MISSOULA, Mont. — U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez traveled to Missoula Thursday to headline a campaign rally for Democratic congressional candidate Sam Forstag, bringing national progressive star power to Montana’s competitive Western District primary in its final days before the June 2 vote.
The event was held at The Wilma in downtown Missoula, a venue with a capacity of roughly 1,500 people. Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat and prominent member of the House progressive caucus, has previously endorsed Forstag alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Forstag, a former union lobbyist and LGBTQ activist, centered his remarks on economic affordability, arguing that working Montanans should be able to support a family, afford housing and health care, and still have time to enjoy the state’s public lands — all on a single job’s wages. He also framed his candidacy as a challenge to what he described as corporate and billionaire influence over Congress, drawing a historical parallel to Montana’s Copper King era.
Ocasio-Cortez echoed those themes, casting the race as a fight for housing, water, and representative government, and urged the crowd to support Forstag as the candidate best positioned to deliver on those priorities.
Forstag faces three other Democrats in Tuesday’s primary — Ryan Busse, Russell Cleveland, and Matt Rains. The winner will advance to the November general election in a race political forecasters currently rate as likely Republican.