Why did Montana Democrats want Alani Bankhead to drop out of the 2026 Senate race?

According to the episode, many Democrats concluded no Democrat could win Montana's Senate seat and backed independent Seth Bodnar instead. The same play worked in Idaho, Nebraska, South Dakota and Alaska, where Democratic nominees stepped aside. Murphy traces the plan to an August 2025 meeting in Anaconda. Strategists then picked Bankhead as the newcomer likeliest to withdraw after winning, though no one told her.

• Former senator Max Baucus told Murphy that people he knew had said they would pick a candidate likely to withdraw.
• Polls put the Republican above 40, Bodnar in the high 20s or low 30s and Bankhead in the teens.
• Bankhead said a sitting senator, a governor and a former cabinet member called to try to get her out.
• Montana's Republican attorney general announced an investigation. The DNC says it never offered her a job.

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

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