Kurt Alme

Alme was born in Great Falls, Montana, to parents who were both educators. His father’s career took the family to Dillon, Victor, Helena, and Miles City, where he graduated from Custer County District High School.⁠[1][2]

He earned a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Colorado in 1989, summa cum laude, and is a Harry S. Truman Scholar; he received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1992, cum laude. Before law school he also became a certified accountant.⁠[3][4][2][5]

After law school, Alme clerked for U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell in Helena, then joined the Billings-based regional law firm now known as Crowley Fleck, where he became a partner.⁠[2][1]

At 34, he was appointed director of the Montana Department of Revenue by Gov. Judy Martz. His campaign website says that as revenue director he oversaw the largest income tax rate cut in state history, saving taxpayers more than half a billion dollars over five years.⁠[5][1]

From 2003 to 2010, Alme served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Montana, focusing on financial investigations including white-collar fraud, government program fraud, bankruptcy fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion; from 2006 to 2010 he was First Assistant U.S. Attorney.⁠[2]

After leaving the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2010, he joined the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch Foundation, serving as executive vice president and later as president and general counsel and directing its fundraising until 2017.⁠[2][5]

On the recommendation of Sen. Steve Daines and nomination by President Donald Trump, Alme was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in September 2017 as U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, serving until December 2020.⁠[2]

In 2019 he accompanied Attorney General William Barr on a visit to the Flathead Reservation.⁠[5]

Alme was Gov. Greg Gianforte’s first state budget director, working on the governor’s priorities from December 2020. He helped build Gianforte’s first executive budget, which called for tax cuts, a marginal increase in general fund spending, and investment in addiction prevention and treatment programs; the governor’s office also credited him with work on teacher pay incentives, trades education, and tax code simplification.⁠[6][7][8]

On September 7, 2021, Alme announced he would step down as budget director effective October 1 and return to Billings, where his family lives. He said that “commuting from Billings to Helena each week is unworkable for the long term.” State Sen. Ryan Osmundson succeeded him.⁠[8][7]

He then served as executive vice president for planned giving at the National Christian Foundation.⁠[2]

On March 17, 2025, Alme was sworn in by Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Morris as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana after his appointment by Attorney General Pam Bondi, to serve for 120 days or until the Senate confirmed a presidential nominee.⁠[2]

On March 4, 2026, he resigned as U.S. attorney to run for the U.S. Senate.⁠[6]

March 4, 2026, was the last day of candidate filing in Montana. Alme filed for the U.S. Senate at 4:52 p.m., eight minutes before the deadline; incumbent Sen. Steve Daines withdrew from his re-election bid at 4:57 p.m. and endorsed Alme. It was Alme’s first run for elected office.⁠[6]

Alme said Daines first contacted him only a few days before filing closed, recalling: “I told the senator that if he were to decide to retire, that we would be interested in stepping up.” He also received the support of Sen. Tim Sheehy and Gov. Greg Gianforte, and President Donald Trump endorsed him in March.⁠[6][5]

In the June 2, 2026 Republican primary, the Associated Press declared Alme the winner less than an hour after polls closed at 8 p.m. In the final count Alme received 76.1% of the vote (128,716 votes), with Lee Calhoun at 14.1% and Charles A. Walking Child at 9.7%. The same night, Alani BankheadAlani BankheadAlani Bankhead is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and former special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General, and was the Democratic nominee in Montana’s 2026 U.S. Senate election. She won the June 2, 2026 Democratic primary and finished third in the November 3 general election.Open the full entry won the Democratic primary.⁠[9][3]

In the general election, Alme faced independent Seth Bodnar, a former president of the University of Montana; Democrat Alani Bankhead; and Libertarian Kyle Austin.⁠[10][11]

Alme declared victory in Billings shortly after 11:30 p.m. on November 3, and Bodnar conceded shortly before midnight. The Associated Press called the race for Alme at 12:54 a.m. on November 4, with 78% of the vote counted; at that point Alme had 47.7%, Bodnar 38.6%, Bankhead 11.9%, and Austin 1.8%. Alme succeeds the retiring Sen. Steve Daines.⁠[12][13]

In his victory statement he said, “Montana is my home, and as your senator, I will fight to make life more affordable.”⁠[13]

Alme has said his U.S. Attorney’s Office focused on violent crime and drug trafficking and that it prosecuted more defendants in 2025 than in any year in more than two decades. His campaign website says he launched Project Safe Neighborhoods and led the formation of Montana’s Homeland Security Task Force.⁠[6][1]

Alme describes himself as a “commonsense conservative” and made public safety and tax reduction centerpieces of his campaign. He has said affordability is one of voters’ biggest concerns and has proposed reining in government spending to slow inflation and increasing domestic energy production to address gas prices.⁠[6][11]

He has said he supported President Trump’s military actions against Iran aimed at preventing it from obtaining nuclear weapons.⁠[11]

Alme for Senate: Official website: https://almeforsenate.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[14]

X: Public account: https://x.com/kurtalme (opens in a new window).⁠[14]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/@almeforsenate (opens in a new window).⁠[14]