Democrat · Montana Senate · 2026
Alani Bankhead
Bankhead grew up moving every few years with her military family, then spent 21 years in the Air Force herself.
Biography
Alani Bankhead grew up changing towns and schools every one to three years as her family followed military assignments.1 Her own service brought more moves, but she and her husband eventually chose Montana as home, a decision she describes as different from being sent somewhere by the military.1
Bankhead served more than 21 years in the Air Force, including active duty and Reserve assignments, and retired as a lieutenant colonel.2 Her assignments included criminal investigations in Japan, deployment to Iraq with Special Operations and command of an investigations detachment in Kuwait.2 She subsequently served as security adviser and senior bodyguard to the secretary of the Air Force.2
Her civilian work included directing investigations and law enforcement development in Latin America for International Justice Mission, followed by work investigating internet crimes against children for Hawaii's attorney general.2 She also founded Mighty Sparrow Coaching in 2017.2 In 2023, she published a coaching book about imposter syndrome.3 In Hawaii, she helped develop Operation Keiki Shield, a partnership among local, state, federal and military investigators targeting child sexual exploitation.1
Bankhead supports universal healthcare, protecting rural hospitals' Medicare and Medicaid payments, and keeping public lands in public ownership.4 She opposes data centers on public land and wants impact studies, disclosure and safeguards before allowing projects elsewhere.4 She is the Democrat in a Senate field that also includes Republican Kurt Alme, independent Seth Bodnar and Libertarian Kyle Austin.5
Record and controversies
Staff payments and campaign reporting questions
An October 27, 2026, NonStop Local report described nearly $725 in payments to a former campaign aide through Bankhead's coaching company, including one labeled as campaign gas, that did not appear as campaign expenditures in her federal filings.6 A compliance adviser and a campaign finance advocacy group raised reporting concerns if the payments were for campaign work.6
Bankhead's spokesperson said most transfers were personal help, unrelated to campaign work, and denied the aide's claim that he had been promised an $80,000 salary.6 The article reported disputed explanations and experts' concerns, rather than an FEC determination of a violation.6
Outside primary spending and campaign independence
About both candidates: Alani Bankhead and Seth Bodnar
At a September 2026 forum, Bodnar criticized roughly $3 million in Progressive Vet PAC advertising that supported Bankhead's Democratic primary campaign.7 The PAC stopped supporting her after the primary, and its treasurer subsequently supported Bodnar.7
Bankhead said the spending happened without her permission and suggested it was part of an effort to push her out of the race.7 MTPR's corrected report said the PAC had not addressed the accusation that its primary support was intended to clear a path for Bodnar.7 These were campaign claims about outside spending, rather than findings by an oversight agency.7