Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen says his office is looking into a claim by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alani Bankhead that the Democratic National Committee offered her a job if she dropped out of the race.
What Bankhead said
In an October 15 interview with Montana PBS, Bankhead was asked whether anyone had offered her something of value to leave the race. She said yes. “They offered to be, and I’m probably going to butcher this, but the DNC’s head of female veteran candidates or something like that,” she said.
Bankhead said her immediate reaction was to ask why she would go to work for an organization she believed was working against her. “I can’t be bought anyway, but that was the only thing that was put on the table,” she said.
The attorney general steps in
On Wednesday, Knudsen, a Republican, posted on X that the allegation was “extremely concerning,” adding that if it is true, it appears to violate Montana Code Annotated 13-35-221. That law says a person may not pay or promise valuable consideration to someone to induce them to be, refrain from being, or stop being a candidate, and that a person may not solicit or receive such a payment or promise.
Knudsen said his office would contact Bankhead, independent Senate candidate Seth Bodnar, and the DNC as part of the inquiry.
Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana backed the move on X, saying Knudsen was “right to investigate this blatant attempt at bribery” and that “the DNC is playing dirty in Montana.”
The DNC and Bodnar push back
A DNC official told The Hill that Bankhead was never offered a job by the committee. No finding of wrongdoing has been made, and the claim has not been proven.
Bodnar’s campaign said Seth Bodnar has never asked Bankhead to drop out and that no one on the campaign has any knowledge of or involvement in any offer to get her to leave the race. The campaign accused Bankhead of repeatedly urging Bodnar to drop out himself.
Why it matters
Bankhead won the Democratic primary in June and is running against Bodnar and Republican Kurt Alme for the open seat. Some Democrats have pressed her to exit so that non-Republican voters would consolidate behind Bodnar.
Earlier this month, Bankhead wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that 22 Democratic state legislators signed a letter urging her to quit, that a sitting U.S. senator offered her a job “presumably if I would leave the race,” and that a sitting Democratic governor called and asked her to step aside. She said she refused them all.
With the November 3 midterm elections just days away, the attorney general’s inquiry puts a spotlight on the pressure campaign Bankhead says she has faced from her own party.