Race · November 3, 2026

U.S. House · Montana's 1st District

3 candidates on the ballot — an open seat, with no incumbent running.1

§1Candidates

Why this matters: Every candidate the state lists for this race on the November ballot, in the state's own order.

Aaron Flint
REP · Open seat
Sam Forstag
DEM · Open seat
Nick Sheedy
LIB · Open seat

§2Side by side

Why this matters: The same facts for every candidate, in the same order. Where we found nothing for a candidate, the cell says so — that means we didn't find it in public sources, not that it doesn't exist.

Scroll sideways on small screens. Select a name for the full page.
Aaron FlintSam ForstagNick Sheedy
Party on the ballotREP1DEM1LIB1
StatusOpen seatOpen seatOpen seat
Raised$2,856,139 through October 14, 20262$4,312,110 through October 14, 20263Not found in the public sources we checked
Cash on hand$408,1532$726,1263Not found in the public sources we checked
Outside spending$3,831,567 for · $5,283,740 against4$1,340,370 for · $5,638,020 against5Not found in the public sources we checked
Stock trading by members of Congress
Ban members themselves from trading individual stocks
His campaign website lists a ban on stock trading by members of Congress among the steps in his plan to clean up Washington, saying politicians should not profit from privileged information.6
Ban members and their spouses and dependent children from owning or trading individual stocks
His campaign website says he would ban stock trading by members of Congress and their spouses.7		Not found in the public sources we checked
Conservation and development on federal lands
Open more federal land to mining, logging and grazing
His campaign website says public lands should be managed under the multiple-use mandate and describes his public lands plan as weighing conservation, recreation and development of resources. The plan also lists spending federal funds to maintain and add public access, such as trails, campgrounds, boat ramps and restrooms, and upholding the Taylor Grazing Act. Its jobs plan lists expanding timber harvests and resource extraction to create jobs, and its forest plan lists ending the Roadless Rule, which it says blocks access for recreation, timber harvest and firefighting.6		His campaign website says he would end the use of emergency authorizations and fast-track programs to get around environmental protections. It also lists investing in timber harvest and updated mills in western Montana without putting environmental protections at risk.7Not found in the public sources we checked
Wildfire prevention and forest management
Speed up thinning and logging by shortening reviews and limiting lawsuits
His campaign website lists maintaining healthy forests to prevent catastrophic wildfires among the steps in its public lands plan. Its forest plan lists overturning the Cottonwood legal decision and ending what it calls analysis paralysis on forest management projects, expanding the Good Neighbor Authority to let Montana help manage federal forests, and ending the Roadless Rule.6		His campaign website says he would fully staff public lands agencies and put substantially more money into forest management and fuels mitigation, which it says would create jobs working proactively on wildfire risk. It also says he would set clear timelines for handling appeals, litigation and enforcement of environmental rules such as NEPA, while keeping the public able to comment and object.7Not found in the public sources we checked
Large investors buying single-family homesHis campaign website lists a ban on Wall Street buying single-family homes among the steps in his plan to make living in Montana affordable.6His campaign website says he would ban hedge funds and private equity firms from buying residential property and would remove tax breaks that institutional investors and corporations receive.7Not found in the public sources we checked
Immigration enforcement inside the country
Deport as many people here without legal permission as possible, with or without criminal records
His campaign website says he supports deporting people who are in the country without legal permission, starting with people who have been found guilty of violent offenses or drug trafficking and continuing until every such person has been deported from Montana. It also says Border Patrol and ICE should have the staff and equipment needed to secure the borders, including the northern one.6		His campaign website says anyone in the chain of command who broke the law or violated people's basic rights during immigration enforcement or detention should face criminal prosecution and congressional investigations. It also lists requiring judicial warrants for searches, seizures and arrests, and making immigration courts independent and adequately funded.7Not found in the public sources we checked
Taxes on tips and overtime
Make the tax break permanent or expand it
His campaign website lists making permanent the recent tax breaks for working families, including no tax on tips and overtime, among the steps in his affordability plan.6		His campaign website says he would repeal provisions of the Big Beautiful Bill that he says mostly benefited corporations and the very wealthy, while keeping parts that help working people, such as no taxes on overtime and tips.7Not found in the public sources we checked

Issues only one candidate has addressed

By candidate, in ballot order. We found nothing public from the other candidates in this race on these issues.

Aaron Flint — 7 issues
  • Proof of citizenship to register to vote
    His campaign website says he would make sure that only US citizens are on voter rolls.6
  • Selling or transferring federal lands
    His campaign website lists the Public Lands in Public Hands Act, which it says keeps federal land from being sold or handed over in large amounts, among the steps in his public lands plan.6
  • Federal benefits and services for noncitizens
    Limit benefits and services mainly to US citizens
    His campaign website says he wants noncitizens taken off all taxpayer-funded welfare programs.6
  • State and local role in immigration enforcement
    His campaign website says he opposes sanctuary city policies and supports local law enforcement working with ICE, including honoring lawful immigration detainers.6
  • Income tax on Social Security benefits
    His campaign website lists no tax on Social Security among the recent tax breaks for working families that he would make permanent.6
  • Balanced budget amendment
    Add a balanced budget requirement to the Constitution
    His campaign website lists a mandatory balanced budget amendment, which it compares to the one Montana has, among the steps in his plan to clean up Washington.6
  • Preventing government shutdowns
    His campaign website lists withholding pay from politicians when there is no budget, and during a government shutdown, among the steps in his plan to clean up Washington.6
Sam Forstag — 35 issues
  • Abortion law
    Legal until about 24 weeks, as under Roe v. Wade, and later to protect the woman's life or health
    His campaign website lists putting Roe v. Wade into law, directing more money to family planning providers, and reversing Medicaid cuts that restrict Medicaid's use with certain reproductive health care providers as ways to protect abortion access and reproductive health.7
  • Government funding and abortion
    His campaign website says that, as part of protecting access to abortion, he would undo the Medicaid cuts that bar certain reproductive health care providers from Medicaid.7
  • Collective bargaining for public employees
    Restore bargaining rights at the federal agencies the 2025 order excluded, as the House-passed Protect America's Workforce Act would
    His campaign website says he would pass the Protect America's Workforce Act, which it says would give back bargaining rights to over a million public servants at the Bureau of Land Management, the VA and roughly 30 other federal agencies.7
  • Federal minimum wage
    Raise to $15 or more
    His campaign website says he would set the federal minimum wage at $15 an hour or higher and link it to inflation so that it rises over time.7
  • Tariffs
    Targeted tariffs on some countries or goods
    His campaign website says tariffs, used carefully, can encourage domestic production and protect jobs, and should be used to discourage companies from moving jobs overseas and other countries from unfair practices, with protections for industries such as Montana agriculture. It says they should not be used to punish allies.7
  • Trade agreements
    His campaign website says he would require that union representatives have input equal to other stakeholders when the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative negotiates a deal, and would make sure labor and environmental rules in trade deals are enforced.7
  • Union organizing rules
    Make it easier to form a union (for example, the PRO Act)
    His campaign website says he would pass the PRO Act, which it says would make sure workers everywhere can organize and join a union, and would counter corporate efforts to block unions.7
  • Who sets tariffs
    Require Congress to approve new tariffs before they take effect
    His campaign website lists requiring congressional approval for tariffs as a way to give Montana farmers and ranchers stability.7
  • Vouchers and education savings accounts
    No public money for private school or homeschooling costs
    His campaign website lists keeping public money in public schools among his education priorities.7
  • Campaign finance rules
    Limit spending by outside groups, including by amending the Constitution to overturn Citizens United
    His campaign website says he would pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, ban corporate election spending and eliminate Super PACs, and set lower limits on contributions to federal campaigns.7
  • Federal workforce and job protections
    His campaign website says he would fully staff public lands agencies, and says that as vice president of his union's local he organized against cuts to the Forest Service and other public land agencies. It also lists letting federal agencies hire directly where appropriate and changing the federal hiring process.7,8
  • Data centers and electricity costs
    Require data centers to pay the full cost of the power plants and lines they need
    His campaign website says new data centers should be built only if they meet three conditions. They would have to build enough new energy capacity to supply the power they use, so that other customers are not left paying more for power; adopt advanced cooling systems that conserve water; and use local union labor.7
  • Child care costs
    Make child care free, or cap what families pay at a set share of income (such as 7%), paid for with new public funding
    His campaign website says he would make child care free for every family that wants it by increasing public investment in child care, and would work toward universal pre-K by putting more money into programs such as Head Start and pre-K offered in public schools.7
  • Paid family and medical leave
    His campaign website says he would offer federal matching grants to encourage states to pay for as much as 12 weeks of paid leave for parents of new children.7
  • ACA premium tax credits
    His campaign website says he would restore and expand the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies so that people earning $70,000 or less have free coverage and everyone has affordable coverage.7
  • Federal Medicaid funding
    His campaign website says he would raise Medicare and Medicaid payment rates so rural hospitals can keep serving Montanans, and would expand the mental health services that Medicaid covers.7
  • Health insurance system
    Add a government plan that anyone can choose to buy
    His campaign website says he would let every Montanan choose to join Medicare, with expanded subsidies so that coverage is free for working people.7
  • Help for first-time homebuyers
    His campaign website says he would restore the tax credit for first-time homebuyers to lower the cost of owning a home for young and working people.7
  • Zoning and new housing
    Give extra state or federal money to communities that allow more homes
    His campaign website says he would offer incentives for communities to reform zoning and other regulations when outdated zoning restrictions keep housing from being built.7
  • Legal status for immigrants here without permission, including Dreamers
    A path to citizenship for most who meet requirements such as background checks
    His campaign website says he would pass bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform that offers an achievable path to legal status and citizenship.7
  • Masks and identification for immigration officers
    Require visible ID and body cameras, and ban most face coverings
    His campaign website lists banning face masks for immigration agents and requiring body cameras and badges among the basic requirements it says should apply to immigration enforcement.7
  • Medicare Advantage
    His campaign website says Medicare should remain public and that he would end attempts to privatize it through Medicare Advantage.7
  • Medicare dental, vision and hearing coverage
    Add dental, vision and hearing coverage to traditional Medicare
    His campaign website says he would add dental, vision and hearing coverage, plus long-term care, for seniors in Medicare.7
  • Medicare drug price negotiation
    Expand it to more drugs and to people with private insurance
    His campaign website says he would cut prescription drug costs by letting Medicare bargain directly over the price of every prescription drug.7
  • Social Security benefit levels
    Increase benefits, for example with larger yearly cost-of-living raises
    His campaign website says he would support legislation such as the Social Security Expansion Act, which it says would raise seniors' benefits by an average of $2,400 a year while leaving the program solvent.7
  • Social Security payroll tax cap
    Apply the tax to all earnings
    His campaign website says he would eliminate the Social Security payroll tax cap so that the highest-earning 6% pay Social Security payroll taxes like the other 94%, which it says would leave the program solvent for 75 years.7
  • Corporate tax rate
    Raise it, for example to 25% or 28%, or back to the 35% top rate in place before 2018
    His campaign website says he would increase the tax rate on corporate income to 35%, which it describes as the rate of about a decade ago.7
  • Federal income tax rates
    Raise rates on high incomes only (for example, above $400,000)
    His campaign website says he would set a minimum tax rate of 30% on income over $1 million a year, known as the Buffett Rule, and says income from the stock market should be taxed at least as heavily as income from a paycheck.7
  • Taxes on very large fortunes
    His campaign website says he would create a 5% tax on fortunes over $1 billion, which it calls the Billionaire Tax, and says it would raise revenue for public services without adding to the debt.7
  • Children and social media
    His campaign website says he would limit the way social media platforms use algorithms that amplify outrage and aim advertising at children, which it says can be done without censorship or limits on free speech.7
  • Data privacy
    His campaign website says he would give every American the right to keep AI companies from using their data, protect the ability of states to regulate or limit invasive technologies such as facial recognition, and require AI companies to pay people when their personal data is used to build AI systems.7
  • Rules for artificial intelligence
    His campaign website says he would create strict federal oversight and regulation of artificial intelligence companies, saying the technology could threaten the economy and humanity itself.7
  • Who has authority on tribal lands
    His campaign website says he would work on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons crisis by closing gaps in who has jurisdiction inside tribal boundaries so that people who are not tribal members can be held accountable for crimes committed there, increasing funding for tribal law enforcement, and holding the federal government accountable when it fails to investigate. It also says he would propose legislation to protect the government-to-government relationship with tribes and to require consultation with tribes when federally funded programs roll out on tribal lands.7
  • Private care for veterans
    Expand the VA's own hospitals and clinics, using private care mainly when the VA can't provide it
    His campaign website says he would oppose efforts to privatize the VA and wants VA care to remain public, fully funded and easy to access. It also lists investing in clinics, medical staff and telehealth so veterans can get care where they need it.7
  • VA staffing
    Hire more VA staff, including to replace jobs lost in 2025
    His campaign website says he would undo DOGE's cuts to VA health care staffing.7

Issue statements are drafted by AI from the public sources cited, and only cover what each candidate has said publicly.