The race for Montana’s western district House seat is tight. Recent polls show the two major candidates are tied with no clear lead. MTPR’s Clayton Murphy has this profile of the Democrat and Republican competing for the seat.
When Republican incumbent Ryan Zinke chose not to seek reelection, the field for one of Montana’s two U.S. House seats became wide open.
Recent polling shows Democrat Sam Forstag and Republican Aaron Flint neck and neck.
Flint’s campaign focuses on “keeping the crazy out of Montana,” referring to places like Seattle and Portland, which he calls “failed cities.” He says he wants a Montana where those born here can stay. His number one issue is affordability.
“We don't feel like we get to enjoy our own backyard,the way other people get to come here and enjoy our backyard. I want to create opportunities for our kids and eventually grandkids to be able to stay and live and work here in western Montana.”
He says homes are expensive because of government regulations and lack of domestic production. He opposes green energy regulations because he says they throttle fuel prices.
Like Flint, affordability is top of Forstag’s list.
“I'm running this campaign on the very basic notion that today in Montana, in this country, you should be able to work one good job and afford a roof over your head, health coverage that actually gets you health care when you need it, childcare, and a steady retirement on the back end.”
Forstag wants to expand the type of care covered by Medicare and wants to let anyone buy into the program. He also thinks the ultra-wealthy should “carry more of their own weight.”
Before his bid for Congress, Flint already had strong name recognition amongst Republicans. The 46-year-old was most recently the host of a conservative talk radio show.
He grew up between Glasgow and the Flathead Lake area and attended Howard University, an HBCU in Washington, D.C. for two years. He graduated from the University of Montana with a BA in Journalism in 2004 and served in the Army National Guard for two decades.
He’s also worked for now-Gov. Greg Gianforte during his run for Congress, Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke and former Republican Sen. Conrad Burns.
Thirty-four-year old Sam Forstag was born in Ohio and lived in Portland, Oregon until he left for the University of Montana. There he studied philosophy and political science.
“There are far too many students who are faced with juggling these jobs as well as a full class load so they can graduate on-time and join the Montana economy.”
That’s Forstag in 2017 as student body president at the University of Montana.
Since then, he’s been a wildland firefighter and smokejumper in the summers, and a lobbyist for the ACLU of Montana in the offseason. He was also elected as a union leader in 2025.
He’s been leaning on that blue-collar experience and has gotten a lot of national attention for it. He’s among a wave of young, progressive Democrats who are trying to break from the traditional party mold.
Both candidates are treading lightly with party affiliation.
Flint has pushed back on some of President Trump’s most controversial moves. He says the Iran war needs to end and that he doesn’t like the U.S. enacting tariffs. But he does have a Trump endorsement, and the commander-in-chief is expected to stump for him this month.
It could explain why Flint hesitates to say that Congress should retake their constitutional power when it comes to deciding on wars and trade regulations.
“But the big picture is, tariffs aside, what is the vision for the future of western Montana," Flint says. "I mean, that's really the question here, right?”
Forstag is running into a similar problem. He’s received endorsements from divisive progressives like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but those have since been scrubbed from his website.
Forstag’s also received criticism from possible supporters about his soft opposition to building AI datacenters. As a union leader, he’s cautiously optimistic about the jobs their construction could create.
“And lastly, let's make sure they're using good union labor,” he says.
Flint has stayed relatively quiet on data centers, though he’s drawn support from groups that oppose AI regulation. American Mission PAC – which has ties to leaders of AI companies like Palantir and OpenAI – has spent almost $600,000 supporting Flint.
Campaign finance reports show PACs have spent $1.2 million advertising Flint’s campaign. Forstag’s has only seen $250,000 from PACs. Both campaigns have raised about $1.3 million in donations.
Voters will decide who to send to D.C. on November 3.
MTPR will continue covering state elections and offer special coverage on election night, November 3, from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
