Federal Election Commission filings through May 13 show a well-funded and ideologically diverse Democratic primary field competing for Montana’s Western Congressional District, with gun control advocate and former MSNBC commentator Ryan Busse and union lobbyist Sam Forstag leading the pack ahead of the June 2 primary.
Busse, who lost the 2024 Democratic gubernatorial race by roughly 20 percentage points, raised $702,446 in total receipts, spent $551,915, and carried $150,531 in cash on hand. His fundraising was driven almost entirely by individual contributions totaling $680,996, split between $386,681 in itemized donations and $294,315 in smaller unitemized contributions. PAC support accounted for just $20,250 of his total haul, and he carried no campaign debt.
Forstag, a union lobbyist and LGBTQ activist who has earned endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, raised $694,569, spent $533,132, and held $161,437 in cash on hand. His outside committee support was notably stronger than Busse’s, with $64,050 in PAC contributions. He also received $14,585 in transfers from other authorized committees.
Russell Cleveland raised $418,450, spent $363,895, and ended the period with $54,554 in cash on hand. Nearly all of his support came from individual contributors, with just $250 from other committees. His filings show $23,370 in debts owed by the committee.
Matt Rains raised $265,118, spent $230,813, and reported just $34,305 in cash on hand heading into the final stretch of the primary. His campaign carried $103,601 in debt. Rains received only $2,000 in PAC contributions, with the bulk of his support coming from individual donors.
The winner of the Democratic primary will face the Republican nominee in November in a race rated likely Republican by political forecasters.
By: Big Sky Broadcasting Newswire