The AP has called the Democratic pick for U.S. Senate in Montana, with Alani Bankhead overtaking runner-up Reilly Neill.The most crowded primary field in Montanas congressional elections this year is the Democratic race for U.S. Senate. Five Democratic candidates filed to run expecting to face incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines. Instead, Daines dropped his reelection bid, and theyll be running against a new Republican challenger, the Libertarian nominee, and possibly independent candidate Seth Bodnar.In May, Alani Bankheads Senate campaign emphasized her experience in the military and as an investigator with agencies like the Hawaii Attorney Generals Office. She says that has given her connections she can draw on if shes elected.While I really respect the other candidates, it's going to take them two to three years to figure out how D.C. works, and Montana doesn't have two or three more years of suffering left in them, she told MTN. They need someone now who understands how to play within that system while not being part of the system, but to disrupt it to get the results that Montana needs.Bankhead, of Helena, came to Montana about three years ago as she and her husband wound down their active-duty military careers. She says her career has been focused on investigating crimes like human trafficking and child sexual abuse, so shes prepared to hold people in power accountable.Bankhead says that, after her time in the Air Force, she knows theres unnecessary spending in the defense budget that could be repurposed to help shore up services.If we claw that money back and incentivize folks to use that money appropriately, then we will get back hundreds of billions of dollars that we could reallocate towards things like healthcare would be my No. 1 priority that would get us to about two-thirds of the way to paying for Medicaid for all, said Bankhead. We would get the rest of the money by doing things like stopping the war in Iran, which is costing us up to $2 billion a day.While Bankhead is new to the state, she says shes been impressed by Montanas community values, and she wants to carry those values to Congress.Montana has that common-sense foundation, which is what everybody wants, she said. ...read more read less