The Dark-Money Claim, and the FEC Record
Montana U.S. Senate 2026. Figures from FEC filings; the dark-money web is traced by Inside Elections.
White = the record (FEC + Inside Elections)
Contours, Inc. (the dark-money web's common source)
Blue = The Story (what it means)
What the Bodnar campaign is saying
"Republican-aligned dark money groups are boosting Alani Bankhead. I'm the clean independent."
The filings show the dark-money web is funding his campaign, and it traces to the same source.
The through-line: One dark-money source,
Contours, Inc., bankrolled this dark-money web (about $2.6M)
[Inside Elections]. Its money reached Alani's race as a
primary spend that then
left. The same web of dark money now flows to
Seth Bodnar, the candidate calling Alani the dark-money problem.
1. The dark-money web is funding Bodnar right now
Inside Elections traced the wire. The network's money moves through a Wyoming shell "clearinghouse" into his super PAC, which is spending against both his opponents.
Contours, Inc.the dark-money web's bulk funder (~$2.6M)
Way Back PACWyoming shell-address "clearinghouse" · channeled ~$5M this cycle
Way Back PAC
Montana Freedom PACpro-Bodnar super PACFEC C00943910
Same PAC
Kurt Alme$217,614 (FEC, thru 6/30)
Same PAC
spends AGAINSTJuly-August
Alani Bankhead$232,500attacking her directly
Contours, Inc.the dark-money web's bulk funder (~$2.6M)
bankrolls
Way Back PACWyoming shell-address "clearinghouse" · channeled ~$5M this cycle
funds
Montana Freedom PACpro-Bodnar super PACFEC C00943910
spends FOR
Seth Bodnarpro-Bodnar PACs: ~$6M to boost him
spends AGAINST$217,614 · thru 6/30
Kurt Alme
spends AGAINSTJuly-August
Alani Bankhead$232,500attacking her directly
The StoryWhen Alani refused to drop out, the same dark-money web's money resurfaced here, at Montana Freedom PAC, to fund the campaign to force her out and clear the field for Bodnar. The dark money he warns about is the operation aimed at her.
2. The same dark-money web touched Alani in the PRIMARY, then it left
The same source (Contours) stood up a brand-new PAC weeks before the primary, spent millions to nominate her, then sent the leftover to an unrelated independent in Kansas and dissolved. She never coordinated with it.
Contours, Inc.same source as above
funded →$2.6M · FEC Sched A
Progressive Vet PACstood up April 2026, weeks before the primaryFEC C00948521
Progressive Vet PAC
spent in the PRIMARY$2.33M FOR Bankhead
Alani's primary(May-June)
Progressive Vet PACspent to $0, then dissolved (July 2026)
then left → Kansas$47,500 · FEC Sched B
The 1861 Initiativea Kansas independentFEC C00945733
Contours, Inc.same source as above
funded$2.6M · FEC Sched A
Progressive Vet PACstood up April 2026, weeks before the primaryFEC C00948521
spent in the primary$2.33M FOR Bankhead
Alani's primary(May-June)
then left → Kansas$47,500 · FEC Sched B · then dissolved (July 2026)
The 1861 Initiativea Kansas independentFEC C00945733
The StoryProgressive Vet PAC was stood up weeks before the primary, spent nearly every dollar it had to boost Alani, then within weeks of her win shipped the leftover to an unrelated independent in Kansas and dissolved. It existed to prop her up in the primary, nothing more: the web wanted a nominee it believed it could bully into dropping out, and the moment she won and refused, they left. She's run the general on Montana small-dollar donations ever since.
3. A GOP-aligned PAC is using Alani to split the vote
A Republican-aligned super PAC is spending big "for" Alani while also hammering Bodnar. That is not support, it is sabotage: they don't want Alani to win, they want the vote split so their own candidate wins. The money "boosting" her is aimed at beating her. They didn't create that opening, the establishment did, when it propped up Bodnar as an "independent" and pushed Democrats to abandon the Democrat in the race.
More Jobs, Less GovernmentGOP-aligned super PACFEC C00693838
Alani Bankheadshe doesn't want it
Same PAC
AGAINST Bodnar$962,124 · FEC Sched E
Seth Bodnarkeeps the anti-Alme vote split
More Jobs, Less GovernmentGOP-aligned super PACFEC C00693838
"FOR" Bankhead$1,033,618
Alani Bankheadshe doesn't want it
AGAINST Bodnar$962,124 · FEC Sched E
Seth Bodnarkeeps the anti-Alme vote split
The StoryThe Republicans are running this in plain sight: boost Alani, hammer Bodnar, and let their own candidate walk up the middle. It works only because the establishment built the trap, putting Bodnar in as an "independent" and telling Democrats not to vote for the Democrat. Alani is the actual Democrat in this race. She takes zero PAC money of her own and is staying in to shut the whole rigged game down.
4. Alani's own campaign
Friends of Alani BankheadFEC C00937201
takesinto her own committee
$0 corporate PAC moneyand she endorses I-194 to end dark money
Friends of Alani BankheadFEC C00937201
takesinto her own committee
$0 corporate PAC moneyand she endorses I-194 to end dark money
The StoryWhile everyone else runs the money games around her, Alani is the only candidate trying to shut the whole thing down. She takes zero PAC money and endorses I-194 to end dark money in Montana.
Bottom line: The dark-money web Seth Bodnar warns about is the one funding his own campaign. It runs from Contours, through a Wyoming shell PAC, into his super PAC. The same source touched Alani's primary and then left the state. She takes zero PAC money and wants to ban the whole game.