Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., announced Wednesday that he will not seek a third term, making him the latest Republican in Congress to head for the exit this year.
While Daines, 63, had already filed to run again this fall, he withdrew his name from qualification "minutes before" Wednesday's state filing deadline for candidates, the Montana Secretary of State's office told NBC News. He released a statement confirming the decision only after the filing deadline passed.
In the statement, Daines announced he is backing Montana's U.S. attorney, Kurt Alme, to replace him — Alme filed his paperwork eight minutes before the filing deadline, Montana Secretary of State records show, and before Daines publicly confirmed he was no longer running.
"After wrestling with this decision for months, I have decided I will not seek re-election," Daines said. Going on to back him, he praised Alme's work "cracking down on crime" and confronting fentanyl trafficking and called him "a man of faith."
Alme announced his candidacy in a statement Wednesday.
“As a native Montanan, I have always been committed to serving our communities, upholding the rule of law, and fighting for the safety and prosperity of every family in our state,” he said.
“We need proven doers in Washington who will stand up for our values without apology,” he added. “I’m running for Senate to be a relentless advocate for Montana and to help President Trump put America First.”
President Donald Trump endorsed Alme on Truth Social on Wednesday evening and praised Daines for "passing the torch" to him.
"In fact, if Kurt didn’t have the highest level of aptitude and talent, Steve would have remained exactly where he is but, Kurt is exceptional, and I will be giving him, based on Steve’s strongest recommendation, my Complete and Total Endorsement," Trump said.
Daines has served in Congress since 2013, first in the House before he won a Senate seat in 2014, a unique election in which his Democratic opponent, who had been appointed to the seat months earlier, dropped out in the final weeks because of a plagiarism scandal. Daines cruised to victory over the replacement Democratic nominee that year and then won his 2020 re-election by 10 percentage points over the state's sitting governor, Steve Bullock.
While Montana has a history of electing Democrats, it has trended Republican in recent elections. Trump won the state by about 20 points in 2024, with Democratic Sen. Jon Tester losing his re-election bid by 7 points. Tester, in 2018, was the last Democrat to win a statewide election in Montana.
Alme's backing from Trump and Daines makes him the front-runner for the now-open seat, which had not drawn much major attention when Daines was expected to seek re-election. Independent Seth Bodnar, a military veteran and former president of the University of Montana who announced a Senate bid this week, criticized Daines' decision in a statement.
“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," Bodnar said.
"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."
Four Democrats have launched campaigns for the seat being vacated by Daines: former state Rep. Reilly Neill; Air Force veteran Alani Bankhead; Michael Hummert, who served in the Army and Navy; and Michael Black Wolf, a preservation officer and community leader from the Fort Belknap Indian Community.
Last minute filing deadline moves are not unheard of in politics — Democrats blasted one of their own, Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia of Illinois, last year after his chief of staff filed paperwork to run for Garcia's seat shortly before he announced he would retire. The House voted in November to publicly rebuke the congressman.
