Dark Money Drowns Out Candidates

by Helena Lovick | Aug 19, 2026 | Elections

Great Falls, MT

Now that the deadline for candidate withdrawal from the 2026 Montana General Election Ballot has passed….what the hell is happening with the Montana U.S. Senate Race???

We wrote multiple times about the independent run by Seth Bodnar, here, here, and here. But let’s take a few steps back and discuss what happened on the Democratic side of that race.

Dark Money Flooded Our Democratic Primary

During the primary election, the Democratic candidates included Alani Bankhead, Reilly Neill, Michael Black Wolf, Christopher Kehoe, and Michael Hummert. Reilly Neill had started her campaign back in 2025 and had the largest fundraising amounts out of the Democratic candidates. Alani Bankhead joined the race in January 2026 and only raised about $59k before the end of the Democratic primary. But a multi-million dollar influx of dark money flooded the race in May, boosting Bankhead’s visibility. In particular, the newly formed Progressive Vet PAC spent $2.5M+ boosting Bankhead. 

A lot of those weird ads people saw about Bankhead in the last couple weeks of the primary election were funded by this outside, “dark” money group. Many people don’t realize most of the political ads we see are NOT paid for by the candidates. They are called independent expenditures and it is illegal for the candidate to coordinate messaging with the Super Political Action Committees (PACs). The dark money messing around in our primary had multiple ties to political insiders. For example, the treasurer for the Progressive Vet PAC was former Democratic Montana legislator and leader in the Montana Federation of Public Employees (MFPE), Moffie Funk. 

In the end, due to Alani Bankhead’s own campaigning and the dark money influx, Bankhead won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Montana with 43% of the vote (48,000+ votes) with Neill trailing with 33% of the vote (36,000+ votes).

Post-Primary Fuckery

But the dark money groups weren’t done fucking around with Democratic voters. Only a couple of weeks after the primary election, the Progressive Vet PAC announced it was withdrawing its support from Bankhead. [Supposedly because they believed she did not have a viable path to victory. Riiiiiight. They definitely think voters are stupid.]

In addition to the maneuvering of the Progressive Vet PAC, multiple groups pressured Bankhead to drop out of the Senate Race and cede the floor to Seth Bodnar to have the left-leaning votes. These groups also pressured the Montana Democratic Party to not appoint a replacement Democratic candidate (similar to what happened in Nebraska). Despite relentless pressure from groups like Montana Wild and Forward Montana and former high-level Democratic officials Nancy Keenan, Mary Sexton, Carol Williams, Jon Tester and Max Baucus, Bankhead justifiably refused to undo the will of the Montana Democratic voters and stayed in the race.

We now have a four-way race for the US Senate seat, with Alani Bankhead (Democrat), Kurt Alme (Republican), Kyle Austin (Libertarian), and Seth Bodnar (Independent) set up for November.

Good News for the Billionaires with or without a Democratic Candidate

You might be thinking because of the lack of candidate withdrawals in the race, that the dark money groups are singing “all that work and what did it get me? Why did I do it?” (audio for you peeps that don’t know this viral trend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM2sVNJxrY4).

And….you would be wrong. The main goal of all that spending was to undermine voter confidence in ALL candidates OTHER THAN Kurt Alme, the Republican nominee. They saw that Democrats had an opportunity to win our US Senate seat and they did their best to crush it. With the division on the left between the Bodnar and Bankhead camps, they have split our vote. There is still a chance that the left can come together and vote for one of Bodnar and Bankhead. But the likelihood of that is low. Good news for the billionaires I guess!

Dark Money Details

With friends like the Progressive Vet PAC and the Montana Freedom Fund dumping money into our Montana U.S. Senate race, who needs enemies?

Check out some of the crazy details about the dark money spending during the primary election. Images of some of their bullshit mailers that flooded voters’ mailboxes are shown below.

Images of Select Mailers Received During 2026 Montana Primary

Some of the mailers sure look like they were from the actual candidate. For example, the image below shows a Bankhead branded mailer…with her logo, her quote, and her pictures…only it was paid for by the Progressive Vet PAC.

PAC Sponsored Bankhead Mailer

That pile of mailers shown above? Not a single one was paid for by the actual candidate. The “Paid For By” attributions can be small, nearly illegible, and blend in on the mailer. Below are close-up images of several examples.

Tiny “Paid for By” Attributions on PAC Mailers

You can barely find the tiny attribution that tells you which PAC funded the mailer. And even if you know which PAC paid — you can’t 100% tell who is funding the effort. In many cases, PAC donors do not have to be disclosed and reporting of contributions can be delayed and extended, often after the end of the general election.

It’s like a shell game of PACs and other political organizations like 527 groups and 501(c)(4) groups. But in the table below you can see some of the richest of the rich funding this effort to pressure voters to keep a Republican in office.  

 I don’t have audio of the endless TV ads, but PACs funded those too with the same type of messaging. Pay attention to what they are trying to sell you, and consider the source. Do these anonymous billionaires have the best interests of every day Montanans at heart? Should you listen to them over every day Montanans and the candidate’s own words?

Dark money groups continue their spending to influence our elections. They are relentless because they have a nearly bottomless well of money to fund their efforts. Spending millions to influence your vote is worth it to them, because it helps them hoard their billions. Just think of the good these billionaires could do if they would accept a minor decrease in their insane wealth levels and actually put that money towards things that help the people, like feeding children, funding schools, protecting our environment…. What a world WE COULD AND SHOULD have.

Dark Money is Drowning Us

Candidates have enough trouble getting their message out. They don’t need billionaires from outside of Montana trying to drown out their voice.

One of the routes to get this dark money out of Montana is the Montana Plan. Maybe if we can get I-194 passed this year, we can let the voice of the candidates come through. Let’s learn about our candidates without getting flooded with billionaires’ distorted messages about them.

Tired of Money in Politics? Buckle up for 2026

by Helena Lovick | Apr 22, 2026 | Elections

Great Falls, MT

Watching television, the other night I’m suddenly seeing ads for several Republican legislative candidates. Why are they spending this kind of money for a state legislative seat?? Where is their money coming from?

How can a person find out about money in Montana politics?

Well for those in the know (which now includes you!), you can look up certain information about a state candidate’s funding and their spending through the Office of Political Practices in the Campaign Electronic Reporting System. The Campaign Electronic Reporting System, also known as CERS, is the online reporting platform required to be used for all candidates and committees to track money in politics. You can check it out here: https://cers-ext.mt.gov/CampaignTracker/dashboard.

What are the Great Falls legislative candidates up to?

I went through CERS so you don’t have to! I looked at how much personal money candidates are throwing at the primaries. My findings are in the table below for your viewing pleasure. As you can see, Republican candidates in particular are loaning themselves or donating, thousands of dollars to their campaigns. Candidates can payback some or all of their personal loans to their campaigns if they raise enough money from donors and political action committees (PACs).

But……DO GEORGE AND MELISSA NIKOLAKAKOS EXPECT TO PAY THEMSELVES BACK $125,000?!? That is a lot of money to dump into state legislative races. Several other Republican candidates are also lending themselves thousands too. Steven Galloway at $11k, Ed Buttrey at $20k, Mark Winters (one of the fake Dems, we wrote about before) at $10k. That’s a lot of money. So why are they doing it?

Great Falls Area Legislative Candidates Loans/Self Donation as of April 2026

SD = Montana Senate District. HD = Montana House District. D = Democratic. R = Republican. “D” means the fake Democrats we wrote about before that are primarying actual Democrats.

Why are Republicans spending so much money to get elected?

The rich get richer because they can afford to either get elected themselves or they can help elect stooges to pass legislation they like. And the legislation they pass legislation benefits them instead of the working class. That is why we see insane income inequality in America.

Money in politics really does screw over the working class. On top of that, having to listen to more stupid TV ads? We’re already suffering in this economy, do they have to add torture to the mix?

Campaign season is here and it’s raining drama

by Helena Lovick | Mar 26, 2026 | Elections

Alternative Titles: “2026: Blue Wave” or “Democrats Make Gains and Republicans Freak Out”

Great Falls, MT

The filing period for candidates has closed in Montana. So how are things looking? The energy reminds me of 2018, because of all the Democrats filing. Every legislative district in Cascade County has a Democrat on the slate. That is the best candidate recruitment we’ve seen since 2018. Really good news for Democrats. The left leaning folks are fired up and ready to go! 

Behold this map! We can make it all blue, not just HD 19 that we hold right now!!

Well sorry folks we can’t celebrate too long. It’s back to the grind again, because the Republicans are imploding and trying to take us with them.

What Republican Tantrum Do We Have to Deal With Now?

Zinke and Daines are Out

First the good news, Congressman Ryan Zinke (MT-01) and U.S. Senator Steve Daines dropped out of their races!!  While they may bring us fresh hell in the future as zombie candidates for governor or something….at least Republicans have lost the incumbency advantage in those races. 

Let them Fight – Libertarians primarying Republicans

Then, three local Libertarians have decided to run as Republicans, calling themselves “Libertarian-Republicans.” They’re primarying known Republicans in state legislative races to do it (SD-10, HD-20, and HD-22). 

State Representative George Nikolakakos is BIG MAD about it. He ranted on his public Facebook that Kevin Leatherbarrow, a candidate for HD-22, “is a perennial Libertarian candidate”…”running as a “Constitutional Republican” (whatever that means in his mind).” When Tony Rosales (the chair of the local Libertarian Party) filed to run in HD-20 against George’s wife Melissa, fellow State Representative George Nikolakakos declared, “It’s raining crazy in Great Falls with the filing deadline over!” 

Looks like the Cascade County Libertarians and Republicans won’t be singing kumbaya together any time soon. Dang.

MAGA Republicans Filing as Democrats

If you squint, you can see how Libertarians and Republicans can overlap. But MAGA and Democrats? No. 

But somehow the dumbass loony toons of James Whitaker and Mark Winters decided to file in Montana Senate Districts 11 and 12, respectively as Democrats. As if the voters wouldn’t notice James Whitaker running concurrently for a Republican precinct person position (an elected position as a voting member in the local Cascade County GOP), and the fact that Mark Winters is/was a Republican precinct person until he stepped down a couple of days after filing. 

The Chair of the Local Republican Party had this to say about both candidates:

Eric Hinebauch, chair of the Cascade County Republican Central Committee and a member of the Cascade County Commission….believes the pair filed in Democratic primaries to deter Democratic voters from crossing over to vote in Republican primaries. He told Montana Free Press that he doesn’t believe either candidate is really a Democrat.

(quote from the Montana Free Press article: https://montanafreepress.org/2026/03/12/two-candidates-in-cascade-county-claim-to-be-democrats-local-party-leadership-says-thats-a-hoax/)

You Decide – MAGA or Democrat?

I will summarize some items I found in a 5 minute Google search and let you the reader be the judge! Do these people seem like Democrats? Would you say that their candidacies for the nominations were made in good faith? Or….do you think they are lying to the voters? 

Google Search Results on Whitaker and Winters:

Based on that summary, I assume you agree with me that they are NOT Democrats. In my opinion, filing to run as a candidate for a political party where you do not overlap at all on party platform positions is completely disrespectful to voters. It is an honor and a privilege to be a candidate for political office. Meanwhile, Whitaker and Winters just spit in the voters’ faces instead. 

Why are these MAGAs filing as Democrats?

In the Montana Free Press article, Rae Grulkowski’s loss to Eric Hinebauch in the 2024 Republican primary for Cascade County commissioner was brought up. 

And foreshadowing, that loss is highly relevant to the rest of this post.

Grulkowski blamed her loss on Democrats voting in the Republican primary. You can read that twice. Grulkowski is pissed, and I suspect her little cabal of MAGA weirdos is behind the push for Republicans to file as Democrats in Cascade County. She is still mad she lost, and she blames Democrats rather than having some self-reflection. PEOPLE DIDN’T VOTE FOR YOU RAE, BECAUSE YOU WERE BAD AT YOUR JOB. 

My conclusion is that Whitaker and Winters filed to force Democratic primaries and ensure that Democrats don’t crossover vote in the Republican primary. Yep. It’s worth lying to the voters to get their way! Sounds about MAGA. 

AnYwAy, James Whitaker and Mark Winters are Rae Grulkowski’s people, and Steven Vinnedge and Kathryn Hansen are also her people. Since both Steven Vinnedge and Kathryn Hansen signed that stupid petition that was going around in 2021-2022 asking the county to eliminate mail ballots and count all ballots by hand instead of using the counting machines.

Why do I bring up Steven Vinnedge and Kathryn Hansen? More MAGA idiocy

Both Steven Vinnedge and Kathryn Hansen filed to be Democratic precinct people in Cascade County. Not satisfied with destroying their own party, the MAGA wing is trying to become voting members of the local Democratic Party. And yes, like Winters and Whitakers, it’s not hard to find the crazy on Vinnedge and Hansen. They are not Democrats.

Here are some lowlights from Steven Vinnedge’s public Facebook posts:

Yeah…Steven Vinnedge is not a Democrat. 

What about Kathryn Hansen?

Like the others, it is well known that Hansen is a Republican. She spoke openly against the Great Falls Library Board recommendations at an October 2023 Great Falls City Commission meeting and asked them to appoint anti-library levy applicant Noelle Johnson. ::Shocker::, at the same meeting, Steven Vinnedge was there also dissing the library board. Almost like they align politically! As I pointed out above, both Kathryn Hansen and Steven Vinnedge signed that bananapants all return to paper ballots, all hand counting petition.

There you have it folks 

MAGA is going through an extinction burst, and hopefully we can work around them until they finish destroying themselves. Meanwhile, the local Democratic Party is seriously kicking some ass with candidate recruitment and strengthening of their party.