Spelling it Out

The Reasons I Support Alani Bankhead

A very good friend of mine gave me a gentle nudge the other day, suggesting that my posts about the Montana Senate race have become too focused on attacking one candidate, while not giving enough positive reasons to support my candidate. It was feedback I needed to hear, so I’ve been stewing on it ever since, and here’s the deal.

I can’t remember the last time a major candidate with such a small budget has gotten so much traction in Montana. I know I’m not alone in becoming very tired of having every campaign focus entirely on who has raised the most money. For years, this has been the primary, and sometimes the only, measure by which ‘pundits’ have decided who has the best chance of winning. So it’s been very refreshing to me that Alani Bankhead, who is refusing to take contributions from any PACs that smell funny, or don’t have clear sources, has come out of nowhere and vaulted into the conversation for a major national race. Of course we all know that she got a boost in the primary, from a Veteran’s PAC that did not contact her, or ask for her permission or cooperation. She did not receive any money from this PAC, which is further evidenced by her meager campaign treasure chest compared to her opponents.

But I also want to talk about how Alani has shown such courage of her convictions. There has been a narrative that has bounced around Montana for years that only a moderate democrat has a chance of winning in this state because we’re so red.

Let’s explore that for a minute. The last few candidates who ran for Congress, the Senate, and governor of Montana have all been very careful to stay firmly in the middle when it comes to the major issues. Nobody would ever label Steve Bullock, Monica Lindeen, or Ryan Busse as radical progressives. Which is not to say they weren’t great candidates. I supported all of them, and I bought into the notion that they gave us the best chance to win. But what about the most moderate of them all, not to mention the most successful Democratic candidate we’ve had in recent history? Nobody got more money for their campaign in Montana history than Jon Tester did in the 2024 Senate race. And even after a solid career, serving three terms and becoming one of the most senior members of the Senate, he lost.

So I’m not buying the idea that in order to win in Montana, you have to stick to the middle of the road. And Alani has been very outspoken about her opposition to data centers. She has been very vocal about her dissatisfaction with our current president. She has a long track record of hunting down people like Mr. Trump, that is people who have skirted the edges of legal issues. And sadly, because she’s a woman, that track record has come under intense scrutiny. I have never seen that same scrutiny shown for Mr. Bodnar’s military record, and yet I’ve heard way more details about what Alani Bankhead actually DID in the military than what her opponent did.

Alani’s website gives detailed facts about where she stands on housing, healthcare, public lands, and reproductive rights. She hands her phone number out freely to anyone who wants to ask her a question about any topic at all.

And the thing I love most about her is that she has handled the attacks against her character and her record with the kind of integrity and humor that I love to see in my candidates. She never dodges a question, and never attacks the messenger when they present her with questions about her record. She provides proof.

Meanwhile, her opponent continues to show the same lack of respect for her candidacy that he did toward many women who worked under him at the University of Montana. He continues to run ads that focus only on the other candidate in the race, without even acknowledging that there is a Democrat in the race. He also shows none of the courage of his convictions that Alani shows. Instead his candidacy seems to circle around the idea that he’s going to take on everyone, on both sides of the aisle. It would be laughable if he wasn’t so serious about it.

I once had a conversation with Pat Williams, during the primary for the presidential election of 2016, asking whether he supported Hilary or Bernie, and he didn’t even hesitate. He said ‘Bernie is a fabulous speaker, and he has brought a lot of issues to the attention of the American people, but Hilary gets things done.’ That stuck with me.

More than ever, we need someone who is going to be brave enough to stand up to this current administration and the stalemate in Congress. An Independent is not someone we can trust in that scenario because just by the nature of not committing to either party, we have no idea where they’re going to come down on the issues that matter to us. Bodnar’s speeches, and his website, continue to show a lack of real depth in his commitment to anything, which seems to have been his strategy all along. I’ve never heard him come out strongly against the Trump administration, while Alani has been very clear about going after the corruption and lack of accountability that’s going on in the current administration. This was her actual job in the military, so she has experience, and she’s determined to do something about it.

So that’s why I have been a full throated supporter of Alani Bankhead from the first time I heard her speak, when I had no idea who she was. Just weeks later, she beat a formidable opponent by ten percentage points, and I have no reason to doubt that she can pull that same kind of upset in this race. There are just a few days left for Bodnar to finally show some cojones and admit that he made a mistake by not listening to the countless people who told him he would have a much better chance if he ran as a Democrat. This advice came from some of the top political figures in our state, but he was arrogant enough to think that he didn’t need to listen to them. This continues to be his stance, and it’s not one I admire. I support people who stand for what they believe in.