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Nick Sheedy
Nick Sheedy (Libertarian Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Montana's 1st Congressional District. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026.[source] The Libertarian Party primary for this office on June 2, 2026, was canceled.
2026 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the Nov. 3 general election for Montana's 1st Congressional District as a battleground election. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.
Sam Forstag (D), Aaron Flint (R), Nick Sheedy (L), and Kimberly Persico (I) are running in the general election for Montana's 1st Congressional District on Nov. 3, 2026. Incumbent Rep. Ryan Zinke (R) did not run for re-election.
Subsidiaries of the Democratic and Republican Parties identified this as a competitive election. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) identified it as a target district and named Forstag to its Red to Blue program, which provides support to candidates in Republican-held or open districts.[1][2] The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) named Flint to its MAGA Majority program, which provides support to candidates in Democratic-held or open districts.[3]
One reason this district gained the attention of the DCCC and NRCC is ticket-splitting in the 2024 general elections for federal offices.[4] In the presidential election, Donald Trump (R) defeated Kamala Harris (D) in the district, 54% to 43%. In the U.S. House election, Zinke defeated Monica Tranel (D) 52% to 45%. In the U.S. Senate election, then-incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D) defeated Tim Sheehy (R) in the district 50% to 49%.
Both candidates have spoken about how their careers and personal experiences have prepared them for office.
Forstag's professional experience includes working as a smokejumper, a type of wildland firefighter who parachutes into remote areas to stop wildfires. He also worked as a lobbyist and legislative strategist and served as the vice president of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) Local 60.[5]
According to Forstag's Candidate Connection survey response, "He knows what it's like to be a kid who's worried that his mom's working too much, or to have a full fridge thanks to the food stamps that helped his dad get through. He knows what it's like to work three jobs while going to school and still come up short on rent."
Flint's professional experience includes working as a radio talk show host, state director for Zinke, and communications director for Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte's (R) 2016 gubernatorial campaign. From 2002 to 2024, Flint served in the U.S. Army National Guard and Reserves.[6]
Flint said, "I have heard firsthand their frustrations with government and what they believe needs to change. That has given me a different perspective than most candidates. I am not guessing what people want; I have been listening to them for nearly two decades."[7]
According to the Montana Free Press' Tom Lutey, this race is the state's first U.S. House election in 30 years not to include a baby boomer, defined as an individual born between 1946 and 1964.[8] Forstag is 31 years old, and Flint is 46 years old. At the start of the 119th Congress, baby boomers made up 38.9% of the U.S. House.
Based on second-quarter reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Forstag raised $1.4 million and spent $832,794, and Flint raised $1.3 million and spent $801,193. To review all the campaign finance figures in full detail, click here.
As of July 21, 2026, The Cook Political Report, DDHQ/The Hill, Inside Elections, and Sabato's Crystal Ball rated the general election Likely Republican.
Sam Forstag (D) and Aaron Flint (R) completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. To read those survey responses, click here.
This is one of 60 open races for the U.S. House of Representatives this year in which an incumbent is not running for re-election. Across the country, 23 Democrats and 37 Republicans are not running for re-election. In 2024, 45 incumbents — 24 Democrats and 21 Republicans — did not seek re-election.
The outcome of this race will affect the partisan balance of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 120th Congress. All 435 U.S. House districts are up for election.
Currently, Republicans have a 219-214 majority with two vacancies in the U.S. House.[9][10] To read more about the U.S. House elections taking place this year, click here.
Elections
2026
See also: Montana's 1st Congressional District election, 2026
Montana's 1st Congressional District election, 2026 (June 2 Democratic primary)
Montana's 1st Congressional District election, 2026 (June 2 Republican primary)
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for U.S. House Montana District 1
Sam Forstag (D), Aaron Flint (R), and Nick Sheedy (L) are running in the general election for U.S. House Montana District 1 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Sam Forstag (D)  | |
 | Aaron Flint (R) | |
| Nick Sheedy (L) | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Kimberly Persico (Independent)
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Montana District 1
Sam Forstag (D) defeated Ryan Busse (D), Russell Cleveland (D), and Matt Rains (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Montana District 1 on June 2, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sam Forstag | 37.4 | 26,276 |
 | Ryan Busse | 33.0 | 23,196 | |
 | Russell Cleveland | 21.7 | 15,238 | |
 | Matt Rains | 7.9 | 5,518 | |
| Total votes: 70,228 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary
Republican primary for U.S. House Montana District 1
Aaron Flint (R) defeated Christi Jacobsen (R), Albert Olszewski (R), and Ray Curtis (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Montana District 1 on June 2, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Aaron Flint | 50.1 | 41,170 |
 | Christi Jacobsen | 23.0 | 18,877 | |
 | Albert Olszewski | 20.3 | 16,686 | |
 | Ray Curtis | 6.7 | 5,479 | |
| Total votes: 82,212 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ryan K. Zinke (R)
Libertarian Party primary
The Libertarian Party primary scheduled for June 2, 2026, was canceled. Nick Sheedy (L) advanced from the Libertarian Party primary for U.S. House Montana District 1 without appearing on the ballot.
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and have margins of error or credibility intervals.[11] The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times."[12] For tips on reading polls from FiveThirtyEight, click here. For tips from Pew, click here.
Below we provide results for polls from a wide variety of sources, including media outlets, social media, campaigns, and aggregation websites, when available. We only report polls for which we can find a margin of error or credibility interval. Know of something we're missing? Click here to let us know.
| Poll | Dates | Flint (R) | Forstag (D) | Sheedy (L) | Not sure | Other | Undecided | Sample size | Margin of error | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
– | 44 | 47 | 2 | -- | -- | 7 | 500 LV | ± 4.4% | Sam Forstag | |
– | 43 | 45 | -- | 12 | -- | -- | 536 RV | ± 4.2% | The Bench | |
– | 42 | 41 | 5 | -- | 9 | -- | 375 RV | ± 6.0% | Montana Free Press | |
– | 44 | 44 | 5 | -- | -- | 6 | 500 LV | ± 4.4% | Sam Forstag | |
| Note: LV is likely voters, RV is registered voters, and EV is eligible voters. | ||||||||||
Campaign spending
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Forstag | Democratic Party | $1,382,873 | $832,794 | $550,079 | As of June 30, 2026 |
| Aaron Flint | Republican Party | $1,303,394 | $801,193 | $502,201 | As of June 30, 2026 |
| Nick Sheedy | Libertarian Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
|||||
Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[13][14]
If available, satellite spending reports by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and OpenSecrets.org are linked below. FEC links include totals from monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual reports. OpenSecrets.org compiles data from those reports as well as 24- and 48-hour reports from the FEC.[15]
Details about satellite spending of significant amounts and/or reported by media are included below those links. The amounts listed may not represent the total satellite spending in the election. To notify us of additional satellite spending, email us.
| By candidate | By election |
|---|---|
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Nick Sheedy has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Nick Sheedy asking him to fill out the survey. If you are Nick Sheedy, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for. More than 33,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.
You can ask Nick Sheedy to fill out this survey by using the button below or emailing nick.sheedy.mt@gmail.com.
Campaign finance summary
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from the Federal Election Commission. That information will be published here once it is available.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, "DCCC Adds MT-01 To Districts In Play As Democrats Further Expand Battlefield for 2026 Midterms," February 10, 2026
- ↑ Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, "2026 Red to Blue," accessed July 28, 2026
- ↑ National Republican Congressional Committee, "NRCC Adds Aaron Flint to MAGA Majority Program," April 27, 2026
- ↑ Daily Montanan, "Forstag declares victory in U.S. House district in western Montana," June 2, 2026
- ↑ Sam Forstag 2026 Campaign Website, "Home," accessed July 25, 2026
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Aaron Flint," accessed July 25, 2026
- ↑ Montana Free Press, "Aaron Flint," accessed July 25, 2026
- ↑ Montana Free Press, "Republican Aaron Flint and Democrat Sam Forstag win Western District House primaries," accessed June 2, 2026
- ↑ Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-Calif.) caucuses with the Republicans.
- ↑ A majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, when there are no vacancies, is 218 seats.
- ↑ For more information on the difference between margins of error and credibility intervals, see explanations from the American Association for Public Opinion Research and Ipsos.
- ↑ Pew Research Center, "5 key things to know about the margin of error in election polls," September 8, 2016
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ Amee LaTour, Email correspondence with the Center for Responsive Politics, August 5, 2022
