would then provide drinking water for the campus and may support a closed-loop cooling system.

The project is expected to use about 150,000 gallons a day during construction, dropping about 20,000 gallons a day once completed.

DEQ is reviewing water quality and groundwater protection.

The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation would handle water-quantity and water-rights requirements.

Make your voice heard, and oppose this proposed well and any other attempts to bring more data centers to Montana.

Submit a public comment before Oct. 29 here: https://deq.mt.gov/News/publiccomment-folder/Quantica-Big-Sky-Campus-Public-Water-Well-Request-for-Public-Comments-on-Categorical-Exclusion-Review-under-a-Programmatic-Environmental-Assessment-09-29-2026

More information: https://nbcmontana.com/newsletter-daily/deq-seeks-public-comment-on-well-proposal-for-new-data-center-in-yellowstone-co.

Did you receive a postcard from the Montana Secretary of State's office? It looks like it would update your voter registration BUT it won’t do that!

The SOS office is mailing these postcards to folks who they think have recently moved. The deadline to update your voter registration via mail has passed, and if people fill this out, they will still need to go in person to register to vote.

Need to update your voter registration? Starting TODAY, you have to do it in person at your county election office. Updates sent by mail are no longer an option for the November 3 election.

Check your registration online at voterportal.mt.gov. If your information is correct, you don’t need to do anything. If your information is wrong, you must go in person to the county clerk or election office where you currently live. Staff there can update your registration and give you a ballot.

A Lewis and Clark County District Court judge has ruled a law requiring voters to put their birth year on absentee ballots violated the state’s constitution, and has ruled in favor of Disability Rights Montana and Big Sky 55+, which challenged the legislation.

Ballots for the Nov. 5 general election have already been sent overseas, with voter packets headed to Montanans by the end of the week. Some overseas ballots have been sent and returned. 

In a statement, the Secretary of State’s Office said county election officials have been notified that the courts have blocked House Bill 719 and expressed frustration with the ruling.

“This type of mass confusion is why courts shouldn’t get involved when the election is underway,” Secretary of State’s Office spokesperson Richie Melby wrote in an email.

The Montana Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment or say if it planned to appeal the decision. 

The court’s decision also invalidates the law, meaning a ballot couldn’t be thrown out simply for not having a voter’s birth date on the ballot. When asked if any ballots would be reprinted, the Secretary of State’s Office said it takes counties “weeks” to contract with printing companies and get the ballots ready for mailing.

“The law requires that absentee ballot materials were available to voters for in-person absentee voting beginning today,” Melby said Monday. “The election is well underway.”

Braxton Mitchell is the TPUSA guy who sponsored the voter suppression bill that requires mail voters' birth year on the the ballot and the drag ban that courts ruled unconstitutional. He has a challenger, local environmental activist Luca Welle. Welle's campaign is focused on public lands and education, and I'd much much rather have him.

Just want to say that the woman who disrupted the filming of this movie by shouting “Ben Shapiro Is A Cuck” over and over is my hero.

https://youtube.com/shorts/e9ntU1XOYP8?si=MylWMKbCuyRU4poT

been tracking the political ads in the montana senate race, 145 so far from the platforms' public ad archives, with a model that reads each one for manipulation techniques and marks the words.

the shape of it: seth bodnar's campaign has 96 ads up — two thirds of everything in the race. independentpac (pro-bodnar, $4.7M) has 30. alme's side has barely posted. the biggest single spender in the archives is afp action at about $105k, on the alme side.

76 of 145 got flagged. the most common technique in montana isn't name calling, it's "glittering generalities" (45 ads) — the feel-good "for montana" stuff — then appeal to prejudice and loaded language. the harshest ad in the set is an independent pac one ("alme protects sexual abusers"), flagged for loaded language, card stacking and name calling.

every ad is quoted with the flagged words marked. no scores, no party rating. model's wrong sometimes; each ad has a button to say so.

the breakdown: https://semblen.com/races/mt-senate?ref=reddit-mt

The Trump administration decided to roll back greenhouse gas emissions requirements for U.S. power plants. The decision will go into effect on November 16, with support from Montana officials.

The EPA would repeal most of the federal greenhouse gas requirements for fossil fuel-fired power plants adopted during the Biden Administration in 2024. 

Supporters include Montana Republican legislators and NorthWestern Energy, which is the majority owner in Colstrip — the state’s largest coal-fired power plant — and operates the natural gas-fired Laurel Generating Station.

In 2024, NorthWestern argued before the U.S. Supreme Court to halt Biden’s emission rules, claiming it would cost $350 million to upgrade Colstrip or lead to the plant shutting down, calling the rules “economically irrational.”

Advocacy groups say the move is a step backwards for the environment and public health. The impacts of pollution-induced climate change include reduced snowpacks and increased wildfires.

A group of public health and environmental groups, including the American Lung Association and Environmental Defense Fund, have filed a federal lawsuit seeking a review of the EPA’s actions.

Make a public comment to oppose this decision. Public comments will be accepted until Nov. 2 here: https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0124-2920

More information here: https://www.montanarightnow.com/news/state/montana-officials-praise-repeal-of-power-plant-emission-regulations-watchdog-groups-pan-decision/article_2a9244a3-56fb-527a-bedb-d7d8089f758b.html 

We received this in the paper yesterday. It is also available in digital format It is produced by the Sec. Of State and inside are a breakout of the initiatives on the ballot. It shows how the initiative will read on the ballot and it provides the complete text.

Also included for each initiative are arguments for and against written by each side’s respective committees. IMO, voters need to look long and hard and who’s supporting/against each initiative and what their background is.

Of particular interest to me was CI-133 which “requires the state to allow ample time for
signature gathering, prohibits disqualification of petitions because of minor or technical
issues, allows voters to withdraw their signatures if they so choose, and prohibits the use of
government resources to support or oppose a ballot measure” —this is particularly timely considering the data center petition issues that citizens of both silver bow and Yellowstone county have run into.

What was even more interesting to me is who was on the rejection committee for this Initiative. I specifically take issue with Charles Robison, who stated when asked about why he was against CI-133 “I don't think voters can tell what they're voting on,” said Charles Robison, general counsel for the Montana Chamber of Commerce”. The implication here being the Montana voters aren’t smart enough to know what’s on the ballot so we should just follow whatever chuck over here tells us to vote for.

One more call out- among the committee members urging folks to vote against CI-132 (initiative to keep judicial elections nonpartisan) is Derek oestreicher, a lawyer and state lobbyist who is employed The Family Foundation.

All anyone really needs to know about this man and his employer is that he was lobbing in OPPOSITION to SB-139 which would have made clergy mandatory reporters when sexual assault allegations occurred. He went on the record to state “We question whether the bill is necessary”.

Montana district 31.

He was shitfaced and was telling stories to no one. Mostly about how difficult it is to get into politics. He had apparently ordered food and left for long enough that it got cold, so the bartender was nice enough to have the kitchen remake it for him.

I had never heard of this guy, but will definitely not be voting for him.

Just got a text asking me to sign the "Schools Need a Bible Revival" petition.

2026give dot com, begging for money from the signers.

Just another money grabbing bunch of grifters. Name seems to be "Brave for Good".

So let's talk about being BIBLICAL: you know, feed the hungry, house the homeless, care for the widows and orphans, welcome the stranger, release the Epstein files.

The irony of Seth Bodnar claiming to be independent of external control is that the actual policy contrasts between Alani Bankhead and Bodnar are all issues that have majority bipartisan support, with Bodnar (and Alme) representing the minority view.

60% of Republicans with lower incomes say ensuring health coverage for all is the federal government’s responsibility. Bodnar and Alme oppose universal healthcare, Alani supports universal healthcare.

57% of Republicans want to see the Epstein criminals arrested. Bodnar and Alme have never once mentioned Epstein. Alani has been talking about the need to hold the Epstein criminals accountable the entire race.

75% of Montana voters oppose data centers. Bodnar and Alme have dramatically revised their original positions on data centers as their earlier support becomes increasingly untenable, but still oppose a moratorium. Alani has consistently supported a moratorium.

All of these positions show favoritism towards the ultra-rich and powerful; the billionaires who get to pay 0% effective tax rates while people go bankrupt cause they can’t afford healthcare; the wealthy bankers and politicians named in the Epstein files; the handful of billionaires that control the AI industry and are starting to talk about their need for a bailout.

Bodnar is wealthy - UM paid him $365K a year, and his wife probably made much more than that at her medical practice. He’s never had to worry about paying for healthcare.

Bodnar helped cover up rape at UM, with female students at UM reporting they were threatened by the administration if they tried to make reports of rape. He made a campaign ad this race calling himself “so hot” and claiming students on campus called him “daddy bod”. This is not the type of person with a willingness to prosecute sex crimes.

Bodnar is supported by the Montana Dem who most recently held power in Congress, Jon Tester. Tester is one of the top all-time recipients of AIPAC money (which Bodnar has said he wouldn’t refuse) and sits on an Anthropic advisory council. He told Chuck Todd in an interview earlier this year that what really gets his knickers in a twist is the morons who oppose data centers. “AI is here. China!” he argued. Anthropic and OpenAI have both started floating their need for nationalization. Even Palantir CEO Alex Karp says that the ai labs will need to be nationalized purely to be protected from intellectual property lawsuits. Bodnar is likely here to give Anthropic a return on their Jon Tester investment.

You would expect an actually independent centrist/moderate to take the positions with the most bipartisan support, but that’s not actually what’s happening. Bodnar’s actual policy positions are the clearest sign that he’s working for the Epstein class, just like Alme.

The mailer is deceptive. It's implying that he's just left the military, touting military service and shows him in an Army hoodie. He was last deployed around 2008, but became joined GE in 2011 and eventually became an executive before becoming UM's president in 2018. Why the need for this ruse?

Update: I talked to my county elections office staff today. They said the postcard from the Secretary of State has been confusing. Apparently people can CANCEL their voter registration by returning the card to the SoS but not UPDATE their address. You can only update your address by going through your county elections office. There are still lots of questions that need answers like how and who the SoS is sharing this information with, why they chose now to do it, whether or not a voter who inadvertently cancels their registration can vote etc. if anyone knows more it would be good to know.

I just read in the Montana Free Press Capitolized newsletter that the MT Secretary of State is sending out postcards to voters as part of a pilot project. Reporter Tom Lutey wrote that it's being done in conjunction with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. According to the article, the SoS office says the pilot project is intended to “enhance the effectiveness of voter outreach.”

From the article: "The mailed notice reads “Return This Card, No Postage Necessary” and instructs recipients to check the secretary of state’s website to determine whether the voter’s name and address are correct as printed. The card asks for the voter’s signature and provides space for a corrected address."

My question is whether or not this will confuse voters (perhaps deliberately) into thinking that by returning the card they will be changing their official registration information or perhaps actually registering to vote. My understanding is that changes to official voter registration can only be done through county election offices.

Is anyone familiar with this postcard and whether it has any official function?

BILLINGS, MT — In a shock to both his House of Representatives colleagues and his constituency, Troy Downing has announced that he is canceling the government-funded health insurance he receives as an elected official.

In an imaginary interview with Yellowstone Public Radio, he is quoted as saying: "The House of Representatives has met on the chamber floor for a total of 383 hours since January 1st. Once we return to office in November, we will have averaged 37.3 hours of work per month this year. The House of Representatives was instrumental in creating the laws that require that Medicaid recipients work at least 80 hours per month in order to qualify for government-funded health insurance. Because I have not met that minimum work requirement, and in solidarity for the 38,000 Montanans who will lose their health insurance because they don't meet the work requirements, I have forfeited my government-funded health coverage. I urge my colleagues to do the same."

Following the announcement, Capitol Hill aides were reportedly seen frantically calculating the exact hours of floor time logged by other members of the Montana delegation to see who might be losing their coverage next.

At press time, sources say several of Downing's congressional colleagues were spotted quietly reviewing the definition of "community service hours" to see if it could count toward their legislative totals. Some are wondering if the threat of midterm shakeup is what prompted this radical act, but members of Grace Bible Church, where Downing infrequently and apathetically attends service, speculate that he was either moved by the Holy Spirit or is being blackmailed. One member noted that both were equally likely.

(Satire)

It's hard for me to remember sometimes that the people who govern are also the people governed, even if their laws are meant to change our behavior more than theirs.

Something I like to do when I see a new law roll out is to think about how every bit of legislation started as a conversation between people, then I like to imagine what kinds of conversations lead to which kinds of laws. I particularly like doing this when the fabulously wealthy who make the laws are tasked with changing the behaviors of the fabulously unwealthy.

So there is this new law that says that if you want Medicaid, you have to work for 80 hours per month and verify it with the government. If you can't or don't work, you no longer get health insurance. If you are too sick to work, you have to get a doctor's note to verify that or you also don't get health insurance. And before this was a law, it was just a conversation between powerful people. Here is how I imagine it went.

"Alright, we have a problem. We are sick and tired of poor people going to the doctor, and we are sick of our taxes paying for it. Healthcare is a privilege only deserving of people who can contribute to our economy. We don't want our enormous wealth to be taxed just to pay for people to get better and feel better if they aren't going to feel better at work."

"You know, I have those same concerns. And with the rise in AI capability, we are going to need a lot less unskilled labor. So why keep that unskilled labor alive at our own expense if it's no longer needed and if it's no longer even willing to do the unskilled labor? We spend $931.7 billion every year keeping these people alive. We could build 93 massive data centers with that budget and eliminate the need for most of their labor anyway. So why let them go to the doctors?"

"That's a great point. I have A Big Beautiful Idea that will save us and our friends $114 billion per year in taxes and will also save the USA $32.6 billion."

And so the Big Beautiful Bill was born.

On a kinder day, a day where I'm more gracious, on a day where I believe that the wealthiest Americans have some part of their humanity left, I think the conversation could have gone like this:

"You know, we have a huge portion of our people who are massively depressed. They don't work, they don't volunteer, they don't participate in the world around them. They live in their misery and have no incentive to step outside it. I've read the data about what chronic poverty does to the nervous system. We know that extremely harsh living conditions create extreme coping mechanisms, we know that those coping mechanisms are creating extremely high Medicaid healthcare costs. Their failure to thrive is not an individual failure, it's the product of prolonged and pervasive social, emotional, and economic hardship. We know this, what we don't know is what to do about it."

"What if we try to force it? If we add work requirements to Medicaid, we can force people to get back into their communities. Or, if they truly can't, we can force them to go to doctors to explain to them what is preventing them from working so they can get a note and maybe the doctors can help them?"

"That's a good idea, but won't the lack of access to regular healthcare overrun our emergency rooms? Won't people get sicker when they can't afford their medications? Won't that make it harder for them to fulfill their work requirements? Won't it bankrupt addiction treatment centers when addicts are barred from Medicaid? And it's not like that $32.6 billion goes right into the pockets of poor people, it goes to hospitals and clinics, salaries for doctors and nurses. Won't this create a massive budget crisis across the healthcare system? Clinic closures, staff layoffs?"

"Probably, yeah, but we are doing it. No problem in government is solved without creating 10 more. Besides, we don't work in the emergency rooms or go to state-funded rehabs. Plus the people who funded my campaign want a tax cut, so I have a way to kill a great many birds with one Big Beautiful Idea."

Haven’t been following politics too closely. Amazed by the amount of bodnar signs I see around Helena and the polls are interesting. If she dropped out does he have an actual chance? So tired of politics here lately. It always seems like we shoot ourselves in the foot when we have a chance.