HELENA — A week and a half into Montana’s candidate filing period, Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke still hadn’t officially filed to run for reelection. On Monday afternoon, he confirmed he was not seeking another term in 2026 – shaking up the state’s election season.
Within an hour of Zinke’s announcement, the first Republican candidates were already stepping forward, seeking to run for his open seat.
(Watch the video for more on the newly announced GOP candidates.)
The most elaborate launch came from Aaron Flint, a longtime conservative talk radio host who currently hosts the statewide program “Montana Talks.” He posted a video to social media Monday afternoon to launch his campaign. In it, he called himself an “America First Patriot” and said he wanted to protect the state from “radical politicians” in the Democratic Party.
“My family homesteaded here,” Flint said in the ad. “They worked for everything they had, but they wouldn't recognize what's happened to our country. It's time we course correct.”
Flint, an Army veteran who served in the years following the September 11 attacks, said in the video that he wanted to address concerns about affordability, support manufacturing and trades education and push back on policies like sanctuary cities.
Flint’s campaign website launched with an endorsement from Zinke featured prominently. Shortly after his announcement, Flint received support from a number of other notable Montana Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy and Montana’s other U.S. House member, Rep. Troy Downing, as well as Gov. Greg Gianforte.
However, Flint isn’t the only one running for the Republican nomination. Al Olszewski, a former state senator and orthopedic surgeon from Kalispell, filed with the Secretary of State’s Office Monday afternoon.
Olszewski told MTN he had suspected Zinke might not run again after he hadn’t filed in the first week, and he had been planning to launch a campaign of his own. He previously ran against Zinke in the 2022 Republican primary, losing by just two percentage points.
Olszewski said that race was also an uphill battle, and that he welcomed other candidates to this primary and looked forward to an opportunity to make the case that he is the best choice for the district. He said he plans to point to his history in western Montana and his legislative experience.
“What we see right now at the federal level is that we need to get our legislature back into regular order, and that means you have to know how to legislate,” he said.
Olszewski is also a veteran, having served as an Air Force surgeon. He chairs the Flathead County Republican Central Committee, and he previously campaigned statewide for U.S. Senate in 2018 and for governor in 2020. While he doesn't yet have an active campaign website, he told MTN he's working with much of the same team that supported him in his 2022 congressional race.
Montana’s 1st Congressional District includes much of western Montana, including Kalispell, Missoula, Butte and Bozeman. With Democrats hopeful that they can make gains nationwide in this midterm election, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee identified the district as “in play.”
“Ryan Zinke’s decision to not run for re-election is the latest proof point that the Republican rank and file know their majority is doomed,” DCCC spokesperson Lindsay Reilly said in a statement. “Montanans have soured on Republicans’ broken promises and their failed agenda that has raised costs on everyone, ripped health care away from tens of thousands in the state, and has harmed Montana farmers and ranchers with reckless tariffs – all to fund tax breaks for their billionaire backers.”
Four Democratic candidates had already announced they were running for the western district: author and activist Ryan Busse of Kalispell, former child-care business owner Russ Cleveland of St. Regis, firefighter and union leader Sam Forstag of Missoula and rancher Matt Rains of Simms.
If anyone else is interested in running for Zinke’s seat, they don’t have long to make their decision: Candidate filing closes at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
