The person behind the name
Kurt Alme’s public career runs through the Justice Department’s Montana office, which he led twice, and the state capitol in Helena, where he directed revenue for one governor and the budget for another; the 2026 Senate race is his first campaign for any office. [1][17][12]
By the Justice Department’s biography, Alme is a native of Great Falls who graduated from Custer County District High School in Miles City. The campaign biography adds that his parents were educators, that the family followed his father’s career to Dillon, Victor and Helena before Miles City, and that he lives in Billings with his wife, Sandra, where they raised two grown children. [1][12]
Education and professional preparation
The Justice Department records an undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado, summa cum laude, and a law degree from Harvard Law School, cum laude; its 2019 biography describes the Colorado degree as a bachelor’s in business and calls him a Harry S. Truman Scholar. After law school he clerked for U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell, became a partner in the Billings firm now known as Crowley Fleck, and served as Director of the Montana Department of Revenue under Governor Judy Martz. Montana Free Press reports that he became a certified accountant before law school and that Martz hired him at 34, in 2001. Degree years and bar records were not part of this review. [1][3][19]
Prosecutor, foundation president, budget director
From 2003 to 2010 he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Montana, focused on white-collar, program and bankruptcy fraud, money laundering and tax evasion, and from 2006 to 2010 the office’s First Assistant. He left to become executive vice president and later president and general counsel of the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch Foundation. Recommended by Senator Steve Daines and nominated by President Trump, he was unanimously confirmed as U.S. Attorney in September 2017 and served until December 2020; he then served as State Budget Director for Governor Greg Gianforte and as executive vice president for planned giving at the National Christian Foundation. Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed him interim U.S. Attorney and he was sworn in on March 17, 2025; the Senate confirmed him on October 7, 2025. [1][2][32]
The Senate nomination
On March 4, 2026, Senator Daines withdrew from the race two minutes before Montana’s filing deadline; state filing records show Alme registering his campaign eight minutes before the period closed, with a release about two hours later carrying endorsements from Daines, President Trump, Senator Tim Sheehy and Governor Gianforte. In the June 2 Republican primary he received 128,716 votes, 76.1 percent, against Lee Calhoun and Charles Walking Child. He faces Democrat Alani Bankhead, independent Seth Bodnar and Libertarian Kyle Austin on November 3, 2026; a write-in candidate, Jami Woodman, has also declared. [17][7][27][29][22]
A note on the second tenure. The campaign describes him as having served as U.S. Attorney from March 2025 until March 2026. His own account, e-mailed to Montana Free Press the day after filing, is that Daines told him on the morning of March 4 that he would withdraw if Alme ran, that Alme then resigned the post and only afterward told the senator he would run. A spokesperson for the office confirmed to the Montana State News Bureau that he resigned on March 4, and First Assistant Tim Racicot led the office on an interim basis; the office’s website lists First Assistant Mark Steger Smith as Acting U.S. Attorney from June 1, 2026. The resignation letter itself was not part of this review. [26][19][31][28]
Life & public service
From a Miles City high school to the U.S. Attorney’s office and a statewide campaign, the documented milestones show how his record was built.
Project Safe Neighborhoods
Launched in Yellowstone County in April 2018; by October, 106 people had been charged, 160 pounds of methamphetamine and 52 firearms seized. [4]
Resignation
Announced his resignation on November 23, 2020, effective December 2, 2020, after a tenure the office summarised as a 15 percent rise in federal prosecutions and the country’s first Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons coordinator. [2]
Accomplishments, in the record
Justice Department releases, the Senate’s roll call record, the Secretary of State’s canvass, the Federal Election Commission’s filings and contemporary reporting establish the following work. Outcomes are described at the level those records support, with shared credit where a measure was another official’s initiative.
United States Attorney for Montana
The office’s own account of his first tenure, published with his resignation on November 23, 2020, says federal criminal prosecutions rose 15 percent to more than 400 defendants a year, except during a short disruption from COVID, across drug trafficking, violent crime on reservations, child pornography, human trafficking, fraud, immigration and firearms cases; he oversaw more than 70 employees in four offices. He served as vice chair of the Native American Issues Subcommittee of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, sat on its Controlled Substances Subcommittee, was vice chair of the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area’s executive board and, with Attorney General Tim Fox and the Montana County Attorney’s Association, started the Montana Prosecuting Attorneys’ Drug Enforcement Coordinating Committee. [2]
On January 5, 2018, the day after the Attorney General rescinded the Cole Memo, he issued a statement that the office would be “focusing in particular on identifying and prosecuting those who create the greatest safety threats to our citizens and communities.” The campaign says criminal prosecutions “hit a 20-year high” under his leadership; his questionnaire answer and the campaign’s August 2026 release place that in the past year, that is, the second tenure, and in Red Lodge in September 2026 he said the office “prosecuted more criminals than any year in the last 20 plus years.” It is a campaign figure this review did not measure. [5][12][23][14][33]
Project Safe Neighborhoods
The office launched Project Safe Neighborhoods in Yellowstone County in April 2018 to target methamphetamine traffickers, armed robbers and violent felons with firearms. Six months in, it reported 106 people charged, 87 of them in federal court, 160 pounds of methamphetamine and 52 firearms seized, and murders, robberies and aggravated assaults 1 percent below the average of the previous two years after a first quarter that had run more than 29 percent above it. By November 2020 the office counted more than 670 cases statewide, 293 of them in Yellowstone County, where 333 pounds of methamphetamine and 343 firearms had been seized, and said murder, robbery and aggravated assault in Missoula County fell 25 percent until the pandemic. PSN is a Justice Department program; the figures are the office’s own. [4][2]
Missing and murdered Indigenous persons
The office hired a former FBI agent as the country’s first Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons coordinator, and Alme chaired the Justice Department’s MMIP Working Group, which drafted guides for tribal community response plans; one of the first was to be piloted on the Flathead Reservation in December 2020. He made more than 20 trips to Montana’s reservations before the pandemic. Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Chairwoman Shelly Fyant said in the release that his “collaboration and communication with Tribes, and his dedication to building strong partnerships, have served as exactly the type of leadership that was needed to combat MMIP.” A former legislator’s contrary view is in the fuller record. [2]
Interim appointment and a 51–47 confirmation
Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed him U.S. Attorney and he was sworn in by Chief Judge Brian Morris on March 17, 2025, for an interim term of 120 days or until a nominee was confirmed. The Senate confirmed him on October 7, 2025, by 51 to 47 on roll call vote 547, an en bloc confirmation of 107 nominations under Senate Resolution 412 that listed his as PN141-3, United States Attorney for the District of Montana for a term of four years; Senator Daines voted yea and Senator Sheehy was recorded as not voting. The Daily Montanan reported that the bloc followed a rules change and quoted Senator Chuck Grassley’s statement describing a nine-month hold on all 93 U.S. Attorney nominees; it also reported letters of support to Montana’s senators from, among others, Shelly Fyant, the former Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes chairwoman then serving as a Democratic state representative. Both the 2017 and 2025 nominations were President Trump’s. [1][32][25][19]
Revenue director and budget director
The Justice Department’s biography records his service as Director of the Montana Department of Revenue under Governor Martz and as State Budget Director for Governor Gianforte. Montana Free Press reports that Martz hired him at 34, in 2001, and a photo caption in the same report shows him taking reporters’ questions at the January 7, 2021 press conference that unveiled Gianforte’s budget proposal; both Montana Free Press and the Montana State News Bureau describe the budget post as brief. The campaign says he “spearheaded the largest income tax rate cut in state history” in the Martz years and that the 2021 session cut taxes by $60 million a year; Jim Elliott, the Democrat who sponsored his 2001 confirmation, told Montana Free Press the upper-rate cuts of that year harmed lower-income Montanans. The bill records were not retrieved for this review, and the tax figures stand as campaign claims. [1][19][17][31][12][26]
The primary, as canvassed
The Secretary of State’s canvass of the June 2, 2026 primary records 128,716 votes for Alme, 23,872 for Lee Calhoun and 16,474 for Charles Walking Child in the Republican race, 76.1 percent for Alme as computed from the canvass; Alani Bankhead won the Democratic primary with 48,772 votes to Reilly Neill’s 36,880, and Kyle Austin the Libertarian primary with 1,819 to Tom Jandron’s 1,592. Turnout was 300,011 of 791,207 registered voters, 37.9 percent by the canvass’s own figure. The canvass is published on the Secretary of State’s results page alongside the 2026 general election listing. [7][18][8]
What the ratings and endorsements say
The NRA Political Victory Fund grades him AQ, a questionnaire grade for a candidate without a voting record, against F for Bankhead and Bodnar; the campaign’s own news headline describes an NRA endorsement and an “A” rating. Club for Growth PAC endorsed him on August 6, 2026, calling him “a strong fiscal conservative who will fight to cut spending, lower taxes, and promote deregulation.” The campaign lists a Taxpayer Protection Pledge signing, a national pro-life group and the Montana Stockgrowers Association’s MAPA PAC among its news items, and announced endorsements from 34 sheriffs on August 12, 2026; those campaign-reported endorsements were not independently verified. Endorsements establish political support; they are not evaluations of the record above. [29][16][30][14]
The money, as filed
Alme for Senate reported $1,984,860.91 in receipts from January 1 to June 30, 2026, including $1,021,120.28 from individuals, $577,500.00 from other committees, $62,000.00 from party committees and $324,240.63 transferred from other authorized committees; $534,142.12 spent; $1,450,718.79 on hand and no debts. Seth Bodnar for Montana reported $3,238,150.74 raised from March 4 to June 30, 2026 and $977,779.31 on hand; Friends of Alani Bankhead $58,829.06 raised from October 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 and $21,484.67 on hand. Montana Free Press, on August 24, 2026, counted $2.9 million in spending by super PACs favorable to Alme, the biggest spender being Americans for Prosperity Action. [9][11][10][19]
Family & community
The campaign biography identifies his wife as Sandra, married 32 years, and says they raised two grown children in Billings; it describes his parents as a high-school mathematics teacher and an elementary teacher, and his father as Director of Education at Pine Hills in Miles City. [12]
The same biography lists board service with the Boys and Girls Club of Yellowstone County Endowment Foundation, St. John’s Lutheran Ministries and St. Vincent’s Healthcare, pro bono work for the Yellowstone Guardianship Council, and participation in Billings Downtown Rotary and the Billings Area Chamber of Commerce; the Justice Department’s releases record his presidency of the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch Foundation and his later post at the National Christian Foundation. [12][1]
The campaign biography speaks of his faith and conservative principles but names no church or denomination, and this profile makes no claim about one. The sources reviewed here document family, residence and public roles; charitable board service is recorded as the campaign states it and was not independently verified. [12]
Mission & priorities
“He is running for U.S. Senate to make life more affordable, make our communities safer, and protect our Montana way of life.” {12}
The following summarizes the agenda on Alme’s campaign website, in his March 2026 answers to the Montana Free Press questionnaire and in his interviews. These are proposed priorities, not completed accomplishments; the campaign site’s Priorities page and home-page priority blocks carried template placeholder text on the review date. [12][23][15][13]
01Rein in deficit spending
In the questionnaire he wrote that “the best way to lower the cost of living – permanently – is to rein in deficit spending and put more money back in Montanans’ pockets,” and to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that “what I did in Helena when I was budget director is what we need to do in D.C.,” evaluating spending “department by department, agency by agency, item by item.” The Chronicle noted he did not specify which spending he would cut. [23][24]
02Community safety and the cartels
The campaign says he will “keep the border secure, support law enforcement, prioritize prosecuting violent criminals, and investigate drug trafficking organizations all the way up to the cartels,” and, in the release announcing the endorsement of 34 sheriffs, said that “in Montana, we don’t defund the police — we back the blue.” The record behind the promise is the Project Safe Neighborhoods figures above. [23][14][4]
03Drug treatment and the HEART Fund
He promises to “bring a renewed focus to drug prevention and treatment” and cites, as budget director, the HEART Fund built from marijuana tax revenue to expand treatment and recovery services; the 2020 Justice Department release records the Yellowstone and Missoula substance-abuse coalitions he helped form. [23][2]
04Rural health care
His questionnaire answer credits the Rural Health Transformation Program, created by what he calls the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, with $233 million this year to strengthen rural health care and proposes building on it, expanding telehealth and requiring price transparency, saying health care “is the only industry where you have no idea what the cost is until after you buy the product.” [23]
05Housing supply
“To increase housing supply, we must unleash small businesses, contractors, and communities by cutting red tape that ties up construction and prevents more homes from being built.” [23]
06War powers and Iran
He wrote that Congress “must consistently enforce its constitutional role” under the War Powers Resolution while warning that “it’s dangerous to tie our commander-in-chief and troops’ hands behind their backs.” In April 2026 he told the Chronicle he supported President Trump’s action against Iran and opposed a congressional halt: “We do need to keep our sons and daughters out of forever wars,” and, “we have to ensure the president has sufficient flexibility to defend us.” [23][24]
07The “Montana way of life”
At a Red Lodge gathering in September 2026, reported by the Carbon County News, he described the Montana way of life as rooted in faith, hard work and service and listed caring for veterans, protecting public lands, securing elections, “keeping boys out of girls sports” and Second Amendment rights among his priorities, alongside keeping the border secure and prosecuting violent crime. No bill or vote stands behind these statements; he has held no legislative office. [33]
08Standing with President Trump
In the questionnaire he calls himself “the only candidate who has been supported for a job three times by President Trump – twice for U.S. Attorney and now for the U.S. Senate,” and the announcement statement promised to “help President Trump put America First.” In the same questionnaire he wrote that he has “given no commitments for any endorsements.” [23][26]
How to assess a proposal. A campaign plan states an intention. Enactment, implementation costs, replacement revenue, and measured results are separate questions. These priorities should be read alongside the legislative and voting history above.
The fuller record
A useful profile includes policy tradeoffs, the limits of a claim, and responses to material criticism.
How the nomination came about
Daines filed for re-election on February 17, 2026, with $4.9 million in the bank, then withdrew two minutes before the March 4 deadline; Alme registered eight minutes before filing closed. Alme’s account, in an e-mail to Montana Free Press on March 5: Daines called him at the end of the prior week to ask whether he would run if the senator retired, let him know on the morning of the deadline that he would withdraw if Alme ran, and Alme resigned as U.S. Attorney and agreed. To the Chronicle in April he said the senator waited “to discourage (ex-Sen.) Jon Tester and (former Gov.) Steve Bullock from jumping into the race,” adding, “That was Daines’ motivation, Daines’ decision.” Former Senator Tester said the timing “wasn’t an accident”; Bodnar said Daines withdrew “to coronate his handpicked successor.” Montana Free Press reports that Alme also acquired the incumbent’s campaign staff, and that two people who know him well, Russ Fagg, a former district judge and friend, and Jim Elliott, the Democrat who sponsored his 2001 confirmation, disapprove of the way he became the nominee while holding him in high regard as a person and a candidate. [17][19][24][18]
A low-profile campaign
Montana Free Press reported on August 24, 2026 that Alme’s March 5 e-mail was his last direct communication to the outlet, that multiple interview requests had gone unanswered, that his events were not widely promoted and that, unlike Bankhead and Bodnar, he had hosted no major press events, while super PACs favorable to him had spent $2.9 million. The campaign site’s media page instructs news programmers that voters “need to know” he was tough on crime and cut taxes. Carroll College’s Jeremy Johnson called it “a cautious approach.” A candidate forum at Dawson Community College in Glendive in September went ahead with Bodnar, Bankhead, Austin and Woodman; the Glendive Ranger-Review reported that Alme did not respond to the invitation. The Carbon County News reported a Red Lodge gathering the same month at which he restated the affordability and public-safety themes. The campaign’s Priorities page carried placeholder text on the review date, and most posts in its news section had no body text. [19][15][16][34][33]
The MMIP record, questioned
The 2020 Justice Department release credits the office with the country’s first MMIP coordinator and with chairing the department’s working group. Rae Peppers, a Crow tribal member and former state legislator who wrote laws on reservation law enforcement, told Montana Free Press in August 2026, “It just feels like we’ve been spinning in circles here,” and “Nothing has changed.” Both the office’s claims and the critique are on the record; measured outcomes were not part of this review. [2][19]
The tax-cut superlative
The campaign says he “spearheaded the largest income tax rate cut in state history – cutting the top rate by almost 40% and saving income taxpayers over half a billion dollars in just the first five years” as revenue director, and that as budget director he helped “deliver one of Montana’s largest income tax cuts, and make Montana debt-free.” The Legislature’s bill records for the 2001 and 2003 sessions could not be retrieved for this review, so the superlative, the rate figure and the savings estimate are campaign claims; the announcement statement’s figure of $60 million a year for the 2021 session is likewise the campaign’s. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle repeated the superlative in its own words in April 2026, and the Carbon County News in September paraphrased him as claiming a hand in two of the largest tax cuts in state history; neither report cites a bill. [12][26][24][33]
Two confirmations, two different votes
The Senate confirmed him unanimously in September 2017 and by 51 to 47 on October 7, 2025, the second on roll call vote 547, an en bloc confirmation of 107 nominations under Senate Resolution 412 that followed a rules change Senator Grassley defended against what he called “an unprecedented hold on all 93 U.S. Attorney nominees.” The 2025 vote was about Senate procedure and the nominees as a group; no finding about Alme individually appears in the records reviewed. [1][32][25]
The four-way general election
The withdrawal deadline of August 10, 2026 passed with Bankhead, Bodnar, Austin and Alme all on the ballot; Bankhead said she “cannot be intimidated” into leaving, and Bodnar, alleging that Republican groups had released his phone number and sent fundraising e-mails on Bankhead’s behalf, said, “This is what Steve Daines and Kurt Alme do.” No response from Alme to that accusation appears in the reporting reviewed. The Montana Free Press–Eagleton poll of 845 registered voters taken August 27 to September 7 found Alme at 38 percent, Bodnar 30, Bankhead 16 and Austin 5, with a margin of error of 4.2 points; a May poll had found more than 40 percent of voters unfamiliar with both Alme and Bodnar. [27][22][20][21]
Questions & answers
Who is Kurt Alme?
Kurt Alme’s public career runs through the Justice Department’s Montana office, which he led twice, and the state capitol in Helena, where he directed revenue for one governor and the budget for another; the 2026 Senate race is his first campaign for any office. [1][17][12] By the Justice Department’s biography, Alme is a native of Great Falls who graduated from Custer County District High School in Miles City. The campaign biography adds that his parents were educators, that the family followed his father’s career to Dillon, Victor and Helena before Miles City, and that he lives in Billings with his wife, Sandra, where they raised two grown children. [1][12]
What office is Kurt Alme running for in 2026?
Who is Kurt Alme running against?
On March 4, 2026, Senator Daines withdrew from the race two minutes before Montana’s filing deadline; state filing records show Alme registering his campaign eight minutes before the period closed, with a release about two hours later carrying endorsements from Daines, President Trump, Senator Tim Sheehy and Governor Gianforte. In the June 2 Republican primary he received 128,716 votes, 76.1 percent, against Lee Calhoun and Charles Walking Child. He faces Democrat Alani Bankhead, independent Seth Bodnar and Libertarian Kyle Austin on November 3, 2026; a write-in candidate, Jami Woodman, has also declared. [17][7][27][29][22]
What are Kurt Alme's stated priorities?
The following summarizes the agenda on Alme’s campaign website, in his March 2026 answers to the Montana Free Press questionnaire and in his interviews. These are proposed priorities, not completed accomplishments; the campaign site’s Priorities page and home-page priority blocks carried template placeholder text on the review date. [12][23][15][13] The campaign lists: Rein in deficit spending; Community safety and the cartels; Drug treatment and the HEART Fund; Rural health care; Housing supply; War powers and Iran; The “Montana way of life”; Standing with President Trump.
What does the public record show?
Justice Department releases, the Senate’s roll call record, the Secretary of State’s canvass, the Federal Election Commission’s filings and contemporary reporting establish the following work. Outcomes are described at the level those records support, with shared credit where a measure was another official’s initiative. The office’s own account of his first tenure, published with his resignation on November 23, 2020, says federal criminal prosecutions rose 15 percent to more than 400 defendants a year, except during a short disruption from COVID, across drug trafficking, violent crime on reservations, child pornography, human trafficking, fraud, immigration and firearms cases; he oversaw more than 70 employees in four offices. He served as vice chair of the Native American Issues Subcommittee of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, sat on its Controlled Substances Subcommittee, was vice chair of the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area’s executive board and, with Attorney General Tim Fox and the Montana County Attorney’s Association, started the Montana Prosecuting Attorneys’ Drug Enforcement Coordinating Committee. [2]
How was this profile researched?
Reviewed September 17, 2026. This is a documented overview of publicly available biography, major actions, and stated priorities for a candidate who has not held elective office; there is no voting record to read. The Justice Department’s releases were read from Internet Archive captures because the department’s website refused automated requests, and figures in them are the office’s own. Numerical claims retain their original meaning and attribution. Historical sources do not imply current positions. The 2025 confirmation was read from the Senate’s roll call record; the nomination’s committee record was not reviewed. Montana legislative bill records for the 2001, 2003 and 2021 sessions, the resignation letter of March 2026, bar records, degree years, a birth date and personal financial disclosures were not part of this review. An independent fact-check against every cited document was completed on the review date. The source list provides direct links so readers can check the underlying material. Filings and campaign pages may change after this review.
Sources & methodology
Government records anchor the profile: the Justice Department’s own releases and biographies (read from Internet Archive captures where the department’s site refused automated requests), the White House nomination announcement, the Senate’s roll call record of the second confirmation, the Montana Secretary of State’s canvass and the Federal Election Commission’s filings. Campaign material is used for the candidate’s own biography and priorities; original reporting supplies responses and scrutiny; a rating and an endorsement are labeled as such.
- 01Kurt Alme to serve as Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana (press release 25-48) (Internet Archive copy, captured 2025)U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Montana (Internet Archive copy) · March 17, 2025
Interim appointment by Attorney General Bondi, sworn in March 17, 2025 for 120 days; the department’s biography: Great Falls native, Miles City graduate, Colorado summa cum laude, Harvard Law cum laude, Lovell clerkship, Crowley Fleck, Revenue Director, AUSA 2003–2010, First Assistant 2006–2010, Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch Foundation, unanimous 2017 confirmation, service to December 2020, budget director, National Christian Foundation.Government record - 02U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme announces resignation (Internet Archive copy, captured Nov 23, 2020)U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Montana (Internet Archive copy) · November 23, 2020
Resignation effective December 2, 2020; the office’s account of the tenure: prosecutions up 15 percent to more than 400 defendants a year, PSN totals, the drug enforcement coordinating committee, RMHIDTA and AGAC roles, the first MMIP coordinator, more than 20 reservation trips, Chairwoman Fyant’s statement.Government record - 03Meet the U.S. Attorney (Internet Archive capture of December 30, 2019; page updated August 2, 2019) (Internet Archive copy, captured 2019)U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Montana (Internet Archive copy) · updated August 2, 2019
The 2019 official biography: bachelor’s in business from the University of Colorado, Harvard Law, Harry S. Truman Scholar, clerkship, Crowley Fleck partner, Revenue Director, foundation presidency.Government record - 04Project Safe Neighborhoods Yellowstone County shows progress in fighting violent crime (Internet Archive copy, captured Aug 19, 2019)U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Montana (Internet Archive copy) · October 16, 2018
PSN began in April 2018; six-month figures: 106 charged (87 federal), 160 pounds of methamphetamine, 52 firearms, violent crime 1 percent below the two-year average after a first quarter 29 percent above it; the $136,802 grant.Government record - 05U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme Issues Statement Regarding Marijuana Prosecutions in Montana (Internet Archive copy, captured Mar 17, 2019)U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Montana (Internet Archive copy) · January 5, 2018
His statement after the rescission of the Cole Memo, quoted verbatim.Government record - 06President Donald J. Trump Announces Second Wave of United States Attorney Candidate NominationsThe White House (archived) · June 29, 2017
Intent to nominate; the White House biography: foundation president and general counsel, U.S. Attorney’s Office 2003–2010, First Assistant 2006–2010, Revenue Director, Crowley, Haughey, Hanson, Toole & Dietrich partner, Lovell clerkship.Government record - 072026 Statewide Primary Election CanvassMontana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen · 2026; accessed September 17, 2026
U.S. Senate primaries of June 2, 2026: Republican Alme 128,716, Calhoun 23,872, Walking Child 16,474; Democratic Bankhead 48,772, Black Wolf 14,678, Hummert 4,305, Kehoe 7,108, Neill 36,880; Libertarian Austin 1,819, Jandron 1,592; turnout 300,011 of 791,207. Percentages computed for this profile.Government record - 08Official Election ResultsMontana Secretary of State · accessed September 17, 2026
The index from which the 2026 primary canvass and reconciliation report are published; a 2026 general election is listed without a date.Government record - 09ALME, KURT — Candidate overview, S6MT00295 (2026 cycle)Federal Election Commission · accessed September 17, 2026
Alme for Senate (C00942060): receipts $1,984,860.91, disbursements $534,142.12, cash $1,450,718.79 through June 30, 2026; statement of candidacy filed March 5, 2026.Government record - 10BANKHEAD, ALANI — Candidate overview, S6MT00253 (2026 cycle)Federal Election Commission · accessed September 17, 2026
Friends of Alani Bankhead: receipts $58,829.06, cash $21,484.67 through June 30, 2026.Government record - 11BODNAR, SETH — Candidate overview, S6MT00287 (2026 cycle)Federal Election Commission · accessed September 17, 2026
Seth Bodnar for Montana: receipts $3,238,150.74, cash $977,779.31 through June 30, 2026.Government record - 12Meet Kurt | Alme for SenateAlme for Senate (campaign) · accessed September 17, 2026
Campaign biography: parents, Billings, wife Sandra, two children, boards and civic memberships, the tax-cut superlative, the “20-year high” prosecution claim, the mission sentence. Self-descriptions.Campaign or advocacy material - 13Home | Alme for SenateAlme for Senate (campaign) · accessed September 17, 2026
The campaign’s summary of the candidate and the social-media links read for this profile; the “Priorities” blocks on the home page carried placeholder text on the review date.Campaign or advocacy material - 1434 Montana Sheriffs Endorse Kurt Alme for U.S. SenateAlme for Senate (campaign) · August 12, 2026
The campaign’s list of endorsing sheriffs and Alme’s statement that Montana backs the blue rather than defunding the police.Campaign or advocacy material - 15Priorities | Alme for SenateAlme for Senate (campaign) · accessed September 17, 2026
The page carried template placeholder text rather than policy positions on the review date.Campaign or advocacy material - 16News | Alme for SenateAlme for Senate (campaign) · accessed September 17, 2026
Headlines listing the Trump endorsement, the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, the NRA, a national pro-life group, the Stockgrowers’ MAPA PAC and Club for Growth; most posts had no body text.Campaign or advocacy material - 17As filings close, Republican Steve Daines withdraws from U.S. Senate raceMontana Free Press (Tom Lutey) · March 4, 2026
Daines’s February 17 filing and $4.9 million, the withdrawal two minutes before the deadline, Alme’s registration eight minutes before filing closed, the endorsements, and the Tester and Bodnar responses.Independent reporting - 18Republican Kurt Alme and Democrat Alani Bankhead declared Senate primary winners by The Associated PressMontana Free Press (Tom Lutey) · June 2, 2026
The AP call less than an hour after polls closed; Alme “acquired the incumbent’s campaign staff”; the primary-season PAC spending.Independent reporting - 19The low-profile race of Republican Montana U.S. Senate frontrunner Kurt AlmeMontana Free Press (Tom Lutey) · August 24, 2026
Alme’s March 5 e-mail on the Daines call and his resignation; no interviews since; the media memo; $2.9 million in favorable super PAC spending; Martz hiring him at 34 in 2001; Elliott, Fagg, Gianforte and Peppers; the January 7, 2021 budget presentation; his age, 59.Independent reporting - 20Alme holds an 8-point lead over Bodnar in Senate raceMontana Free Press · September 11, 2026
Montana Free Press–Rutgers Eagleton poll of 845 registered voters, August 27 to September 7: Alme 38, Bodnar 30, Bankhead 16, Austin 5, margin of error 4.2 points.Independent reporting - 21Montana U.S. Senate candidates largely unknown to voters, poll findsMontana Free Press (Tom Lutey) · May 19, 2026
Poll of 810 registered voters: more than 40 percent unfamiliar with Alme and Bodnar; 73 percent of Republican-primary voters for Alme.Independent reporting - 22Seth Bodnar in Billings: Not bowing out in favor of “unvetted” BankheadMontana Free Press · August 7, 2026
The five candidates including the write-in; Bankhead’s 43.7 percent; the pressure on Bankhead to withdraw; Progressive Vet and More Jobs, Less Government spending.Independent reporting - 23Kurt Alme | U.S. Senate | 2026 Montana Election Guide (candidate questionnaire)Montana Free Press · March 2026; updated September 9, 2026
The candidate’s written answers on war powers, rural health care, community safety, housing and affordability, reproduced unedited by the guide; the FEC summary table.Independent reporting - 24Kurt Alme: ‘Daines dropout dodged Tester trouble’Bozeman Daily Chronicle (Dan Astin) · April 14, 2026
Alme’s account of Daines’s call and motivation; his statements on deficit spending, the budget process, the foundation years and Iran.Independent reporting - 25Alme confirmed by U.S. Senate as U.S. Attorney for MontanaDaily Montanan (Jordan Hansen) · October 9, 2025
The 51–47 confirmation in a bloc of 107 nominees after a rules change; Grassley’s statement; the Daines–Sheehy release; letters of support including Fyant’s.Independent reporting - 26Kurt Alme files for U.S. Senate, immediately endorsed by outgoing Sen. Daines, President TrumpDaily Montanan (Keila Szpaller) · March 4, 2026
The announcement statement in full, including the March 2025–March 2026 service dates, the $60 million-a-year tax-cut claim and the “America First” pledge; the Trump, Daines, Sheehy and Gianforte endorsement statements.Independent reporting - 27Bankhead staying in Senate race, setting up a four-way battleDaily Montanan (Micah Drew) · August 10, 2026
The August 10 withdrawal deadline, the four-candidate ballot, Bankhead’s statements and Bodnar’s accusation naming Daines and Alme.Independent reporting - 28Meet the U.S. Attorney (Internet Archive capture of August 25, 2026; page updated June 1, 2026) (Internet Archive copy, captured 2026)U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Montana (Internet Archive copy) · updated June 1, 2026
First Assistant Mark Steger Smith listed as Acting U.S. Attorney from June 1, 2026 under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.Government record - 29NRA-PVF Grades — MontanaNRA Political Victory Fund · accessed September 17, 2026
U.S. Senate: Alme (R) AQ; Bankhead (D) F; Bodnar (I) F; the general election listed for November 3, 2026.Independent analysis or rating - 30Club for Growth PAC Endorses Kurt Alme in MT-SEN RaceClub for Growth PAC · August 6, 2026
The endorsement and David McIntosh’s statement.Campaign or advocacy material - 31Alme resigns as U.S. Attorney for Montana, interim namedMontana State News Bureau (Seaborn Larson), published by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle · March 5, 2026
The office’s confirmation that Alme resigned on March 4, 2026; First Assistant Tim Racicot leading the office on an interim basis; the Hatch Act context; the budget post described as brief.Independent reporting - 32Roll Call Vote 119th Congress, 1st Session, Vote 547: On the Nomination (Confirmation: En Bloc Nominations Provided for Under the Provisions of S. Res. 412)U.S. Senate, Legislative Information System · October 7, 2025
51 yeas, 47 nays, 2 not voting; 107 nominations confirmed en bloc, including PN141-3, Kurt Alme to be United States Attorney for the District of Montana for a term of four years; Daines yea, Sheehy not voting.Government record - 33GOP Senate Candidate Alme Brings Message of Affordability to Red LodgeCarbon County News, republished by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle · September 17, 2026
Alme’s statements at a Red Lodge gathering: deficit spending and affordability, the “20 plus years” prosecution claim, the border and cartels, veterans, public lands, elections, girls’ sports and the Second Amendment; a campaign-commissioned poll is mentioned in the piece and not used here.Independent reporting - 34Eleven take the stage at Glendive forum: Candidates across six races address issues ranging from the courts to data centersGlendive Ranger-Review (Brendan Heidner), republished by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle · September 14, 2026
The Dawson Community College forum with Bodnar, Bankhead, Austin and Woodman; Alme listed among invited candidates who did not respond or appear, and the caption stating he did not respond to the invitation.Independent reporting
No matching sources. Try “Clerk,” “Senate,” or “campaign.”
Scope & method. Reviewed September 17, 2026. This is a documented overview of publicly available biography, major actions, and stated priorities for a candidate who has not held elective office; there is no voting record to read. The Justice Department’s releases were read from Internet Archive captures because the department’s website refused automated requests, and figures in them are the office’s own. Numerical claims retain their original meaning and attribution. Historical sources do not imply current positions. The 2025 confirmation was read from the Senate’s roll call record; the nomination’s committee record was not reviewed. Montana legislative bill records for the 2001, 2003 and 2021 sessions, the resignation letter of March 2026, bar records, degree years, a birth date and personal financial disclosures were not part of this review. An independent fact-check against every cited document was completed on the review date. The source list provides direct links so readers can check the underlying material. Filings and campaign pages may change after this review.
Images. The candidate portrait is the official photograph published on the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana’s “Meet the U.S. Attorney” page in 2017, read from an Internet Archive capture of that page, a work of the United States Government and therefore in the public domain. No campaign-owned or otherwise copyrighted photograph is used. Inclusion does not imply campaign authorization or endorsement of this publication.
Where to find the candidate
Every link below was read from the campaign’s own website or the candidate’s official government page. A follower count is printed only where it was measured; otherwise the link is published and the number is left blank rather than guessed at.
Voting in Montana: official dates, deadlines and rules
The general election is Tuesday, November 3, 2026. The dates and rules below were read from the Montana Secretary of State; the authority's own page, linked beside each one, is the final word.
Dates and deadlines
- Voter registration deadline (regular registration)October 5, 2026 — close of regular voter registration (30 days before the election); the Secretary of State's voter calendar lists the close at 5:00 p.m. After that date, Montana offers late registration in person, including on Election Day (see the late-registration item). Read from: sosmt.gov/docs/27/calendars/72177/2026-federal-election-calendar
- Registration forms sent by mail (postmarked by / received by)Postmarked by October 5, 2026 and received by October 8, 2026 (within 3 days): accepted for regular registration. Completed applications are returned to the county election administrator. Read from: sosmt.gov/docs/27/calendars/72177/2026-federal-election-calendar
- Late registration and Election Day registrationLate registration begins October 6, 2026; late registrants must obtain their ballot in person from the location designated by the county election administrator. It closes at noon on Monday, November 2, 2026, and reopens on Election Day, November 3, 2026, until 8:00 p.m. — the Secretary of State's calendar states that, due to a court order, registration is available until 8:00 p.m. Read from: sosmt.gov/docs/27/calendars/72177/2026-federal-election-calendar
- Absentee ballots mailedOctober 9, 2026 — date by which ballots are mailed to voters on the absentee list (25 days before the election). Ballots for absent military and overseas voters must be sent by September 18, 2026. Read from: sosmt.gov/docs/27/calendars/72177/2026-federal-election-calendar
- In-person absentee voting begins (Montana's early voting)October 5, 2026 — date by which absentee ballots must be available for voting in person (30 days before Election Day). The Secretary of State's calendar describes this as in-person absentee voting. Read from: sosmt.gov/docs/27/calendars/72177/2026-federal-election-calendar
- Last time to get an absentee ballot in person before Election DayNoon on Monday, November 2, 2026: polling place voters who want a one-time absentee ballot must apply before noon on the day before the election and receive the ballot in person. Read from: sosmt.gov/docs/27/calendars/72177/2026-federal-election-calendar
- Absentee ballot application deadline (received by)Noon on Monday, November 2, 2026 (the day before the election): the application must be received by the county election office by then. It may be mailed or dropped off; a voter who drops it off can pick up the ballot at the same time. Read from: sosmt.gov/elections/absentee
- Absentee ballot return deadline (received by)Must be received at the election office or a polling place by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, 2026. This is a received-by deadline, not a postmark deadline. Read from: sosmt.gov/elections/absentee
Rules to know
- What to bringFor in-person voting, the Secretary of State says an election worker will request a physical copy of a photo ID that is current, valid and readable: a valid driver's license or REAL ID, Montana state identification card, military ID, tribal photo ID, U.S. passport, Montana concealed carry permit, or Montana University System/NAIA photo ID. Voters without one of those may bring their photo ID plus a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck or government check, or government document that shows their name and current address. Voters who cannot produce any of these are directed to their county election official about the provisional voting process; the state's 2026 calendar sets 5:00 p.m. on November 4, 2026 as the deadline for a provisional voter to provide the required identification. Read from: votemt.gov/voter-identification
- Voting by mail (absentee ballot)Any registered voter may vote by absentee ballot. Fill out the Application for Absentee Ballot and mail it or drop it off at the county election office; it must be received by noon the day before the election. Ballots are mailed 25 days before Election Day. The voter to whom the ballot was issued must sign the affirmation on the return envelope, and the ballot must be received at the election office or a polling place by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. The state's Vote Montana site also tells voters to sign, date and write their birth year on the return envelope, and to mail the ballot at least 1 week before Election Day. Read from: sosmt.gov/elections/absentee
- Voting early in personMontana's early voting takes the form of in-person absentee voting at the county election office. A voter who drops off the absentee ballot application there can pick up the ballot at the same time, if ballots are available; the state's 2026 calendar requires absentee ballots to be available for voting in person by October 5, 2026. Voters who change their registration during the late registration period must pick up the ballot from the election office. Read from: sosmt.gov/elections/absentee
- Late and Election Day registrationAfter regular registration closes, eligible Montanans may still register or update their registration in person during late registration. For the final days, the Secretary of State lists Friday, October 30, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Monday, November 2, 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.; and Election Day, November 3, when registration ends at 8 p.m. The state says a court order bars it from implementing Senate Bill 490, which provided registration and voting on the Saturday before the election (October 31); those Saturday hours appear struck through on the state's page. Read from: votemt.gov/same-weekend-registration
- Check your registration and track your ballotThe Secretary of State's Voter Portal (voterportal.mt.gov) looks up a voter's information by first name, last name and date of birth. The state links to it for checking registration status, polling place information, sample ballots and absentee ballot tracking. Voters who have not received their absentee ballot are told to contact their county elections office. Read from: sosmt.gov/elections/faq
Read from: 2026 PRIMARY AND GENERAL ELECTION CALENDAR (Updated May 2026) · Election Calendars - Official Montana Secretary of State Website - Christi Jacobsen · Election & Voter Services - Official Montana Secretary of State Website - Christi Jacobsen · Voting by Absentee Ballot - Official Montana Secretary of State Website - Christi Jacobsen · Frequently Asked Questions - Official Montana Secretary of State Website - Christi Jacobsen · Same Weekend Registration – Vote Montana — Rules and dates as of Sep 17, 2026
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