Shannon O’Brien served as chair of the Montana Democrats for just over a year. On October 12, she ended that tenure in a final move that she hopes will consolidate enough Democratic voters to beat Republican candidate Kurt Alme next month.
“I realized that there are still people, good Democrats, who are undecided, who are struggling with this decision. And I wanted them to know that it's okay to vote for someone who will uphold these values and who will win," O'Brien said.
According to polling from the Montana Free Press and Rutgers-Eagleton last month, Republican Alme leads independent Seth Bodnar by eight points and Democrat Alani Bankhead by 22 points.
O’Brien called it a last-ditch effort after trying to unite Democrats as chair and "solve this problem from within.” She says she doesn’t know what’s next for her, other than knocking on doors for Bodnar.
Bankhead said she wasn’t surprised and welcomed the resignation.
“Good riddance. She's been working against me since day one.”
She said she sees this as an opportunity to rebuild the Democratic party.
“We continue on as normal," Bankhead said. "We are campaigning just all over the place. We're going to finish strong. We're really just heading around the state to show the love to as many people as possible before November 3rd."
Bodnar’s campaign issued a press release that was largely quotes from O’Brien, saying she believes Bodnar shares Democratic values and has a real chance at beating Alme.
Taking O’Brien’s place is vice chair Bruce Knutson. He said in a press release, “Our strength has never rested with one person. It rests with the people doing the work in every corner of this state.”
