Montana Democratic Party Statement on Matt Rosendale Kicking Off “Brutal GOP Primary Battle”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 9, 2024

CONTACT
rehm@mtdems.org

Montana Democratic Party Statement on Matt Rosendale Kicking Off “Brutal GOP Primary Battle”

Helena, MT – Today, after nearly a year of attempts by D.C. Republicans to avoid a contentious primary, Maryland Matt Rosendale announced that he is running for U.S. Senate, kicking off a “brutal GOP primary battle” that “could force the national party to spend tens of millions of dollars and divide a state party that needs to throw a perfect game to beat incumbent Sen. Jon Tester.”

“Buckle up for the battle of the out-of-staters, because Mitch McConnell and the NRSC’s greatest nightmare in Montana came true. Over the coming months, Montanans are going to see how out of touch Maryland Matt and Transplant Tim are with our state,” said Hannah Rehm, senior communications advisor for the Montana Democratic Party. 

Here’s what to know about Rosendale’s entrance into Montana’s U.S. Senate race:

• Republicans are bracing for a bruising primary between the GOP establishment and the “conservative grassroots” in Montana.Mitch McConnell and his allies recruited Tim Sheehy to run for office in Montana, but Montana Republicans aren’t sold – all but assuring a drawn-out, bloody GOP primary.

  • After Sheehy announced his campaign for Senate, 37 Montana state legislators – including Speaker of the House Matt Regier and Senate President Jason Ellsworth – urged Matt Rosendale to run.

  • Local conservatives have railed against McConnell and national Republicans trying to pick their nominee and urged Trump to endorse Rosendale. County-level Montana Republicans have publicly expressed their frustrations (“Sheehy who?”), including the Anaconda-Deer Lodge Republicans who said that Rosendale was “absolutely right about Sheehy.”

  • In December, former Republican state legislator Roger Koopman published an op-ed in the Billings Gazette and Daily Caller attacking Tim Sheehy for being a McConnell yes-man.

• Rosendale’s entrance into the race creates a brutal primary that will drain Republican campaign resources and weaken whichever nominee emerges.

  • NEW YORK TIMES: “The historical difficulty of defeating an incumbent like Mr. Tester, even in a deep-red state, only adds to the urgency for Mr. Daines to avoid a contentious primary that would force Republicans to fire political attacks at each other instead of the rival party. It hasn’t been going well.”

  • POLITICO: “Rosendale’s decision is probably the most important to the Senate map. It would create a GOP primary that could force the national party to spend tens of millions of dollars and divide a state party that needs to throw a perfect game to beat incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).”

• Blows are already flying, with Rosendale blasting Sheehy for being chosen by “party bosses” and “protect[ing] the DC cartel.”  Expect Sheehy’s support for ESG standards, flip-flops on climate change and Green New Deal-esque policies, and max-out donations to presidential candidate Tim Scott and Nikki Haley’s PAC to quickly become fodder in this primary. 

• Rosendale is a wealthy real estate developer from Maryland who bought up property in Montana and repeatedly claimed to be a rancher – but never owned any cattle or ranched his own land. For years, Rosendale touted his experience as a rancher while he campaigned for various political offices in Montana – until it was revealed he “never actually ranched his land himself, instead renting it out for others to farm and run their cattle on.” Rosendale will be joining good company on that front: New reporting revealed that Sheehy greatly exaggerated his “cowboy” credentials after buying up huge swaths of ranch land in Montana.
   

###