Scrutinel— 2026 midterms

UpdatedAug 24, 2026, 7:02 PM UTC
To election day71 days
Simulations200,000

Montana — U.S. Senate

Currently held by a Republican · open seat

Democrat
Alani Bankhead
<0.1%
Republican
Kurt Alme
98%
Three-way contestsimulated by plurality, not by margin

Seth Bodnar is polling well enough that this race is simulated as a three-way plurality contest — the winner is whoever leads, not whoever wins the two-party margin. Chance of taking the seat outright: 2%.

Alani BankheadKurt AlmeSeth BodnarUndecided
ForecastSafe R
Projected margin
R+31.9
80% range
R+41.5 to R+22.4
Partisan lean
R+19.3
Uncertainty multiplier
1.30×

The 80% range comes from 200,000 simulations in which this race’s error is correlated with every other race through the national, state and demographic layers.

How the estimate is built
Polls 63%Fundamentals 37%
Polling average
R+31.3
Fundamentals
R+15.3
Blended
R+29.1
Similar-race shift
+1.2
Poll–fundamentals gap
16.0 pts
PollingDRI matchup
Polls in window
8
Distinct pollsters
6
Most recent
August 4, 2026
Democrat
16.5%
Republican
47.8%
Independent
26.8%
Undecided / other
5.5%
Spread between polls
5.9 pts
Fundamentals
Partisan lean
R+19.3
Elasticity
0.96
Incumbency
0.0
Candidate experience
0.0
Fundraising
−3.2
National environment
D+5.4
Expected margin
R+16.5

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