Montana Senate Race

2026 Election • Class 2
Back to Senate Races

Primary

Democratic Primary

Held June 2, 2026.

CandidateVotes%
Alani Bankhead 48,772 54.2%
Reilly Neill 36,880 41.0%
Michael Hummert 4,305 4.8%

Republican Primary

Held June 2, 2026.

CandidateVotes%
Kurt Alme 128,716 84.4%
Lee Calhoun 23,872 15.6%

Libertarian Primary

Held June 2, 2026.

CandidateVotes%
Kyle Austin 1,819 53.2%
Tom Jandron 1,592 46.8%

Full calendar and every race: Montana primary guide

Race Overview

Incumbent
OPEN (Steve Daines)
Party
Republican
Open Seat
Yes
Current Rating
Safe R expert avg
Polls
1 polls

General Election Polling Trend

PollingSource average — trailing average of all polls from the last 30 days.

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Race Ratings

Cook Political Report

Solid R

Inside Elections

Solid R

Sabato's Crystal Ball

Safe R

Candidates

Alani Ines Bankhead Nominee

Democrat
Total Raised: $58,829
Cash on Hand: $21,485
Kurt Alme

Kurt Alme Nominee

Republican
Total Raised: $1,984,861
Cash on Hand: $1,450,719

Kyle Austin Nominee

Libertarian
Total Raised: $250,627
Cash on Hand: $8,751

General Election Polling Average

Democrat
15.0%
Republican
45.0%
Margin
R+30.0
Last Poll
Aug 4, 2026

Average reflects all polls from the last 30 days; table shows the most recent 30 days or the newest 3 polls, whichever is more — subscribe for the full history. How accurate is each pollster? →

PollsterDateSampleMoEDemRep
Hart Research (D) partisan·D D-sponsored 2026-08-04 800 LV Alani Bankhead 15.00% Kurt Alme 45.00%
Tavern Research (D) partisan·D 2026-07-27 517 LV ±5.00 Alani Bankhead 24.00% Kurt Alme 49.00%
GQR (D) partisan·D 2026-07-26 500 LV ±4.40 Alani Bankhead 22.00% Kurt Alme 41.00%

Questions About This Race

Who is winning the 2026 Montana Senate race?

Kurt Alme leads Alani Ines Bankhead 45% to 15% in the PollingSource polling average — a R+30.0 margin based on 1 poll from the last 30 days.

Is the 2026 Montana Senate race competitive?

No — the expert consensus rates it Safe R for Republicans.

What does the latest poll of the 2026 Montana Senate race say?

The most recent public poll, from Hart Research (D) (completed August 4, 2026), found Alani Bankhead (D) at 15% and Kurt Alme (R) at 45%.

When is the 2026 Montana Senate race decided?

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

How is the PollingSource average calculated?

The PollingSource average is the unweighted mean of every scientific public poll of the race from the last 30 days — we do not exclude pollsters. Each race page lists the individual polls behind the average with pollster, field dates, sample size, and margin of error. Full details: pollingsource.com/methodology.

Race Notes

OPEN SEAT: Daines withdrew before the primary; Kurt Alme won the Republican nomination. Two-term incumbent

Independent Expenditures Updated just now

$12,814,003
Total IE Spending
$9,263,929
Support
$3,550,075
Oppose

Top Spenders

Full outside-spending research — every committee, every race →

Race News