Sen. John Walsh (D-MT) is talking with his political team about whether to drop out of the Montana Senate race, according to Politico.
Those discussions, according to Politico, come after The New York Times reported that Walsh seemed to have plagiarized major parts of his master’s thesis. The plagiarism scandal made Walsh’s race, already one of the tougher ones among Democratic incumbents this cycle, even tougher.
The Missoulian and The Billings Gazette, two of Montana’s biggest newspapers, recently published editorials urging Walsh to end his candidacy for Senate.
Walsh was appointed to the post after Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) was named ambassador to China.
Top Democrats in Washington and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee are staying out of the discussions over whether Walsh should drop out, according to Politico.
Tuesday evening the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported that Walsh’s campaign canceled a number of events scheduled for the week beginning with a fundraiser in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This further fueled speculation that Walsh would drop out of the race.
If Walsh did step down, Montana Democrats would have until as late as Aug. 20 to pick a new candidate to face Rep. Steve Daines (R-MT).
The TPM Polltracker average gives Daines a 6 point lead over Walsh.
This post was updated.
