GOP Senator Steve Daines of Montana dropped out of his reelection bid at the 11th hour as Republican hopes to maintain a Senate majority after the midterms dwindle even further.
The MAGA lawmaker’s office confirmed to the Daily Beast on Wednesday night that Daines, 63, will not seek reelection for a third term. The senator confirmed the news in a subsequent announcement.
The incumbent senator’s status on the Montana Secretary of State’s website was updated to “withdrawn” as of the state’s 5 p.m. candidate filing deadline on Wednesday.
Daines, who was first elected to the Senate in 2014, is the sixth Republican senator to not seek reelection in the upcoming midterm elections this November.
He joins a list of GOP lawmakers that includes former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Thom Tillis, Tommy Tuberville, Joni Ernst, and Cynthia Lummis.
President Donald Trump was very quick to congratulate the tenured lawmaker on his public service. In a Truth Social post, the president called Daines “one of our truly Great United States Senators” before endorsing the state’s federal prosecutor, Kurt Alme, whom Trump appointed during both of his terms, as his replacement.
“He did a job like few others are capable of doing but, sadly for our Country, Steve’s Term is up,” Trump wrote on Wednesday night. “Kurt is exceptional, and I will be giving him, based on Steve’s strongest recommendation, my Complete and Total Endorsement.”
Politico reported that Alme filed to run for Daines’s Senate seat shortly after the senator’s withdrawal and just before the 5 p.m. deadline.
Daines shared a video announcement on his social media on Wednesday evening, saying it was “the greatest honor of my professional career” to represent the people of Montana in Congress over the last 13 years.
“After much careful thought, I’ve decided not to seek reelection,” Daines said in the video shared on X. “I’m energized, I’m encouraged, and I’m ready for whatever comes next.”
“I’m also very thankful to have served alongside President Trump and my colleagues in the Senate,” he added.
Other than Alme, former University of Montana president Seth Bodnar filed to run for the open Senate seat as an independent.
“Montanans are an independent people, and we deserve an independent voice in Washington fighting to lower costs and protect our values,” Bodnar, who served in the U.S. Army, wrote on X on Wednesday. “I’m running for Senate to take our government back.”
