Five Points on the Montana Senator Trying to Deceive Voters and Gift His Seat to Chosen Heir

Until two minutes before Montana’s 5 p.m. filing deadline, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) was running to keep his seat. 

He’d filed for reelection in late February, had $4.9 million stashed in his war chest. 

Six minutes before Daines withdrew on Wednesday evening, Montana U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme, who has never run for anything, filed his candidacy. He was met with a rush of endorsements, including one from President Trump on Truth Social. 

In a video announcement, standing before a scenic mountainous backdrop, Daines said he had been “wrestling with this decision for months.” He did not address his attempt to pass his Senate seat down like a title to a dynastic heir. 

This Chicanery Could (Maybe?) Hurt Republicans Politically 

“Crystal Ball is making an immediate rating change for Montana Senate from Safe Republican to Likely Republican, pending more information,” wrote Larry Sabato, a politics professor who directs the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics and the election prognosticator Sabato’s Crystal Ball. “Sometimes the voters react badly to these last-minute back room deals resulting in a switch of candidates without the public’s involvement.”

Another prognosticator, Inside Elections, also downgraded the seat from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican.” 

It Gave One Interesting Candidate an Opening 

Seth Bodnar has quite a CV — a Green Beret veteran and current officer with the Montana National Guard, a former Rhodes Scholar, recently president of the University of Montana until he quit to run for Senate as an independent. 

He was reportedly pushed into the race by former Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), who allegedly wrote in a leaked text message that “every race I ran as Montana Senator and U.S. Senator it was about distancing myself from the Democratic Party” and “during my last two races the democratic Party was poison in my attempts to get re-elected.”

The text angered state Democrats, who have already fielded a 2026 candidate. Daines beat a seemingly formidable Democrat — the popular former Gov. Steve Bullock — by a whopping 10 points in 2020. 

Bodnar quickly responded to Daines’ switcheroo. 

“Steve Daines has so little respect for Montana Republicans that he withdrew at the last minute to coronate his handpicked successor instead of giving them a voice at the ballot box,” he wrote. 

“This is the disgusting arrogance of Washington politicians and their party bosses who trade power back and forth like candy while Montanans are crushed under higher costs and fewer opportunities,” he continued. “I’m running to be an independent voice for every single Montanan who is sick of this broken political system and who wants a leader who stands up for our state against the corruption of political elites like Steve Daines and Kurt Alme.”

A Democrat Has Pulled This Maneuver Too

Rep. Chuy García (D-IL) announced his retirement in November 2025 — leaving only enough time for his hand-picked successor, his chief of staff Patty Garcia (no relation), to register to run for the seat.

The House of Representatives passed a resolution to condemn him, though House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) urged his members to vote against it. 

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) led the crusade against García at the time, and has reacted similarly to Daines’ stunt.

“This is bullshit,” she tweeted. “A Montana Senator is rigging an election and it’s miles beneath the dignity of our democracy.” 

Add Daines to the Growing List of Retirements 

Daines is the sixth Republican senator to choose not to seek reelection this year, another datapoint that lawmakers foresee a tough midterm season likely to break the GOP trifecta. 

His bowing out comes just days after another Montanan in Congress, Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), abruptly announced that he’d retire at the end of his current term as well. Zinke’s decision left Republicans two days to decide whether to run in his stead.

Bonus: Montana’s Other Senator, for Whatever Reason, Decided to Beat up a Marine on Wednesday 

Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT) — who Daines had name-checked in his retirement video as the one to “spearhead the fight for Montana in the United States Senate” — took that call literally on Wednesday, appointing himself to help the Capitol Police remove a veteran and protester from a hearing. After Sheehy joined the scuffle, a snap could be heard. Brian McGinnis, the protester, said afterward that his arm had broken.

McGinnis, wearing his dress uniform, is a Green Party candidate for North Carolina’s Senate seat and had attended the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to protest President Trump’s new war against Iran. 

Sheehy tweeted afterwards that he’d “decided to help out and de-escalate the situation.” In the room, as he returned to the dias, an audience member reportedly yelled out that he’s a “punk” and a “coward.” 

“Go fuck yourself,” Sheehy responded, per the Independent.