Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) announced on Thursday that he was dropping out of the U.S. Senate race in his state just days after launching his campaign.
Rosendale’s stunning reversal came after former President Donald Trump endorsed retired U.S. Navy SEAL and businessman Tim Sheehy for the seat on the same day that Rosendale announced his bid.
“Instead of one of those phony statements from politicians, here’s my statement on why I’m withdrawing my candidacy for the U.S. Senate,” Rosendale said in a statement. “As everyone knows, I have planned to run for the U.S. Senate and to win both the primary and the general election. However, the day I announced, President Trump then announced that he was endorsing a different candidate.”
“I have long been a supporter of the president, and remain so,” he continued. “But I have been forced to calculate what my chances of success would be with Trump supporting my opponent. This race was already going to be tough, as I was fighting against Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Republican establishment in Washington. But I felt like I could beat them, as the voters do not agree with them choosing who would be the next U.S. Senator from Montana.”
Rosendale said that he looked at his “calculations” and saw that Trump’s endorsement of Sheehy meant that he would not have the resources needed to win a brutal primary fight for the GOP nomination.
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He said that after realizing that “the hill was just too steep,” he spoke with Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) and they agreed that it was best for the party’s chances to regain control of the U.S. Senate if he dropped out.
Daines responded to Rosendale’s announced on X, writing: “I appreciate Matt’s many years of service to Montana. It will take all Republicans working together to defeat Jon Tester in November.”