Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) will not run for a third term in the Senate, a shock decision that came minutes before the filing deadline in Montana.
Daines, who served a single term in the House before his election to the Senate in 2014, announced on Wednesday that he will retire in January, giving another Republican a chance to vie for his Senate seat. He quickly endorsed Kurt Alme, a U.S. attorney for Montana who filed to run shortly before the 7 p.m. deadline.
“Serving the people of Montana in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate the past 13 years has been the greatest honor of my professional career and I am grateful to God for allowing me to serve,” Daines said in a statement. “After wrestling with this decision for months, I have decided I will not seek re-election. It is time for a new leaders like Tim Sheehy to spearhead the fight for Montana in the United States Senate.”
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