Shannon O'Brien, who has led the Montana Democratic Party since 2025, announced her resignation on Monday and threw her support behind independent Senate candidate Seth Bodnar, a move that lays bare the party's internal fractures just weeks before the November midterms.
In an op-ed published on MS NOW, O'Brien wrote that the Montana Democratic Party is "more divided than ever" over the Senate race. She reserved particular scorn for Republican nominee Kurt Alme, calling him a future "puppet" for President Trump.
But O'Brien also aimed sharp criticism at the Democratic nominee, Alani Bankhead, saying there are "real questions" about her "commitment to protecting a woman's right to choose, her support of working people and her views of people living in poverty."
O'Brien framed her decision as a reluctant break from party loyalty. "I'm a person with a positive outlook," she wrote. "I'm uncomfortable being negative about anyone, especially a Democratic nominee. But sometimes it's impossible to stay quiet; sometimes you have to make people uncomfortable for the greater good. The winner of this race will almost certainly vote on a nominee to the Supreme Court."
She accused Bankhead of lacking the resources "or will" to win, and argued that Bankhead "came out of the gate mudslinging at Bodnar, a decent human being, seemingly ignoring the Republican and her ideological opposite." O'Brien added: "Democrats should ask themselves why Republicans so badly wanted her on the ballot."
The Hill has reached out to Bankhead's campaign for comment.
O'Brien closed by praising Bodnar's campaign as focused on fixing a Washington that "stopped working for [Montanans] a while ago." She urged Democrats to back him even though he is not their party's nominee. "Our solutions must be bold, and sometimes uncomfortable, steps toward positive change," she wrote. "The future of our state and our country is at stake. I hope all Democrats across Montana will join me in choosing the best person this year, even if he's not from the party they were expecting."
The intraparty fight comes as Republicans appear poised to keep the seat. Decision Desk HQ, The Hill's election partner, gives Alme a 91 percent probability of winning, with Bodnar at 9 percent. If the election were held Monday, DDHQ's polling average shows Alme at 43.4 percent, Bodnar at 27.1 percent and Bankhead at 18.3 percent.
All three candidates, plus Libertarian Kyle Austin, are competing for the open seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.). Early polling suggested Bodnar could defeat Alme head-to-head, but Bankhead has repeatedly refused to drop out and consolidate the anti-Alme vote. "I'll never bow down … I am in this race to win it, and I am staying through Nov. 3," she said in August.
The resignation underscores broader anxieties among Democrats nationwide as they brace for the midterms. Some party leaders fear that a strong November showing could actually deepen internal rifts over strategy and ideology, a dynamic explored in recent analysis of potential post-election Democratic divisions. Meanwhile, other state parties are projecting confidence: the Texas Democratic chair recently insisted that a key congressional campaign was moving forward despite a candidate's illness.
Montana's Senate race remains a critical battleground for control of the upper chamber, and O'Brien's defection signals that the Democratic coalition in the state is struggling to unite behind its own standard-bearer.
