Republicans hope to avoid messy Montana primary after strong Jon Tester challenger emerges
Rachel Schilke
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Republican leaders are betting that their primary challenger in the Montana Senate race has a clear path to victory. But another GOP member with a history of losses who is mulling a bid could make that difficult.
Top GOP leaders are funneling funds and throwing support behind Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and current aerial firefighter, who announced his campaign to challenge Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) in 2024. However, Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT), who lost his Senate race in 2018, is reportedly considering taking another shot at the upper chamber.
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Rosendale, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, has not formally announced one way or the other. Tester, a centrist Democrat, is defending one of the 2024 election’s most vulnerable Senate seats.
However, Republican leaders are hoping to move in a different direction than the party took in 2022 in hopes of securing a larger majority in the House, flipping the Senate, and winning the White House. Several far-right candidates beat their more centrist GOP counterparts in the primaries, only to lose their elections in the midterms to the Democrats.
Now, the party is looking at Sheehy as their safety net. Within a day, Sheehy secured the support of the Senate GOP campaign arm, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MN).
“It’s great to see so many conservative senators rallying around Tim’s candidacy,” Daines told Politico. “I really like Matt Rosendale, which is why I am encouraging him to build seniority for the great state of Montana in the House and help Republicans hold their majority.”
Other donors are urging Rosendale not to run, as well.
“I think the path forward to be effective across all elections is with Tim in the Senate seat,” said Eugene Graf IV, an influential Montana donor who supported Rosendale in 2018 but is backing Sheehy this cycle.
He added that he thought Sheehy’s candidacy would “cause Matt to pause and think about that future.”
“Unfortunately, there’s some personalities that see a path for them instead of maybe the big picture for the state or for the country,” Graf said.
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Other GOP leaders are throwing their support behind Sheehy this week, giving Rosendale a sign that if he entered the race, he would do so without the support of several key GOP players.
Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AK) and Marsha Blackburn (R-OK) endorsed Sheehy on Tuesday. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) endorsed him on Wednesday. And on Thursday, Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) joined the list of endorsements with a statement backing Sheehy.