Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and former Sen. Jon Tester (D., Mont.) are actively recruiting Seth Bodnar, the longtime Democrat and president of the University of Montana, to enter this year’s U.S. Senate race in Montana as a supposedly independent candidate; however, Bodnar’s extensive ties to local and national Democrats threaten to immediately undercut any ability by the first-time candidate to distance himself from the Democratic Party, which is broadly unpopular in Montana.
Should Bodnar run, which local outlets like the Montana Free Press report that he will, the move could be viewed by many as Tester’s attempt to avenge his 2024 defeat by now-Sen. Tim Sheehy (R., Mont.), which Sen. Steve Daines (R., Mont.) prioritized as the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) for the 2024 cycle.
While Bodnar is reportedly planning to run as an independent, following his recent resignation as president of the University of Montana, he has deep ties to Democrats.
Bodnar most prominently served as a special guest of First Lady Michelle Obama at the 2012 presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. After assuming the presidency at the University of Montana in 2018, Bodnar brought on Obama’s former campaign manager, Jim Messina, as an adviser.
The Missoulian previously reported that Messina has long-standing personal connections to Bodnar’s wife, Chelsea Elander, who once interned in the office of Sen. Max Baucus (D., Mont.).
During his tenure at the University of Montana, Bodnar has been noted for supporting progressive policies, including becoming an early advocate for allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports. Shortly after taking office, he permitted Juniper Eastwood, a transgender athlete assigned male at birth, to join the women’s Division I cross-country team.
One longtime Montana political observer described Bodnar to the Reporter as “an early champion for transgender athletes at the University of Montana.”
Another high-ranking Montana official, speaking to the Reporter on condition of anonymity, characterized Bodnar as a “Missoula Democrat” at heart and suggested he would align with liberal priorities in the Senate — including support for impeaching Trump, bringing back open-border policies, and backing transgender participation in women’s sports. The latter could prove particularly problematic in a state like Montana, where the GOP attorney general Austin Knudsen is helping to lead the GOP’s nationwide messaging as the Supreme Court deliberates monumental cases regarding transgender athletes.
“Seth is a Missoula Democrat and that is how he would vote in the Senate,” the official explained. “Whether it is impeaching President Trump, opening our border, or putting men back in women’s sports, Bodnar will stand with the radical left every single time.”
The reported recruitment effort follows a similar strategy employed by Schumer during the 2024 election cycle. In Nebraska, an “independent” Senate candidate initially distanced himself from Democrats, only for it to later emerge that Schumer’s Senate Majority PAC and leadership PAC, IMPACT, had provided significant financial support, as the Reporter covered extensively at the time.
Schumer was also recorded appearing to suggest the candidate in Nebraska would back him for Majority Leader if elected.
The 2024 Montana Senate race between Tester and Sheehy was the most expensive in U.S. history on a per capita basis, with total spending exceeding $315 million. The 2026 Montana Senate race, featuring incumbent Daines seeking a third term has so far drawn far less attention and spending, with national forecasters rating it as solidly Republican following the GOP’s strong 2024 statewide performance.
Several Democratic challengers have filed paperwork, but the contest remains low-profile compared to 2024. That dynamic could shift if Bodnar were to enter as a purportedly independent candidate. However, Daines is a tested campaigner who most recently beat the state’s popular former governor, Steve Bullock, in 2020. Should he and his allies successfully convey to Montanans that Bodnar is far from a true “independent,” prognosticators expect him to win reelection in the pro-Trump state.
