Busse Campaign Staffer Won't Confirm Town Home in Ad Is Hers, Not Candidate's $1.6 Million Estate

A campaign staffer for Democratic House candidate Ryan Busse in Montana would not confirm or deny whether their town home was used for a campaign ad instead of Busse's four-acre $1.6 million rural estate in Kalispell.

The ad, titled "Let's Fix It," shows Busse and his wife listening to news headlines in the kitchen of a modest town home as Busse fixes coffee. "How much more of this are we supposed to take?" Busse asked his wife as he threw a dishtowel he was wiping his hands with on the counter next to him. In the next scene, Busse hauls road signs into a silver car as he touts his campaign message to voters and what motivates him to run.

Public records, photos on real estate websites and past interviews Busse has done at his actual home suggest the residence in the ad belongs to staffer Alice Collins. Fox News Digital reached out to the Busse campaign and Collins, who said "at no point in the ad do we claim it to be Ryan’s house." Neither responded to repeated inquiries asking them to confirm or deny whether the town home was Collins' residence.

Busse, a former firearms executive and failed 2024 gubernatorial candidate, says in the ad he will "fight for working people, not the wealthy." He has campaigned on affordability for the common man in a state ranked low for home ownership affordability.

"If a candidate seeking to crusade on an affordability message feels the need to film campaign commercials away from their own home, that says a lot about the state of socialism and the demonization of prosperity in today’s Democratic Party," said Republican strategist Colin Reed.

"The inauthenticity of Busse’s ad reflects a pattern we’re seeing in races across the country — America's last elites trying to hide their true identity and agenda because their policies and values don’t resonate with the values and experiences of everyday Americans," said Ashley Hayek, president of America First Works. "When candidates like Busse lie about their mansions to seem 'relatable,' it only highlights how disconnected they are from hardworking families. Voters are looking for America First policies that will improve their lives, not deception."

Reed added that financial success should be "celebrated" and not hidden. "Home ownership was once seen as a key pillar of the American dream, and anyone running for Congress would be wise to put forward policies that will make it easier for people to buy homes rather than strangle them in more red tape and an ever more expansive federal government amassing power in Washington D.C.," Reed said.

In a 2024 interview with KPAX-TV during his failed gubernatorial bid, Busse and his wife Sara spoke at their Kalispell home, where the family raises 11 chickens and their hunting dogs have free rein across the open property. Zillow lists the residence at $1.5 million and Redfin at $1.6 million. No residence evaluation appears on Busse's financial disclosures, as candidates do not disclose primary home values, only investment properties. Montana State Library records show the property exceeds four acres.

An address linked to Collins matches Google Street View images of the ad's home and silver car. The home has little yard space, and Zillow photos of Busse's kitchen differ from the ad.

Collins told Fox News Digital to focus on "stories about the actual issues Montanans are facing," such as the "affordability crisis." Redfin ranks Montana eighth for highest home prices nationally. The Montana Free Press reported Bozeman's median single-family home sale price at $715,000 in February, down from $898,000 in May 2023.

Similar authenticity questions arose in 2024 for Virginia GOP candidate Derrick Anderson, who sought the House seat vacated by Gov. Abigail Spanberger. Anderson posted photos of himself with a woman and three children, which some took as his family, though he was newly engaged, childless and lived alone with his dog, per his campaign site and New York Post reporting. His staff accused critics of misconstruing photos with supporters. Anderson lost to Rep. Eugene Vindman in Virginia's 7th Congressional District.