Rep. Matt Rosendale all but confirmed that he would enter the Montana Republican primary in one of the GOP’s must-win Senate races to regain control of the chamber.
The archconservative’s entrance into the race pits him against the National Republican Senate Committee and fellow Montana lawmaker Sen. Steve Daines, who tapped aerospace millionaire Tim Sheehy to run against Democrat Sen. Jon Tester.
Mr. Rosendale said on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” show that Mr. Daines has been trying to convince him to not enter the high-profile primary since Nov. 2022. He said his colleague told him that he had “billionaires that are going to spend a lot of money against you.”
“I said, ‘Steve, you tell them that I’m going to win the primary,’” Mr. Rosendale said. “‘I will be the nominee for United States Senate in Montana, and they better save their money for the general election.’”
Mr. Rosendale further accused Mr. Daines and the NRSC of sending “one of their political soldiers” to speak with someone close to him to ask “what it would take” to get the lawmaker to not run against Mr. Sheehy.
He suggested that GOP’s senate campaign arm and political operatives have since moved to buy off his vendors and contributors to kneecap a bid for the Senate seat.
Mike Berg, a spokesperson for the NRSC, told The Times that the conversation between Mr. Rosendale and Mr. Daines did not happen.
“It is unfortunate that Congressman Rosendale is casting blame on others for his fundraising challenges and trouble keeping staff,” Mr. Berg said.
The lawmaker has toyed for months with a run against Mr. Sheehy, who he has called a clone of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican.
In another sign that a campaign launch is imminent, Mr. Rosendale and Rep. Matt Gaetz, Florida Republican, are embarking on a string of weekend campaign events in Montana.
Should Mr. Rosendale formally announce, he would be bucking many of his fellow conservatives in the Treasure State.
Mr. Sheehy has accrued a laundry list of endorsements from Montana Republicans, including Gov. Greg Gianforte and Rep. Ryan Zinke, along with endorsements from sitting GOP lawmakers in the upper chamber such as Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma.
Meanwhile, Democrats are seemingly salivating at a rematch between Mr. Rosendale and Mr. Tester. The arch-conservative lost to the longtime incumbent in 2018 by 3.5 points.
Democrats are using big money to beat Mr. Sheehy.
The Huffington Post reported that the Last Best Place PAC, which has poured over $5.8 million into attack ads against the first-time candidate, is primarily funded by the Senate Majority PAC — an organization aligned with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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