Alani Bankhead

Alani Bankhead served in the U.S. Air Force since 2004. She earned a bachelor's degree from The Pennsylvania State University in 2004 and a graduate degree from Troy University in 2012. Her career experience includes working as a military officer.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and a federal supervisory special agent, with 21 years of service. I spent my career hunting terror networks, spies, and child predators across the globe: I built the cases that put predators behind bars, ran national-security operations overseas, commanded a unit in Kuwait, and led the security detail for one of the most senior officials at the Pentagon. Later I led anti-trafficking investigations for the world's largest anti-slavery organization and built Operation Keiki Shield in Hawai‘i, uniting a dozen agencies to rescue children. I've been accountable for life-and-death decisions and never got to hide from the outcome. I chose Montana because I share its values, and I'm running for U.S. Senate because Montana deserves a fighter who can't be bought — one who'll lower the cost of a normal life, defend our public lands, and answer to Montanans instead of donors.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I'll bring down the cost of a normal life — housing, groceries, and energy — so a Montana paycheck can afford a Montana life again. One in three of our rural hospitals is at risk of closing, and I'll fight to keep those doors open. I'll take on the corporate concentration, from meatpackers to Wall Street landlords, that drives up what families pay, and we'll pay for it by cutting Washington's waste, not the Medicare, Medicaid, and rural care Montanans earned.Can't be bought. I refuse corporate PAC, superPAC, and dark-money donations, because I answer to Montanans, not donors. Washington works for whoever writes the biggest check, and it shows up in your grocery bill and your insurance premium. I'll hold town halls in all 56 counties, publish how I vote and why, back a ban on congressional stock trading, and work to overturn Citizens United. And I'll protect the things that belong to all of us: public lands. They are the one thing every Montanan owns in common, and they're not for sale — any more than I am.Holding the powerful and the corrupt accountable — because it's the vulnerable who pay when Washington answers to donors instead of Montanans, and protecting people is the whole point of the job. Then making everyday life better for Montanans: bringing down the cost of a normal life — housing, groceries, and energy — and protecting access to care, from keeping rural hospitals open to reproductive freedom. And defending Montana's public lands and the access that comes with them.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Protecting kids and vulnerable people. I spent two decades building the cases that put child predators behind bars and running anti-trafficking operations, and I'll fight for the federal tools and funding that work depends on. Reproductive freedom - Montanans already wrote it into our constitution, and Washington keeps trying to override them. The cost of a normal life: housing, groceries, energy, and keeping rural hospitals open. Keeping public lands public. And getting corporate and dark money out of politics - I refuse corporate PAC and superPAC donations, so I answer to Montanans, not donors.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Accountability, courage, and honesty. Do the job in the open, in front of the people who sent you — tell them where you stand even when it's hard, and never be for sale.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Represent Montanans honestly, protect our freedoms and our way of life, deliver on the cost of living and rural services, provide rigorous oversight of the federal government, and keep it answerable to the people—not corporations or a president's loyalty tests.

Campaign websiteBankhead's campaign website stated the following:01Pillar · AccountabilityGovernment AccountabilityShow up — and answer for the work95%of members of Congress own stocks or funds — and the fine for hiding a conflicted trade is just $200.ⓘFor twenty-one years I was accountable for life-and-death decisions, and I never got to hide from the outcome. Washington shouldn’t get to either.I’ll do this job in the open, in front of the people who sent me there — not the donors who’d rather I didn’t show up.What I'll do✓Hold town halls in every one of Montana’s 56 counties — on the record.✓Support congressional term limits.✓Publish how I voted and why, every time.✓Back the TRUST in Congress Act to ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks, and the DISCLOSE Act to unmask dark money.A pledge to MontanaI can'tbe bought.★ SIGNED ★NO PACMONEYMONTANA · 2026I don’t take a dime of corporate PAC money. The people who donate to this campaign aren’t buying a vote — they’re backing a neighbor. In the Senate I’ll follow the evidence and the people of Montana, never the influence. That’s the deal. Hold me to it.✓No corporate PAC moneyNot now, not ever. This campaign answers to Montanans.✓Donors don’t buy votesSupport gets you a hearing — never a guaranteed yes.✓Evidence over influenceDecisions follow the facts and the people, not the lobby.Alani BankheadCandidate, U.S. Senate · Montana02Pillar · AffordabilityHousingMake homeownership reachable again+66%Montana’s typical home value jumped 66% in four years (2020–2024) — while incomes rose just 26%.ⓘA Montana paycheck should be able to buy a Montana home. Right now it can’t — and longtime owners get taxed just for trying to move.We will reward the growth we actually need and stop punishing families for staying put.What I'll do✓Ban private-equity firms from buying up Montana homes as investment portfolios — a house should be a place to raise a family, not a line item in a Wall Street fund.✓Raise the capital-gains exclusion on a home sale from $250k to $500k so longtime owners aren’t taxed out of moving.✓Tax breaks for builders who make at least 30% of their units genuinely affordable.✓Back the More Homes on the Market Act — bipartisan legislation that raises the home-sale capital-gains exclusion to $500k for single filers and $1M for couples, and indexes it to inflation — and expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to build the affordable homes Montana needs.03Pillar · AffordabilityHealthcareKeep rural hospitals open1 in 3of Montana’s rural hospitals (16) are at risk of closing — several immediately.ⓘWhen the nearest hospital is a hundred miles away, people don’t drive farther for care — they go without it.We will keep those doors open — by protecting the Medicare and Medicaid payments they depend on, and paying for it by cutting Washington’s waste, not Montana’s care.What I'll do✓Stabilize rural hospitals so communities don’t lose their only provider.✓Claw back wasteful “use-it-or-lose-it” federal spending to offset the cost.✓Protect coverage and lower the cost of care.✓Back the Save America’s Rural Hospitals Act to boost the Medicare/Medicaid payments that keep rural hospitals open.04Pillar · Protecting the VulnerableProtecting the VulnerableA record of putting child predators in prison1,400Montana cleared a 1,400-kit rape-kit backlog with federal money that runs out in 2026.ⓘI’ve spent more than two decades on the front lines of child protection, building the cases that put child sex abusers in jail. I’ll bring that same fight to the Senate.These are the hardest cases, but also the ones I’m most proud of.What I'll do✓Give law enforcement the tools and funding to fight trafficking and online exploitation.✓Strengthen penalties for producing and distributing child sexual abuse material.✓Back the Invest in Child Safety Act to fund the ICAC task forces and NCMEC analysts who work these cases, and the STOP CSAM Act to hold platforms accountable.05Relief for Our SeniorsA lifetime of work shouldn’t end in poverty$127,750A year in a nursing home now runs a median of about $127,750 — enough to drain a lifetime of savings in a couple of years. That’s why most families end up relying on Medicaid for long-term care.ⓘMontanans who spent a lifetime working shouldn’t be taxed out of the homes where they raised their families.I met a daughter on the Blackfeet reservation caring around the clock for her aging parents — only to watch her own caregiver pay get pulled straight out of their Social Security check. Montanans spend decades working; their senior years should be rest and connection, not poverty. We can do better than that.Growing old in Montana shouldn’t mean going broke — or being left with nowhere to go. A year of nursing-home care can wipe out everything a family saved, and the homes that take Medicaid are closing their doors. That’s a promise we’re breaking, and I’ll fight to keep it.What I'll do✓Protect Social Security from the automatic cut coming in 2033 — no benefit cuts, no privatization.✓Fund Social Security for good by removing the wage cap so the wealthiest pay in on all their income — enough to keep the program solvent in perpetuity and to support family caregivers.✓Stop penalizing families who care for their own — a caregiver’s pay should never be taken out of the person’s Social Security check.✓Protect and properly fund Medicaid long-term care — raise reimbursement to the true cost of humane, dignified care so Montana’s nursing homes can staff up and stop closing, not just scrape by on bare-bones minimums.✓Expand affordable home- and community-based care so seniors can age in their own homes, not only in institutions.✓End the federal tax on Social Security benefits (back the You Earned It, You Keep It Act), so a lifetime of work isn’t taxed twice.✓Let Medicare keep negotiating lower drug prices and cap seniors’ out-of-pocket costs.✓Partner with the state on property-tax relief for Montanans living on Social Security.06Reproductive FreedomReproductive freedom — trust people, not the government57.8%Montanans voted to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution — CI-128 passed in November 2024 by roughly a 16-point margin.ⓘLet me be direct: protecting a woman’s right to choose helps all Montanans. In 2022 the Supreme Court took away a constitutional right for the first time in our history — and Montanans answered by voting to enshrine the right to make our own pregnancy decisions in our state constitution.My position distinguishes between matters of personal faith and the role of government. I do not believe the government should decide what happens to a person’s body. Those medical decisions belong to the individual, in consultation with their doctor. That is why I am pro-choice.As someone who spent my career investigating child sexual abuse, I’ve sat with survivors whose stories most people will never hear — young girls pregnant through rape and incest, carrying unimaginable trauma. It is not our place to tell someone what to do during one of the most painful moments of their life. What we can do is treat people with dignity, compassion, and respect — and trust them to decide according to their own conscience, faith, family, and doctor.What I'll do✓Defend the right to make private medical decisions free from government interference.✓Back the Women’s Health Protection Act to protect abortion access nationwide — and push for a constitutional amendment that protects abortion rights.✓Confirm judges who will critically reexamine the Dobbs decision, and vote against those who won’t.✓Fund access to all reproductive healthcare — including contraception and disease prevention (Right to Contraception Act) — and protect emergency and maternity care under EMTALA.✓Oppose any federal abortion ban and any revival of the Comstock Act.07Public LandsPublic lands stay public — period3.3MIn 2025, a U.S. Senator from Utah tried to force the sale of up to 3.3 million acres of public land — and 108,045 acres of Montana BLM land were on the disposal maps before Montana was carved out.ⓘNo selling of public lands ever. No opening up public lands for exploitation ever. I support corner crossing. Period.What I'll do✓No sale of public lands — ever.✓No opening of public lands to exploitation — ever.✓Protect corner crossing so legal access can’t be locked away.✓Build a bipartisan coalition to defend access for hunting, fishing, and recreation.✓Work across the aisle to pass the bipartisan Public Lands in Public Hands Act — barring the sale or transfer of public land without an act of Congress.08Pillar · AffordabilityEducationSchools worth the next generation$14–16MMontana’s 32 timber counties lose about $14–16 million a year for schools and roads every time Congress lets the Secure Rural Schools program lapse — and it just lapsed again.ⓘMontana has the lowest starting teacher pay in the nation — about $36,682, dead last. That’s how you lose the next generation of teachers, and the next generation of kids right behind them.We will build the infrastructure to replace crumbling schools, and stop pretending one path fits every kid.College, vocational and technical training, or owning a small business — every pathway should be open, so Montana’s young people can reclaim the American Dream right here at home.What I'll do✓Invest in infrastructure to replace crumbling schools.✓Fund multiple pathways: college, vo-tech, and small-business ownership.✓Back the IDEA Full Funding Act (Washington promised 40% of special-ed costs and pays about 13%), make Secure Rural Schools funding permanent, and expand Workforce Pell for vo-tech and the trades.09AgricultureStand with the people who feed the country85%In 1977, four meatpackers controlled 25% of beef processing. Today it’s about 85% — and the rancher’s share of every retail beef dollar has been cut roughly in half.ⓘMontana agriculture feeds the nation, and family operations are getting squeezed out by rising costs and consolidation. I’ll have their back.Big ag is consolidating power and choking out the little guy — and the families still on the land are carrying real financial and mental-health weight. I’ll fight to give them a safety net and the next generation a reason to stay.What I'll do✓Break the meatpacker chokepoint — enforce the Packers & Stockyards Act and pass the American Beef Labeling Act to put mandatory country-of-origin labeling back on beef.✓Create financial safety nets for family farmers and ranchers — FDIC-style crop insurance and low-interest loans — so producers can form co-ops that keep corporate ag from choking out the little guy.✓Fund rural mental-health care for the farm and ranch families carrying the weight of a broken farm economy.✓Give the next generation a real shot at the land with a multi-year tax break for new farmers — and defend the right-to-repair wins in the new farm bill.✓Fund beginning-farmer programs and protect family operations from being taxed off the land in the next Farm Bill.✓Pay producers to keep land working through the Conservation Reserve Program — not subdivided.10Pillar · AffordabilityBringing Down Everyday CostsLower the price of a normal life6thMontana families have the 6th-highest grocery bills in the nation — about $9,300 a year, roughly 16% above the national average.ⓘThe price of groceries and gas is a national security issue. What’s the point of protecting our borders if families can’t afford to live behind them?President Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs have driven up costs across the board — and when other countries retaliate, it’s Montana farmers and ranchers who lose their overseas customers. They did nothing wrong, but they’re paying the price.What I'll do✓Reverse the unnecessary Trump tariffs that raise the cost of everyday goods for Montana families.✓End the costly, unnecessary war with Iran that’s pushing gas prices higher.✓Rebuild economic cooperation with our global trading partners, and put real safety nets under the farmers and ranchers who feed Montana and the world.11Tribal Nations & Native PrioritiesSovereignty, safety, and keeping our word#1Native Americans serve in the U.S. military at the highest rate per capita of any group — yet too many come home to VA care that’s hard to reach. We owe these veterans easier access to what they’ve earned, and I’ll fight for it.ⓘOur nation’s history with Indigenous people is one I’m passionate about helping to heal. On this campaign we don’t ask anything of the tribes — we support, and keep supporting, until our Native American neighbors decide we’re worthy of their trust: by listening, keeping promises, and matching our actions to our words.I believe in the sovereignty of the tribes — and that the U.S. government must do far better on missing and murdered Indigenous women, and on the inequities, abuse, and corruption Native communities face.What I'll do✓Honor tribal sovereignty and the federal trust responsibility — treat funding as an obligation, not charity.✓Make the MMIW/MMIP crisis a priority — fully fund and finish implementing Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act, and close the tribal-jurisdiction gap under VAWA.✓Close Indian Health Service funding gaps and improve access to quality healthcare in Native communities.✓Support Native veterans — who serve at the highest per-capita rate of any group — with easier access to the VA care they’ve earned, including better IHS–VA coordination and services closer to home.✓Improve tribal members’ access to housing, and protect tribal sovereignty over resource management — including buffalo and bison grazing on public lands.✓Put tribal leadership at the table — represented on staff with direct access to the federal delegation — and invest in leadership pathways for Indigenous Montanans.12Data CentersAI & large-scale data centersOn public lands? No. Anywhere else? Prove it first.5,000%+When a nearly-shuttered Hardin coal plant was revived to power Bitcoin mining in 2021, its CO2 emissions spiked more than 5,000% in a single quarter before the operator pulled out — a preview of what unaccountable data-center demand can do to Montana’s air and grid.ⓘAI and large-scale data centers on public lands are a “no” for me — period. Everywhere else, they’re built by some of the richest companies on earth, chasing the biggest tax breaks they can find — and no one has required honest environmental studies or full disclosure of what they’ll cost us in power, water, and land. Until Montanans have those facts, my answer is no until we do.Montana families are already paying almost 40% more for electricity than they did in 2020. You shouldn’t be saddled with the grid and infrastructure costs for these buildings too — and you should never have to compete with a cooling tower for clean water. Every data-center vote comes down to one test: does it make Big Tech pay its own way and protect Montana families — or stick you with the bill?I’m not anti-technology — put cheap, clean power next to Montana State’s quantum-computing program and Montana becomes a real tech hub, not just a power sink. Montanans backed a moratorium and I stand with them; my job in the Senate is to give it teeth — force the hard questions answered before a single shovel goes in the ground, so when a moratorium lifts our communities decide with every fact in hand.What I'll do✓No data centers on public lands — period.✓Before any “yes”: a scientifically verified plan protecting our water, land, and environment — proof, not promises — plus real consent from local communities and the Native American tribes.✓Make Big Tech pay for its own grid — the biggest new users cover 100% of the grid upgrades they require, never households, farmers, and seniors, and the upgrade stays regulated public infrastructure, not private wires they control (push FERC’s large-load rule, Docket RM26-4).✓Make the biggest loads bring their own power, kept on the public books — 50 MW+ facilities secure their own dedicated clean generation so they don’t strain everyone else’s grid, but any “bring your own power” or co-location deal stays interconnected, disclosed, and open to public review; no islanding into a private grid that dodges ratepayer protections or Montana’s right to know.✓Force transparency on power and water — data centers disclose what they actually use, so regulators and the public aren’t flying blind (Data Center Water & Energy Transparency Act, S. 4213).✓Protect our water — closed-loop cooling, independent verification that use won’t harm wells, aquifers, rivers, or municipal systems, and assurances Montanans never pay for the water or wastewater upgrades.✓Put the tax breaks in Montanans’ hands — route clean-energy credits to residents (rooftop and community solar, home batteries, EV chargers), so the public captures the value, not just the hyperscalers.✓Demand real jobs — or real clawbacks — tie every federal incentive to binding job, wage, and clawback commitments; no millions in benefits for a couple dozen jobs.✓Back a moratorium and give it teeth — force the studies and reviews done, and a federal right-to-know standard in place, before a single shovel goes in the ground.✓Hold every project to Montana’s constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment.Read Alani's full position →13Guns & Community SafetyA gun owner who takes safety seriously1 in 13When a red-flag order removes firearms from someone at known risk of suicide, researchers estimate one life is saved for roughly every 13 orders — firearms are just ~5% of suicide attempts but about half of suicide deaths, because they so rarely give a second chance.ⓘI own guns, I use guns, and for twenty-one years I carried one for a living. I respect what firearms mean in Montana — for hunting, for sport, and for protecting your own family. That is not up for debate with me.I am not a hardliner on either side. Too much of what Washington calls “gun safety” is written by people who have never handled the firearm they want to ban — “ban semi-automatics” sounds simple until you realize it sweeps in most of the handguns and hunting rifles Montanans already own, and would leave little more than revolvers and bolt-actions.Where I am clear, I will tell you plainly; where I am still listening, I will not pretend to have every answer just to score a point. Any law I support will be written by people who actually understand what they are regulating — and can say exactly why it is needed.What I'll do✓Support universal background checks — keep firearms out of the wrong hands without burdening law-abiding owners.✓Back red-flag / extreme-risk protections with strong due-process safeguards, because most of Montana’s gun deaths are suicides we have the power to prevent.✓Oppose bans on the semi-automatic firearms Montanans lawfully own and use — which include most common handguns and hunting rifles.✓Insist that any firearms legislation be written with a precise, technical understanding of exactly what it regulates and why — not drafted by people who have never handled the weapon.✓Keep listening to Montanans on magazine-capacity limits and forced-reset triggers before taking a position — no rubber stamp for either side.✓Defend the individual right to own and use firearms for hunting, sport, and self-defense.14Environment & ConservationConservation isn’t partisan — it’s a responsibility$0Hardrock mining on federal land pays $0 in federal royalties under a law written in 1872 — and unlike coal, there’s no dedicated fund to clean up the mines it walks away from. The companies take the profit; Montanans get the poisoned water.ⓘI’m a third-generation protector of life, and I can’t stand a bully — and right now, Montana’s environment is being bullied. My husband spent his career as a federal agent, including with the EPA, and refused to be part of rolling those protections back. I bring that same conviction.Protection that’s effective, not performative — conservation that works with our ranchers, not against them. There’s a win-win here: we protect the environment AND let Montana businesses succeed.What I'll do✓Defend Montana’s clean drinking water — and hold anyone who pollutes our water sources accountable.✓Until data centers can prove they won’t pollute or drain Montana’s water, my answer is no.✓Make polluters — not taxpayers — pay to clean up the messes they leave behind, and clean up Montana’s abandoned mines and contaminated sites.✓Protect Montana’s remaining unspoiled backcountry and the clean headwaters that start there — for hunting, fishing, clean water, and the wildlife that depend on it.✓Defend and fund wildlife migration corridors so Montana’s herds and native fish can move, feed, and recover — good for the animals, good for hunters, and fewer collisions on our roads.✓Hold the federal land agencies — the Forest Service and BLM — accountable to the law, and get them back to prioritizing our environment and lands, not the intentions of the 1% — the same clean-air and clean-water enforcement my husband spent his career on. No more cutting corners on the public’s land.✓Manage wildlife and fisheries on the best available science, not politics.✓Pursue the win-win with our ranchers — better grazing practices like riparian fencing and rotation, not ending grazing.✓Invest in modern water infrastructure for rural communities, and respect Tribal nations’ sovereignty over their own land, water, and environment.15Immigration & Border SecuritySecure the border, fix a broken system, treat people like people$10K+Doing it the legal way can cost $10,000 or more — thousands in federal fees, plus medical exams, translations, and lawyers — before you ever reach the front of the line. We charge the people who play by the rules a fortune, then call them the problem.ⓘI double-majored in Latin American Studies and Criminal Justice because I wanted to take down drug lords for a living. My family was stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá during the Escobar years, and I saw up close how America’s own drug demand — and our government’s meddling in the region — helped create the desperation that drives people north. If we’re serious about immigration, we start by owning the part we played.Everyone wants secure borders and drugs out of our communities — that isn’t partisan. I spent my career working alongside the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, and I will hold anyone accountable who traffics drugs or means to do this country harm. But I will not let anyone tell you that a family seeking safety is the same as a cartel. Immigrants are people, and they deserve to be treated like it.Keep immigration enforcement — and expect ICE and every federal agency to operate inside the Constitution and the rule of law. When you’re given power, you’re expected to wield it with integrity, and any official who violates that will answer for it. Focus our resources where they belong: on traffickers, organized crime, and the people who actually threaten Montana families.And hear me clearly: the day a government can grab and hold anyone without due process, it can grab and hold you. Secure borders and the Constitution are not opposites — and I’ll defend both.What I'll do✓Secure the border and enforce our immigration laws — let good people in, keep bad actors out.✓Fix the broken legal immigration system: cut the years-long backlogs, bureaucracy, and cost so people can come the right way.✓Hold ICE and every federal agency to the Constitution and the rule of law — with real oversight, and accountability for anyone who abuses their power.✓Focus enforcement on traffickers, organized crime, and genuine public-safety threats — not on families seeking safety.✓Treat every person with dignity and due process, while holding accountable anyone who traffics drugs or seeks to harm America.✓Address the root causes — including addiction here at home and the destabilization abroad that America helped cause.16Accessibility & Disability RightsNothing about us without us1,749Roughly 1,749 Montanans with intellectual and developmental disabilities are stuck on the Medicaid waiver waitlist, facing multi-year waits for services they are legally entitled to.ⓘI don’t come to this from a briefing binder — I come to it from showing up, even when it’s inconvenient, and listening directly to disabled Montanans and their families about what their lives actually require.A years-long wait for services people are legally entitled to isn’t a delay — it’s a denial that forces families into crisis. “Nothing about us without us” will be how I govern.What I'll do✓Protect and strengthen Medicaid and Home & Community-Based Services — fight the cuts, per-capita caps, and paperwork traps that strip coverage.✓Grow federal HCBS funding to clear Montana’s waitlist, and make home- and community-based services a guaranteed part of Medicaid.✓Raise Direct Support Professional pay to a living wage by tying Medicaid reimbursement to the real cost of care.✓Fully fund IDEA — a promise Washington has never kept — and close the “services cliff” young people fall off at 21.✓Oppose Montana’s participation in the multistate lawsuit against Section 504, and defend the ADA against any rollback.✓Stand up a permanent disability advisory group with a named point of contact — a direct line, not an afterthought.17Courts & Judicial ReformRestore trust in the courts$4.7MSupreme Court justices accepted at least $4.