Seth Bodnar

Where Bodnar stands

Grouped by topic by Vote Book; headings and quoted words are the candidate’s own, with the source under each one. “As reported” items are a news outlet’s description, not an exact quote.

Education

Q1. Please briefly provide the following information: place (town or county and state) of birth, age as of election day 2026, place (town or county) of permanent residency, occupation/employer, and education. How do these and your other life experiences qualify you to be effective in Congress?

I was born in Grove City, Pennsylvania. I'll be 47 on Election Day 2026 (born February 2, 1979). I've lived in Missoula for nearly a decade, where I served as President of the University of Montana. I’m a veteran and Green Beret. My education includes a B.S. in Economics from West Point and, as a Rhodes and Truman Scholar, graduate degrees in economics and social policy from Oxford. These experiences shaped how I lead: military service taught me to make high-stakes decisions under pressure, leading a university gave me experience managing budgets and building consensus, and my academic training sharpened my ability to analyze policy problems. Together, they are what is needed to work across party lines and deliver for Montana in Congress.

Jobs, wages & cost of living

Q3. What economic policies will you pursue to help Americans who are concerned about their economic prospects in the coming years?

Working Americans are falling behind because the gains keep landing in the same few pockets while everyone else absorbs the cost. I'd focus on breaking up the corporate consolidation squeezing families from every direction through real antitrust enforcement, protecting Medicare's ability to negotiate drug prices, and stopping private equity from cornering the housing market. I would also make sure companies that use AI to automate away a worker's job can't walk off with all the profit while that worker gets nothing, and protect workers' right to organize, so the benefits of a growing economy actually reach the people doing the work, not just shareholders and executives.

Elections, ethics & government

Q2. What are the most important issues you expect to face if elected and how do you propose to address those issues?

Groceries, health care, and housing cost too much, and a broken political system that breeds corruption keeps driving those costs up. Every vote I take in the Senate will get one test: does this lower costs for Montana families? I'll fight to lower health care premiums, build more affordable housing, protect rural hospital funding, hold Big Tech accountable so AI data centers can't drive up Montanans' power bills and demand real, independent safety guardrails on AI. I'll also take on the corruption in D.C. by banning stock trading by members of Congress and ending dark money's grip on our elections. Montana deserves a senator who answers directly to Montanans, not Party Bosses or corporate donors.

Q4. What measures do you believe states and/or the federal government should take to ensure elections are secure while facilitating the ability of all eligible voters to cast their ballots?

I believe voting is one of the most sacred rights we have, and Montanans deserve elections they can trust are both secure and accessible, those aren't in conflict no matter how often Washington pretends they are. I support Montana's existing voter ID law and the state's constitutional authority to run its own elections, and I'd reject federal mandates that strip states of that authority, from either party. I'd also make it easier for legitimate voters, especially in rural counties, to register and vote, not harder. And I'd push for real transparency in campaign spending, including dark money, plus overturning Citizens United and ending partisan gerrymandering, so elections actually reflect what voters want.