Guest opinion: Bodner will put our land, water and people first

I grew up hunting and fishing in South Dakota's Black Hills, and I've called Montana home since college. I'm an enrolled Oglala Lakota Sioux member, and my family carries five generations of farming and ranching — a legacy of responsible stewardship.

As a water quality scientist, I protect the clean water our communities and way of life depend on.

None of that makes me a straight-ticket voter. I'm fiscally conservative and lean progressive on some social issues. But for Montana's U.S. Senate seat, I vote for the candidate who will fight hardest for our landscape, our water, and the people relying on both. That candidate is Seth Bodnar.

Public lands access, healthy rivers and working farms and ranches aren't partisan issues in Montana — they're the foundation of who we are. Seth understands defending them takes more than talking points — real commitment to those who hunt, fish, farm and depend on clean water daily.

Montana can't afford a divided field that hands this seat away. I respectfully ask Democrat Alani Bankhead to drop out of the race.

I'm asking Montanans, whatever their party, to unite behind Seth Bodnar, who can win and will put our land, our water and our people first.

– Russell Conti, Bozeman