Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana pulled a bait-and-switch on GOP primary voters on Wednesday, withdrawing his name from the ballot minutes before the filing deadline and thus denying potential successors the chance to prepare to enter the race.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Daines had coordinated with his successor of choice—U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme of the Montana office—to ensure Alme was the only Republican on the ballot.
Even President Donald Trump appeared to be in on the scheme. He immediately endorsed Alme in a post on Truth Social. "Kurt is exceptional, and I will be giving him, based on Steve’s strongest recommendation, my Complete and Total Endorsement," Trump wrote.
The overt collusion led the political handicapping outlet Inside Elections to recategorize the seat as more competitive, going from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican.” Jacob Rubashkin, the site’s deputy editor, wrote that Daines' sly retirement move "is an unforced error by Republicans and introduces a unique element into the race."
"Had Daines dropped out even a few days before the deadline, there likely wouldn’t have been the same potential backlash that Republicans could now experience," Rubashkin said.
Still, Montana’s Senate race remains a reach for Democrats.
Trump won the state by 20 percentage points in 2024. That was too much for then-incumbent Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, to overcome. He lost to Republican Tim Sheehy by 7 points.
However, former University of Montana President Seth Bodnar is running as an independent, and he seemingly has Tester’s backing. Bodnar’s profile could appeal to Montana voters. If a blue wave crashes across the 2026 midterms, then an open-seat race with bad blood on the Republican side could lead to problems for Trump’s party.
Ultimately, this is the second time in a week that Montana Republicans have tried to pull the wool over GOP voters' eyes with last-minute retirements that have denied potential candidates the chance to gather the signatures to run.
Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana announced on Monday that he isn't seeking reelection. He and Trump immediately backed right-wing radio host Aaron Flint to be his successor, a sign that there was collusion in this instance as well.
Of course, it's incredibly hypocritical of Republicans to deny their voters a choice of nominees in races—something Trump is also trying to do in Texas with an allegedly forthcoming endorsement in the GOP primary runoff.
It was Trump himself who slammed then-President Joe Biden's decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race and anoint then-Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor, calling it a "coup" and a "vicious, violent overthrow of a president."
House Republicans even reprimanded Democratic Rep. Chuy García of Illinois for doing the very thing Daines just pulled.
It turns out that Trump and his party thinks it's wrong for a politician to anoint a successor only when they are a Democrat.
Go figure.
Published with permission of Daily Kos
