Montana Democrat congressional candidate Sam Forstag’s campaign website no longer lists Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), or a group of other national progressive lawmakers who were prominently featured on his endorsement page during the primary.
An archived version of Forstag’s campaign website from June 9 included a dedicated “National Leaders” section featuring Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), and Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA).
National Leaders from Sam Forstag Website, NRCC
Sometime between June 9 and August 28, the entire “National Leaders” section disappeared from the public-facing page. The current endorsement page moves directly from “Former Montana Elected Officials” to “Organizations,” with Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, and the other national lawmakers no longer displayed.
Both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Forstag’s congressional campaign during the primary, and Ocasio-Cortez personally campaigned with Forstag at a rally in Missoula.
Forstag’s campaign has continued invoking the endorsements since the website change. A September 7 fundraising email referenced both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez and said they backed Forstag because he was a “progressive brawler.”
NRCC spokesman Christian Martinez told Breitbart News, “Socialist lobbyist Sam Forstag can scrub Bernie Sanders and AOC off his website, but he cannot bleach them out of his political DNA. A last-minute campaign facelift won’t erase years of lobbying for far-left groups that fought to allow men to compete in women’s sports and allow sex changes to be performed on children without their parents’ permission, all while backing tax hikes that would hammer working Montana families trying to get by.”
Forstag served as a legislative program manager for the ACLU of Montana from December 2020 to May 2021, where his professional profile said he worked on criminal justice reform, voting rights, indigenous justice, immigrant rights, and the state budget. His duties included full-time lobbying at the Montana Capitol, mobilizing ACLU members, coordinating with partner organizations, and participating in coalitions focused on criminal justice, immigrants’ rights, and voting rights.
From November 2021 to April 2024, Forstag was a partner at Central House Strategies, where he said he advocated for policies benefiting “poor, working and marginalized people.” His profile said he worked with groups including Planned Parenthood of Montana, the Montana Innocence Project, Montana Library Association, Montana Food Bank Network, and the Poverello Center, while helping lead the Montana Coalition to Solve Homelessness. He also listed work involving homeless shelter funding, public-library funding, eviction reform, medical care for unhoused Montanans, sex education, the death penalty, and legislation affecting librarians and teachers.
The ACLU has called for reducing “the role, resources and power of police” and investing in alternatives, while a 2020 commentary by former ACLU policing policy adviser Paige Fernandez called for activists to “defund the police.” The ACLU has also advocated alternatives to cash bail and a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens.
Forstag also personally opposed several Montana measures involving transgender policy. In 2021, he praised the “strength and courage” of LGBTQ people and criticized elected leaders for trying to “score political points at the cost of minority groups,” urging Montanans to tell lawmakers to vote “NO” on HB 112, which restricted transgender identifying individuals’ participation in women’s and girls’ school sports, and HB 427, which would have prohibited certain gender-transition surgeries for minors and referrals for such procedures. In 2017, he shared a Catalyst Montana post opposing HB 609, which would have asked voters whether public-school students should be required to use bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding with their sex as defined by the legislation.
Forstag is running for Montana’s 1st Congressional District against Republican Aaron Flint, a conservative radio host and military veteran endorsed by President Donald Trump and retiring Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT). Flint served as an infantry platoon leader in Ramadi, Iraq, and also served in Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula before returning to Montana and hosting the statewide Montana Talks radio program. Speaking to Breitbart News Saturday in March, Flint said the September 11 attacks inspired him to join the military and described his congressional campaign as another opportunity to “step up and fight for your country.” He also criticized Forstag during the primary, calling him a “Bernie bro” and “far-left lobbyist for the ACLU” who “fought to get men in women’s locker rooms.”
