2026 midterms · Montana
Montana 1st District
U.S. House · primary Jun 2, 2026 · general election Nov 3, 2026
- candidate
- 1
- Democrats
- 1
- Republicans
- 0
candidate advanced
Samuel Forstag (D) advanced from the primary held on Jun 2, 2026. The general election is on Nov 3, 2026.
The candidates
One candidate recorded as advancing from the primary. One challenger. Ryan Zinke (R), who holds the seat now, is not on the list of those advancing.
Status is the FEC’s: an incumbent holds the seat, a challenger runs against one, and an open seat has no incumbent running. The lab records a primary’s result once it is official; candidates who did not advance are no longer listed.
Democrats
Challenger · advanced from the primary · 390 statements classified · $4.3M raised
Republicans
No candidate recorded as advancing.
Holds the seat now: Ryan Zinke (R), not among the candidates recorded as advancing.
Notes
House districts follow the candidates’ FEC filings; where a state redrew its map for 2026, a candidate may appear under their old district. A sitting member is placed in the race for the seat they hold now.
What they say
Only Samuel Forstag has enough classified statements to measure. The other no candidates have fewer than 10.
An AI model reads each statement and marks the kinds of statement it contains; each bar is the share of a candidate’s statements with that label. Incumbent members of Congress are measured on everything they publish in office, everyone else on posts on X. A rate describes what was said, not whether it was right.
How do the candidates’ statements compare?
Share of each candidate’s statements with each label; grey tick: median of ranked House candidates
Personal attacks
Median 2.5% · axis 0–60%
- Forstag D4.4%
Policy criticism
Median 15% · axis 0–60%
- Forstag D12%
Policy discussion
Median 58% · axis 0–60%
- Forstag D46%
Bipartisanship
Median 3.8% · axis 0–60%
- Forstag D7.2%
Credit claiming
Median 16% · axis 0–60%
- Forstag D7.7%
Show the data
| Candidate | Party | Statements | Personal attacks | Policy criticism | Policy discussion | Bipartisanship | Credit claiming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samuel Forstag | D | 390 | 4.4% | 12% | 46% | 7.2% | 7.7% |
| Median, ranked House candidates | 2.5% | 15% | 58% | 3.8% | 16% |
The five kinds of statement
Personal attacks. Overtly questions a named person’s character, integrity or loyalty, or calls them names. Criticising a record or a policy does not count.
Policy criticism. Objects to a specific policy, law or court ruling with fact-based arguments, without personal attacks or emotional appeals.
Policy discussion. Discusses a specific public policy or policy area (health care, taxes, defense, …).
Bipartisanship. Emphasises working across the aisle, compromise or common ground between the parties.
Credit claiming. Claims credit for passing legislation, securing funding or grants, or other accomplishments in office.
Candidates with fewer than 10 classified statements are left out. The grey tick is the median of the ranked House candidates (50 or more statements), for scale.
Money
Samuel Forstag reports $4.3M raised. The candidate has campaign-finance figures from the FEC.
Totals each campaign reports to the Federal Election Commission for the 2026 cycle: money raised, money spent and cash on hand at the end of the latest filing.
How much has each candidate raised?
Total receipts reported to the FEC, with cash on hand
- Samuel Forstag$4.3M$726.1K on hand
Show the data
| Candidate | Party | Raised | Spent | Cash on hand | Debts | Individuals | PACs | Party committees | Own money | Candidate loans | Through |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samuel Forstag | D | $4.3M | $3.6M | $726.1K | $0 | $3.5M | $400.1K | $1,700 | $1,347 | $0 | — |