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January 29, 2026
Not long after presumptive U.S. Senate candidate Seth Bodnar hit send on the email tendering his resignation as University of Montana president, the state’s first political attack ad of the season dropped.
It checked several boxes — tuition hikes and transgender athletes in women’s sports — and accused the leader of a flagship state university of campaigning from his campus office.
The hybrid PAC/super PAC behind the Jan. 21 ad, Leadership In Action, has several contributors of $100,000 or more, including one with ties to one of the most-watched business news programs on television: “Kudlow,” a Fox Business program hosted by Larry Kudlow, the top first-term economic adviser to President Donald Trump. It’s a show U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, appears on regularly.
Senate Working Group Inc., a $150,000 donor to Leadership In Action in 2024, is a product of America First Policy Institute. Kudlow is the institute’s board chair. Daines has made appearances on “Kudlow” for four straight months, dating back to October, most recently to talk favorably about Trump’s gunboat diplomacy, that is to say, foreign policy enforced by the use or threat of military action.
Daines’ appearances are documented by TV News Archive, a service of the nonprofit Internet Archive. The show has averaged 269,000 viewers this month, according to Nielsen ratings. There’s no disclosure by Kudlow of being associated with contributions to a super PAC targeting Bodnar, a would-be opponent of Daines.
A spokesperson for Fox on Jan. 30 deferred all questions to AFPI, which told Capitolized that neither it nor Kudlow has involvement in any 2026 Montana campaign expenditures.
LIA PAC was organized as a federal PAC in the 2020 election cycle but was fairly quiet in federal politics during its early years. In the 2024 election, the PAC received more than $4 million in nonfederal transfers, including six figures in financing from a subsidiary of Reynolds American, one of the largest tobacco companies in the United States; and $200,000 from Cannae Holdings, an investment company connected to Bill Foley, the billionaire owner of the Vegas Golden Knights, a professional hockey team.
Sabey Corporation and Quantica Infrastructure, companies expressing interest in building large data centers in Butte and Broadview, respectively, are both $25,000 investors in the LIA PAC.
Brendan Glavin, who watchdogs political spending for the nonprofit OpenSecrets, observed that a lot of what LIA PAC does is move money between other PACs. It’s a pass-through.
“Part of it is, there’s a lot of money coming in and then going back out to other groups. So, they’re just acting like a pass-through in some cases. Some of the money is being spent in Montana, but some of it is just being passed back through, to Club For Growth, a super PAC,” Glavin told Capitolized on Thursday. “It’s not always clear why you would do that. In the case of money moving around between organizations, it certainly makes it harder to keep track.”
LIA PAC did spend money in Montana’s 2024 state Supreme Court races to the benefit of candidates Dan Wilson and current Chief Justice Cory Swanson. On its website, LIA PAC identifies Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen as its honorary chair.
This story was updated on Feb. 2, 2026, to include post-publication responses from Fox and America First Policy Institute.
— Tom Lutey
Say What?
After Montana’s commissioner of political practices dismissed a complaint concerning publicly funded mailers sent by Republican Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, the SOS offered her critics some choice lyrics on social media.
“The lyrics that come to mind are ‘you’re mad, I’m back, big mad. He’s mad, she’s mad, big sad – Haha, don’t care, stay mad.’” Jacobsen cited the rapper 6ix9ine as the source of the lyrics. The post was made Jan. 21 to Jacobsen’s verified Secretary of State account on Facebook.
Capitolized readers who looked up the song and listened to it said they were shocked at the song’s references to d— rides and b— rides, among other sexual references.
— Tom Lutey
Eat What?
Not to be outdone, Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy let out a big “eat s—, Grizzlies, Go Cats, go!” at a Jan.17 rally celebrating Montana State University’s 2026 FCS Championship football game win over Illinois State.
The jeer went over well in Bozeman, where fans chant the same at every game, no matter who their opponent is, but fans of the University of Montana weren’t appreciative.
The senator announced a few days later that he was opening a new Missoula field office.
— Tom Lutey
Et Cetera
The Montana Democratic Party has a new director. Emily Marburger is the former executive director of the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Democratic Committee and also the former mayor of Bellevue, Pennsylvania.
“I’m so excited to come to the Montana Democratic Party as the new Executive Director,” Marburger said in a Jan. 14 press release announcing her hire. “I look forward to working with Montana Democrats on rebuilding the brand and restoring people’s faith in the party after years of not feeling heard or understood.”
— Tom Lutey
