Shannon O’Brien resigned Monday as chair of the Montana Democratic Party, effective immediately, and endorsed independent U.S. Senate candidate Seth Bodnar, according to a statement published in MS NOW.
“I ran for state party chair to unify Democrats, believing if we work together, we can make Montana a better place. But there are things more important than labels or party politics,” O’Brien wrote. “And right now, the Montana Democratic Party is more divided than ever not because of our values but because of the race for the U.S. Senate.”
Bodnar is running against Democrat Alani Bankhead, Republican Kurt Alme and Libertarian Kyle Austin. The four candidates met Sunday for a debate in Bozeman.
“Bankhead does not have the momentum, resources or will to win this race,” O’Brien wrote Monday.
O’Brien listed a handful of additional reasons for switching sides, including criticisms of the Bankhead campaign’s tactics, funders and willingness to collaborate.
“For no apparent reason, she came out of the gate mudslinging at Bodnar, a decent human being, seemingly ignoring the Republican and her ideological opposite,” O’Brien wrote.
The former Democratic chairperson also chastised conservative PAC More Jobs, Less Government’s support of Bankhead during the Democratic Senate primary. (By law, candidates and PACs are not allowed to coordinate).
“Democrats should ask themselves why Republicans so badly wanted her on the ballot,” O’Brien wrote.
More Jobs, Less Government spent $700,000 promoting Bankhead and attacking Democratic primary opponent Reilly Neill ahead of the June 2 primary. Two years earlier, the same committee spent $22 million backing Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy in his Senate race against Democratic incumbent Jon Tester.
O’Brien also wrote that Bankhead “has not sought a conversation around shared values and has refused advice from experienced business and political leaders around the state.”
In August, Montana Free Press reported that the state Democratic Party received legal advice about its options should Bankhead decide to withdraw from the race.
O’Brien shared the analysis with party leadership. The document made it onto social media. At an unofficial board meeting, some Bankhead supporters were upset enough about the document being shared that they suggested O’Brien be removed from office.
At an August press conference a week after MTFP’s story was published, a reporter asked Bankhead about her relationship with O’Brien.
“Shannon and I are fine. I am a professional. I’ll be a professional across the board. And that’s about all I have to say about that,” Bankhead said.
On Monday, a spokesperson provided a statement from Bankhead slamming O’Brien:
“Shannon didn’t switch sides today. She’s been working against the Democratic nominee since the summer. This summer she got a legal opinion, without a vote of her own board, on whether the party could refuse to replace me if I quit, and her own board members wanted her performance reviewed for it. Now she’s using her exit to campaign for a man who never ran in our primary. Montana Democrats chose their nominee, and Montanans are voting right now.”
Bodnar distributed a press release Monday celebrating O’Brien’s endorsement.
“I’m deeply grateful to Shannon for her courage, and for her lifetime of service to Montana,” Bodnar wrote in the statement. “Montanans of every political stripe are coming together in this race because they know what’s at stake, and they’re ready to send an Independent senator to Washington who answers only to them.”
The Montana Democratic Party shared a statement Monday with MTFP confirming that Vice Chair Bruce Knutson has become party chair, effective immediately.
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It’s been a summer of frustration for Montana Democrats, with many of the party’s high-profile leaders opting to back independent candidate Seth Bodnar for U.S. Senate instead of party nominee Alani Bankhead. Near the red-hot center of the skirmish is Emily Marburger, the party’s executive director. Marburger talks with MTFP political reporter Tom Lutey about…
“Our strength has never rested with one person,” Knutson wrote in the statement. “It rests with the people doing the work in every corner of this state. We have doors to knock, voters to reach and seats to win. That’s where my attention is, and that’s where this party is headed.”
Montana Free Press-Eagleton polling from last month showed Alme eight percentage points ahead of Bodnar, with Bankhead in third place, 14 points behind Bodnar.
State Democratic Party members elected O’Brien as the party’s chair in September 2025. The position oversees the executive board, which selects the party’s executive director and helps coordinate statewide and legislative campaigns.
O’Brien, a former state senator from Missoula and 2024 Democratic candidate for Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction, centered her campaign for the chairmanship on “something new in the Democratic Party.” She defeated Mike Jopek, a Whitefish farmer with eight years of legislative experience during the 2000s, who had former U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s endorsement.
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