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2026 Montana District 1 House Election

Ryan Zinke (R) — retiring

About this race

The current officeholder is retiring, so the seat will have a new winner. This district usually votes Republican. Aaron Flint, a Republican, shows a record of donations linked to AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group, but the exact amount is still being confirmed. The November ballot lists 3 candidates: one Democrat, one Republican and one independent.

Key issues in Montana

Major issues facing Montana, based on 2025–2026 reporting. Compare them with what each candidate says they focus on below.

Candidates & funding

Aaron Flint Republican Nominee

AIPAC-linkedamount under verification
FundVoter lists an AIPAC-linked FEC record for this candidate; the dollar amount is still under verification.
2026 fundraising (FEC)$1,303,394 raised · $801,193 spent · $502,201 cash on hand through Jun 30, 2026
Focus: Champion farmers and ranchers, grow the economy, cut taxes, unleash energy, secure the border

Sam Forstag Democrat Nominee

✓ No AIPAC-linked FEC record
2026 fundraising (FEC)$1,382,873 raised · $832,794 spent · $550,079 cash on hand through Jun 30, 2026
Focus: Working families: making basics affordable; defending public education, healthcare, libraries, public lands

Kimberly Persico Independent Nominee

✓ No AIPAC-linked FEC record
Focus: A reasonable choice: independent conservative fighting partisan dysfunction, corporate control, debt

Where the money comes from

FEC campaign finance data through Jun 30, 2026. Campaign dollars, by source.

Aaron Flint RSam Forstag DKimberly Persico I
Raised$1.3M$1.4M—
Individuals$824K63%$1.2M88%—
PACs & parties$331K25%$141K10%—
Self-funded$0$1K0%—
Other$149K11%$22K2%—
AIPAC-linked*———
Outside spending†———

* AIPAC-linked money is already counted in the rows above — it flags the pro-Israel share, not extra money.

† Independent spending on ads for or against a candidate. It never goes to their campaign.

“Individuals” covers both small-dollar (under $200) and large donors.

Who are the biggest donors?

Every donor ranked by how much they gave, from the candidate’s own FEC filings — individuals, PACs, and party committees all in one list. Expand a candidate to see theirs, then tap any name to learn more about the donor.

Why are so many gifts exactly $10,000? That’s the legal maximum a PAC can give one candidate for the whole cycle — $5,000 for the primary plus $5,000 for the general — so many PACs give the max. Individuals can give up to $3,500 per election.

Aaron Flint 798 donors
FINANCIAL POSITION
Campaign raised$1.3M
Campaign spent$801K
Cash on hand$502K
FEC 2026 through 06/30/2026
CANDIDATE-CONTROLLED MONEY
Individuals63%
PACs / committees25%
Self-funding0%
Share of campaign receipts. FEC 2026.
  • PAC$10K
  • Corporate PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • PAC$10K
  • PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$8K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Leadership PAC$7K
  • Individual$6K
  • PAC$6K
  • Leadership PAC$6K
  • Individual$6K
  • Individual$5K
  • Individual$5K
  • Individual$5K
  • Individual$5K
  • Individual$5K
  • Individual$5K
  • Individual$5K
  • Individual$5K
  • Individual$5K
  • PAC$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • Joint fundraising committee$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • Trade association PAC$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • Trade association PAC$5K
  • Corporate PAC$5K
  • PAC$5K
  • Trade association PAC$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • Corporate PAC$5K
  • Cooperative PAC$5K
  • PAC$5K
  • Trade association PAC$5K

Showing the 50 biggest of 798 donors. The other 748 gave $569K combined.

Plus $293K from small donors giving under $200 each — those aren’t itemized by name.

See Aaron Flint’s full FEC filings →

Sam Forstag 775 donors
FINANCIAL POSITION
Campaign raised$1.4M
Campaign spent$833K
Cash on hand$550K
FEC 2026 through 06/30/2026
CANDIDATE-CONTROLLED MONEY
Individuals88%
PACs / committees10%
Self-funding0%
Share of campaign receipts. FEC 2026.
  • PAC$22K
  • Labor PAC$10K
  • PAC$10K
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$6K
  • Individual$6K
  • Individual$6K
  • Individual$6K
  • Individual$5K
  • PAC$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • Labor PAC$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • Labor PAC$5K
  • Labor PAC$5K
  • Labor PAC$5K
  • PAC$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • Labor PAC$5K
  • Individual$5K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Leadership PAC$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K

Showing the 50 biggest of 775 donors. The other 725 gave $561K combined.

Plus $500K from small donors giving under $200 each — those aren’t itemized by name.

See Sam Forstag’s full FEC filings →

These figures come from the candidate’s own itemized FEC reports (2026 cycle, through the coverage date above), with amendments applied and refunds netted. Joint fundraising transfers are left out of the ranking: they’re pass-throughs, and the individual donations behind them are listed above. Bank interest, vendor refunds, and other non-donation receipts are excluded. Donor names are as reported — the same person can appear twice if their name was recorded differently. Independent spending on ads is never included here — see the Outside spending column.

More Montana races

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