Steve Daines Withdraws 3 Minutes Before Deadline, Clearing Montana GOP Field for Kurt Alme
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 2
Steve Daines Withdraws 3 Minutes Before Deadline, Clearing Montana GOP Field for Kurt Alme
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 2
Three minutes before Montana's filing deadline, Steve Daines said he would not seek a third Senate term, abruptly turning an expected re-election race into an open-seat contest.
Five minutes earlier, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme had filed to run, and Daines immediately endorsed him in a move widely seen as coordinated to block other Republicans from entering.
Donald Trump backed Alme later the same day, while Democrats and some Republicans condemned the maneuver as anti-democratic and said stronger GOP contenders might have run with more notice.
Montana's general election could still be unusual: Democratic leaders are not fully uniting behind their own primary winner and are instead supporting independent Seth Bodnar in the increasingly Republican state.