Alani Bankhead, an Air Force veteran, is projected to win Montana’s Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday night ― an outcome many Democrats were hoping for, even if Bankhead has little chance to win in November.

Many Democrats in the state, including former Sen. Jon Tester, are backing former Green Beret and University of Montana President Seth Bodnar, who is running as an independent for the seat. But Bodnar’s narrow path to victory relies on the Democratic primary winner dropping out of the race and allowing him to consolidate the vote against the GOP nominee, former U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme.

It’s not clear if Bankhead will exit the contest, but her main competition, former state legislator Reilly Neill, had pledged to stay in the race.

The stakes were in how each party treated the race: A GOP group aligned with retiring Sen. Steve Daines put out mailers highlighting Neill’s liberal positions in an effort to elevate her with primary voters, while a Democratic group tried to boost Bankhead.

The situation is similar to one in Nebraska, where the Democratic primary winner said she would drop out of the race to clear the way for independent Dan Osborn.

Montana is a solidly red state ― Trump won it by roughly 20 percentage points in 2024 ― but has a relatively high number of persuadable voters. Democrats are hopeful Bodnar, who has already raised $2 million and staked out moderate positions, can capitalize on a potential anti-Trump wave election.

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