Sam Forstag

Sam Forstag (born May 23, 1994) is an American labor union leader and former smokejumper who is the Democratic Party nominee in the 2026 election for the Montana 1st Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He will face Republican Party nominee Aaron Flint and Libertarian Party nominee Nick Sheedy. The winner will replace incumbent Republican Ryan Zinke.

Forstag was born in Ohio, and raised mostly by a single mother who worked as an ICU nurse in Portland, Oregon. He moved to Montana in 2012, After graduation in 2017, he took a job as a wildland firefighter in order to pay off student loan debt, intending to apply to law school. In 2025, he became vice president of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) Local 60, where he represents approximately 800 U.S. Forest Service workers.

Forstag's Congressional campaign has focused on protecting public land, alongside economic issues such as housing and health care affordability. He has been endorsed by union groups and national progressive leaders, including Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He was endorsed by the Blue Dog PAC, a coalition of moderate Democrats. Forstag also has been endorsed by Representative Susie Lee, who is his aunt.