Seth Bodnar Submits 30,000 Signatures to Qualify as an Independent Candidate for U.S. Senate in Montana

Posted on by May 26, 2026

On May 26, Seth Bodnar, former president of the University of Montana, submitted approximately 30,000 signatures to get on the ballot as an independent for U.S. Senate. He submitted signatures from all but four of Montana’s counties. Also he has raised more campaign contributions than any Democrat or Republican who is in the race.

The petition requirement is 12.788.

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Seth Bodnar Submits 30,000 Signatures to Qualify as an Independent Candidate for U.S. Senate in Montana — 44 Comments

  5. Buh bye, RHINO Cornyn. Ken Paxton gets GOP nomination and will be the next US Senator from Texas. WINNING!

  11. Boo! Hiss!

    Christian Menefee beats Al Green in Democratic primary runoff in new TX-18

    Al Green got robbed! We need more AI Greens in congress!

  12. Meanwhile, South Carolina has once again dropped the ball as well as the soap when it comes to redistricting.

  13. Mayes Middleton beat Chip Roy for Texas AG because Roy is too liberal. Good!

  17. Sad news. As reported elsewhere this hero has now passed away.

    https://notthebee.com/article/the-california-man-known-for-his-trump-house-got-beaten-to-a-pulp-and-is-not-expected-to-survive

    May his death be avenged a millionfold. Something really needs to be done about Kalipornia such as federal military takeover, mass deportation, expulsion from the union, tectonic plate subduction, EMP blasts and neutron bombs, or what have you. Maybe wall it off and officially declare it a no go zone and asylum for the criminally insane? Trade it to Canada for Alberta? Any other ideas?

  18. The Florida redistricting plan has been upheld in court. The Communist Demon Rats will appeal and ultimately still lose.

  21. @Q,

    Seth Bodnar has a Bachelor of Science in Economics, so he could well be a communist. That and being a graduate of West Point and working for General Electric confirm it.

  22. Commies hide in all sorts of institutions and have all sorts of credentials . 99%+ in non communist countries pretend to be anything other than a commie and play the very long game over generations to infiltrate and take over every type of institution, undermine the national character and ability to withstand assault from inside and out, manipulate public opinion incrementally. Etc, etc.

  23. Those things in and of themselves don’t confirm that he’s a commie.

    But if you think they or any public positions he takes disprove it or make it unlikely, you don’t understand how the long game of fabianism works.

    Generally, it’s much more successful than revolutionary marxism . Sometimes one softens the ground for the other. At other times the frog gets boiled slowly .

  24. Jim Riley

    Are you or have you ever been aware that a bunch of sinister Fabian “undercover” commies run “progressive” or “moderate” campaigns to gradually enact their agenda over generations?

    Politics is far from the only field where they operate as termites to systematically undermine the pillars of our civilization.

    This year, there happens to be a trend where a bunch of them are running as poorly disguised “independents” in the numerous states where the Demo(ni)cRat label would now be extremely detrimental to them .

    Q asked whether Bodnar is one if them. I don’t know if it was a rhetorical question or not. I’m mildly curious myself. Not enough to go out of my way to find out, but maybe someone here might shed some light on the facts. Probably not. But it could happen.

  25. https://www.sethformontana.com/issues/

    Lots of boilerplate and likely BS that has nothing to do with what he will or won’t actually do if elected.

    I don’t live anywhere near Montana and won’t take the time to attempt any sort of deep dive. That link might help someone else and maybe they’ll share what all they find

  28. Sometimes, yes. The trick there is to convey a false public sense of where the center is and of what’s extreme. Things are often – usually – not what they appear to be on the surface.

  29. Bodnar needs 13,327 signatures. In Montana, petitions have to be filed in the county of the signer. Unlike for party qualification, there is no distribution requirement. The Bodnar campaign claimed that of 15,000 signatures submitted so far, 11,000 had been accepted.

    There is an allegation that one circulator approached a woman with a clipboard. She said she was not interested, and he then said, “I’ll pay you.” She reported this to the Secretary of State, the Commissioner of Public Practices, the Missoula County election officials, and apparently the newspaper.

    There is a selfie video by another woman wondering why the Bodnar campaign was paying $10 per signature and using non-Montanans. The legislature passed a law requiring paid circulators to identify themselves and also disclose their county of residence. This law passed after two initiatives that would have implemented a Top 4 primary, and require a majority for election were placed on the ballot.

    Both women claimed specific knowledge about how petitioning worked.

  32. @Real Facts,

    When Bodnar was president of the University of Montana, there was a Title IX complaint that the university was hostile to women, particularly those who were not physically attractive or athletic. Some of the events occurred before Bodnar was even president. The lawsuit singled out Bodnar pointing out that GE and the US Armed Forces have a record of discriminating against women.

  33. “There is a selfie video by another woman wondering why the Bodnar campaign was paying $10 per signature and using non-Montanans.”

    So they are violating Montana law? Does the video substantiate the claim? Is this video public? Would anyone care to post a link?

    Regarding the other woman, has she provided evidence or proof of her claims?

    Are other people reporting being offered to be paid or ascertaining that petitioners and or the campaign is/are violating Montana law about petitioner residency, disclosure, pay, ETC?

  34. “There is a selfie video by another woman wondering why the Bodnar campaign was paying $10 per signature and using non-Montanans.”

    Is there a porn parody version? Link?

  35. https://mtgop.org/democrats-poison-for-all-montanans-not-just-candidates/

    Hope this actually helps

    “Jon Tester recently referred to the toxic effect of having a (D) next to his name on his failed re-election campaign as “poison,” implying that he would have won if he was not a Democrat. As always, Democrats like Tester – and liberal-progressives in general – view words as mere tools to get political power, not as a way to communicate meaning or ideas. Montana voters cut through the word games and correctly identified Democrat ideology and policies as poisonous for Montanans and Americans more broadly.

    It was not the letter (D) that was toxic, but rather, what that letter next to a candidate’s name represents. The (D) is toxic because of the policies supported by people who share that letter, and Tester’s cynical word-game observation is truer than he likely meant it. A former Senate page quoted by UM’s own student newspaper put it well: “Seeing the word Democrat behind your name is already a loss.”

    Tester is not the only Democrat who views their party as a hindrance; now, former UM President Seth Bodnar is eyeing a run as an “INO” – an Independent in Name Only, like Bernie Sanders.

    The word “Democrat” carries baggage, just like “liberal” and “progressive” (which the liberal-progressives change out like soiled clothing every decade or so). Montanans know the impact of Democrat policies, especially here in Missoula: high taxes, high crime, and high government salaries. This is part of the reason why I have been against “non-partisan” elections.

    Democrats know that the game is up if they have to place a (D) next to their name, so in 1972, they made many elected offices “non-partisan,” allowing them to avoid that toxic letter. Making elections “non-partisan” does not remove the partisanship from politics. It simply removes information from voters – information that the Democrats know poisons their chances of winning elections. Bodnar wants to run as an “Independent” for the same reason that Democrats pushed “non-partisan” elections: to avoid the baggage of the Democrat label.

    This year, do not be deceived by the left’s cavalier use of words. Words have meaning, and “Democrat” means bad policies; but a Democrat running as an “Independent” means bad policies and deceit. Voters know that the quickest indicator of whether a candidate will be a benefit or a detriment to them and their family is whether there is an (R) or a (D) next to their name. That’s why the Montana Republican Party is working hard to protect the meaning of its own label.

    Montanans won’t be fooled by “INOs” like Sneaky Seth or by Democrats masquerading as Republicans in our legislature. We’ve had enough of leftist, relativistic word-smithing. In 2026, Montanans will vote for prosperity over poison.

    Michael HagEstad
    Chairman, Missoula County Republicans

    Published in Lee Enterprises newspapers, February 7, 2026”

  36. John Tester convinced him to run as an independent, but we know what he is – a leftist wolf in sheep’s clothing.

  37. The communists are again trying this playback because they know Democrats lose when running under the label. So far it’s thankfully failed in Nebraska and Utah.

  38. Supported by Tester, the former Demon Rat senator that lost, according to a previous BAN article. So, yes, COMMUNISM on the installment plan.

    His objective is to either beat the excellent current Senator Daines or, failing that, cost conservative resources that might have won other contests elsewhere. Ideally for him, thus worse of all for US, both.

  39. “When Bodnar was president of the University of Montana, there was a Title IX complaint that the university was hostile to women, particularly those who were not physically attractive or athletic. Some of the events occurred before Bodnar was even president. The lawsuit singled out Bodnar pointing out that GE and the US Armed Forces have a record of discriminating against women.”

    What do you think that’s supposed to prove? All sorts of institutions have a history of discrimination, which was often warranted (and perhaps sometimes not).

    Bodnar worked his way up in various institutions that have a history of past discrimination. So does anyone else who worked his or her way up through established institutions. So what?

    Wouldn’t working your way up through the ranks of established institutions be a likely career path if you wanted to influence their direction and gain the connections, experience, resume padding, etc to keep rising up to higher positions, no matter what your aims might be aside from personal advancement?

    If, let’s say for the sake of argument, your goal was to undermine Capitalist, European culture based, predominantly White and Christian nations, erode their values and so on, wouldn’t you see personal advancement and the bona fides that facilitate it as helping you get in positions to be more useful towards those ultimate goals?

    Supposing that the unattractive and unathletic women were even entirely correct in their complaint, what do you think that proves about Bodnar?

    Do you really imagine that there are no undercover commies and fabians among US Army officers – I recommend Pete Hegseth’s books on this point – or in GE’s corporate suites? Or are you just hoping others reading would be that naive?

  40. Imagine you were such a patient, long term oriented termite. It can just be a mental exercise if you prefer.

    Wouldn’t you want to rise up through ranks to as high positions as you can in order to be more effective at undermining and coopting as many of society’s institutions as possible?

  42. This is triple the signature requirement. He either had low validity on his petition or they turned in overkill.

  43. @Ryan,

    Yes. Labor Boss Ronald Reagan used to act as front man for General Electric.

  44. @Andy,

    It is likely a strategy to place Bodnar on an equal footing with the party candidates. Steve Daines the current senator had filed for re-election, but then withdrew. Remarkably, Daines was the first Republican ever popularly elected to the Class II seat. Because Daines was expected to have a relatively easy re-election, no prominent Republicans sought the nomination. The current front runner for the GOP nomination filed with 8 minutes to spare. He has been appointed to several prominent history, but has no electoral history. The Democratic party has used up its bench.

    The primary is next Tuesday. Montana uses a pick-a-party ballot where voters are given ballots for all parties (Republican, Democrat, Libertarian), go into the voting booth and pick one and vote it. The Senate race is the only statewide office on the ballot. Turnout will be low.

    Meanwhile, the petition filing deadline was one week before the primary. Election officials have until Monday to count the signatures. Independent candidates do not formally file until their signatures are counted, and they pay a filing fee. Petition signing is a quasi-primary – it is a visible public event. Instead of a campaign rally, the candidate can attend petition signing campaign rallies around the state,

    The number of signatures turned in is closer to 2.5 times those needed. His announcement of total signatures was accompanied that he had certified 11,000 or so signatures of 15,000 processed. Of those processed so far, 73% were accepted, which is fairly typical. I’m guessing that the later batches might have a bit lower acceptance. Earlier signings may be by voters who sought out the circulator. Later signings may be by for-pay circulators who were pushing petitions in the face of voters.

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