Out of the blue we learn tonight that U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) isn’t running for reelection. Montana is one of those states that is certainly a tough challenge for Democrats. But it’s not impossible. So this adds to Republican challenges in holding the Senate. But we also seem to have a replay of what Dem Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia caught grief for last year. Garcia waited for the very last moment under the filing deadline to announce his retirement, leaving only enough time for his hand-picked successor, Garcia’s Chief of Staff Patty Garcia (no relation), to file her candidacy papers for the election. Since Garcia’s is a solid Democratic district, allowing Patty Garcia to run in the primary unopposed means that she is basically guaranteed to be elected. Daines appears to have done the exact same thing with a heads up to current Montana U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme.
Daines filed his candidacy withdrawal papers at 4:57 p.m. on Wednesday, the last day before the filing deadline, and Alme submitted his filing at 4:52 p.m. Sure seems like a lucky break for Alme. The real reason for the last minute switcherooo was likely to keep a top tier Democrat for getting into the primary. No well-known Democrat has entered the race. However, former University of Montana President Seth Bodnar also announced an independent bid for the Senate today. And Jon Tester earlier suggested in a text message that he supported Bodnar running as an independent. So I’m assuming Bodnar is broadly Dem-aligned albeit running as an independent.
