At first glance, former University of Montana President Seth Bodnar has all the makings of a typical Montana congressional candidate.

The independent candidate for U.S. Senate opened his speech at a July 15 campaign stop at Bias Brewing in Kalispell by emphasizing his humble beginnings as the son of two public school teachers and role as a doting husband and the father of three sixth-generation Montanans. He bemoaned the poor leadership in Washington, D.C. and vowed to “make the Montana way of life a reality again” through policies that support housing reforms, access to healthcare and investments in public education, all the while peppering his remarks with anecdotes from his time in the U.S. Air Force.

He even had the attire down: dark blue jeans and a plaid button-down shirt tucked behind a decorative belt buckle. 

One place Bodnar strays from his competition is his refusal to ascribe to party lines. If elected in November, Bodnar would become Montana’s first independent senator.  

“I think we have to do things differently than we’ve done them in the past,” he told a crowd of about 50 people at Wednesday’s event. “We have to make steady, tangible progress because [young people] get a lot of rhetoric. They don’t see a lot of results, and I think an independent who’s willing to work with either party when it makes sense for Montana, who’s willing to stand up to either party when it doesn’t, can be a place of common ground.” 

Bodnar’s decision to eschew party lines isn’t without risk. Many of Bodnar’s priorities overlap with those of Democratic senatorial candidate Alani Bankhead, leaving some voters worried the two will split the moderate and left-leaning vote and assure a win for Republican Kurt Alme.  

Bodnar has also said he will not caucus with either party if elected, generating questions about how effective his independent politics will be in practice. 

“I understand you want to be a leader, but how in the world can you be a leader for Montanans if you can’t get committee assignments,” asked one attendee. 

Bodnar’s response: “One independent vote could make a tremendous difference within the United States.” 

Bodnar pointed to what he views as rampant political corruption as further proof of the value of an independent representative. 

“We need to look no further than what we saw in the Republican primary for this race [and] Steve Daines and Kurt Alme treating a Senate race, not like a competitive election, but like a corporate succession process,” said Bodnar, referencing the incumbent senator’s withdrawal from the election minutes before campaign filings closed. 

Bodnar lobbied for term limits for senators and Supreme Court justices, restrictions on insider trading for government officials and limitations on corporate spending in campaigns as solutions to political corruption. 

He presented less concrete ideas for other issues that attendees brought up during a public question and answer session. When asked about a potential moratorium on data centers, Bodnar said that would likely be an issue for county leaders, not the federal government.  

Another attendee asked Bodnar how he planned to make educational opportunities more affordable for young people. 

“Public education, K-12, higher education, trades education, skills-based education is going to be something that I fight for every single day to invest in,” he answered. 

Bodnar was expected to take questions from the press at the event but departed without doing so. Attempts to schedule a follow-up interview were unsuccessful.