GOP primary battle for Senate begins in Montana, a top battleground

Rep. Matt Rosendale, a Montana Republican, entered the state's Senate race on Friday, setting up a potentially divisive primary in a crucial national battleground for control of the chamber.

Mr Rosendale is entering the race from the far right of the party. He is a staunch opponent of abortion rights and voted to overturn the 2020 election, and he played a key role last year in ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a fellow Republican, as speaker of the House of Representatives.

But while that resume would normally make him a darling of Donald J. Trump's political movement, many loyalists of the former president have rallied behind Tim Sheehy, a retired Navy SEAL and founder of an aerial firefighting company who launched his own campaign in July before the Senate started.

The winner of the primary will face Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat seeking his fourth term. Mr. Tester is one of the country's most popular senators, according to Morning Consult polling, but he is seen as a vulnerable incumbent because of the deeply red nature of a state that Mr. Trump won by 16 percentage points in 2020. Montana also has a Republican governor and a Republican supermajority in the legislature.

Before this year, the only time Mr. Tester shared a ballot in a presidential race was in 2012, when President Barack Obama reached a second term. Mr. Obama lost Montana by 13.5 points that year, but Mr. Tester won his race by four points.

When Mr Tester was re-elected in 2018, he defeated Mr Rosendale 50.3 per cent to 46.8 per cent. That loss played a role in the decision by Republican leaders, including Senator Steve Daines of Montana, to recruit Mr. Sheehy for this year's race. Mr. Daines oversees the party's Senate races as chairman of the National Republican Senate Committee.

Mr. Daines has in various ways helped Mr. Sheehy win support from Trump loyalists and deep-pocketed Republican donors, two forces within the party that have frequently worked at odds with each other in recent years. Mr. Sheehy has been endorsed by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and a super PAC backing Mr. Sheehy has raised millions from wealthy Wall Street executives.

Mr. Sheehy has also contributed about $1 million to his own campaign, spending more than $1 million Last year $4 million and entered this year with about $1.3 million in inventory.

But while Mr. Sheehy is seeking his first elected office, Mr. Rosendale is a well-known figure in Montana Republican politics. The battle for the Senate will be Rosendale's eighth political campaign in the past fourteen years. In his previous seven contests — four federal races, two state legislative campaigns and one for state auditor — Rosendale won five and lost two.

Mr. Rosendale has received support from key figures in Mr. Trump's orbit, including Steve Bannon, Trump's former White House strategist, and Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida. But what he especially misses is the support of Mr. Trump himself and his son Donald Trump Jr., both of whom repeatedly campaigned with Mr. Rosendale during the 2018 Senate race.

Mr. Rosendale's reluctance to endorse Mr. Trump's 2024 presidential bid immediately convinced many Trump loyalists to side with Mr. Sheehy last year, and is a key reason why the former president has not yet run for office has backed in the Senate race, according to people in the know. with the deliberations. Mr. Rosendale endorsed Mr. Trump's candidacy in December.

These pro-Trump forces showed their strength on Wednesday when House Speaker Mike Johnson backed away from his plan to support Mr. Rosendale after facing criticism from top Republican officials and prominent Trump supporters.