Washington D.C. –
The endorsements span Idaho, Colorado, Montana, and South Dakota, marking the most expansive independent Senate endorsement slate by any political organization in the 2026 election cycle.
The Forward Party today announced its endorsement of four independent U.S. Senate candidates running across Idaho, Colorado, South Dakota, and Montana.
These four candidates represent a new phase of American leaders who believe the broken two-party system has failed the people it claims to represent. They are running to restore accountability, deliver real results for working families, and build a government focused on citizens rather than party bosses..
“These candidates are not running to fit into the system as it exists today. They are running to help fix it by bringing people together, listening to their communities, and focusing on what actually works. The Forward Party is proud to stand with each of them.”
-Lindsey Drath, Forward Party CEO
The Forward Party’s first U.S. Senate endorsements of 2026:
Todd Achilles is an Army veteran, former Idaho State Representative, technology executive, and public policy instructor from Boise. He is running to give Idahoans a senator focused on accountability, affordability, honest government, and term limits. His opponent, Sen. Jim Risch, has held office nearly continuously since 1970 and ranks near the bottom of net approval ratings among sitting U.S. senators. Idaho’s electorate includes twice as many unaffiliated voters as registered Democrats. Achilles’ own campaign polling shows he leads by 3 points among informed voters, underscoring that this race grows stronger the more voters hear from him. He is a founder and board member of Veterans for Idaho Voters, and a member of the American Federation of Teachers union and Idaho Business for Education.
Brian Bengs is a U.S. Navy and Air Force JAG Corps veteran, former instructor at the Air Force Academy and NATO School, law professor at Northern State University, and Wind Cave National Park Ranger. He has spent his life in service and is now bringing that same ethic to a Senate race built on a foundational conviction: that big money in politics is the root cause of the policy failures South Dakotans are living with today, from rural healthcare access to Medicaid cuts that threaten local facilities to data center projects approved over community objection.
Bengs is a member of the American Legion, the VFW, and the Veterans for All Voters organization as a state leader. His ballot petition was certified at a 93.85% validity rate, the highest of any statewide candidate in South Dakota in 2026, outperforming both the Republican incumbent and the Democratic challenger.
Bob Chew grew up in a middle-class family in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his engineering degree while working to pay his own way, and served as an officer on a nuclear submarine during the Cold War. He then spent three decades building a global company from four employees to 700. Running on the Forward Party ballot line in Colorado, Chew is committed to confronting the serious, long-term challenges that both parties have deferred for decades: the national debt, Social Security solvency, immigration, and energy.
Seth Bodnar graduated first in his class at West Point, served as a Green Beret with multiple overseas deployments, built a career in business, and spent eight years as president of the University of Montana.
The race he is entering carries its own story: two-term incumbent Sen. Steve Daines withdrew from the race eight minutes before the filing deadline and simultaneously endorsed his chosen successor, Kurt Alme, without a primary. Numerous elected Montana Republicans have gone on record expressing disappointment at the maneuver.
Bodnar has outraised every candidate in the race and submitted nearly 30,000 signatures — nearly twice the legal threshold — across 52 of Montana’s 56 counties. He supports ending wrongheaded tariffs that hurt Montana’s farmers and ranchers, restoring affordable housing and healthcare access, banning congressional stock trading, and ensuring elections remain in the hands of voters, not Washington insiders.
These four campaigns are not just about winning four individual Senate seats but could be a pathway to fundamentally changing how the Senate works. Today, the chamber is held together by a narrow partisan majority, with control of the calendar, committee chairs, and the legislative agenda determined entirely by which party holds the power. A small bloc of independents, large enough to deny either major party an outright majority, can force Congress to change its rules, denying the majority party automatic control. In the Senate specifically, with the chamber closely divided, just a couple of seats moving away from a clean party majority could be decisive.
“The voters of Idaho, Colorado, South Dakota, and Montana should decide who earns their support. Right now, ballot access laws, partisan primaries, and a two-party system engineered to protect itself are making that decision harder than it should be. The Forward Party is changing that with one state, one candidate, one voter at a time.”
-Kayla Berube, Forward Party National Political Director
Across the country, voters are increasingly frustrated with a system that limits choice and rewards division. Independent and solutions-focused candidates are stepping forward to meet that moment, offering a different path that prioritizes solving problems and restoring faith in elected officials.
The Forward Party will continue to support candidates at the local, state, and federal levels who are committed to building a more inclusive, competitive, and representative political system.
For more information on the full slate of endorsed candidates this cycle, please visit forwardparty.com/candidates.
