What did Jon Tester say about Alani Bankhead staying in the Montana Senate race?

Jon Tester, Montana's last elected Democratic senator, backed Bodnar early. He told the show he had nothing to do with funding Bankhead and called that idea stupid. He still argued she does not grasp what is at stake. Drawing on four campaigns of his own, he said no one who knows politics would believe she has the grassroots support to win.

Tester held the seat for 18 years and once won it by fewer than 4,000 votes.
At a University of Montana homecoming parade, he counted 40 people on Bodnar's float and one Bankhead sign.
Bankhead replied that she won 48,000 votes and accused Tester of throwing a fit.

▸In their words

“Look, our democracy is hanging on by its fingernails, if that.” Jon Tester · at 33:40 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on This American Life (2026-11-01). Read the whole episode summary →

▸More from this episode

Q1Who paid for the super PAC ads that helped Alani Bankhead win Montana's Democratic Senate primary?Q2Why did Montana Democrats want Alani Bankhead to drop out of the 2026 Senate race?Q3Did Brian Schweitzer offer Riley Neal money to drop out of Montana's Senate primary?Q5What is the Ben Franklin close sales technique Noah Adams described on This American Life?Q6How did Noah Adams say a customer can get out of a high-pressure sales close?Q7What did the Oracle of Allentown predict about Hispanic voters and the 2026 midterms?Q8Why did a Detroit voter on This American Life refuse to vote for Abdul El-Sayed?

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