Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, announced Wednesday that he will not seek a third term, making him the latest Republican in Congress heading 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 candidate filing deadline, the Montana Secretary of State’s office told NBC News. It issued a statement confirming the decision only after the filing deadline passed.
In the statement, Daines announced that he is endorsing Montana U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme to replace him; Alme submitted his paperwork eight minutes before the filing deadline, Montana Secretary of State records show, and before Daines publicly confirmed he would no longer run.
“After wrestling with this decision for months, I have decided that I will not seek re-election,” Daines said. He went on to endorse him, praising Alme’s work to “crack down on crime” and tackling fentanyl trafficking and calling him “a man of faith.”
Alme announced his candidacy in a statement on Wednesday.
“As a Montana native, I have always been committed to serving our communities, upholding the rule of law, and fighting for the safety and prosperity of all families in our state,” he said.
“We need proven people in Washington who will unapologetically defend our values,” he added. “I’m running for Senate to be a tireless advocate for Montana and to help President Trump put America first.”
President Donald Trump endorsed Alme on Truth Social Wednesday night and praised Daines for “passing the torch.”
“In fact, if Kurt did not have the highest level of aptitude and talent, Steve would have stayed exactly where he is, but Kurt is exceptional and I will give 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 winning a Senate seat in 2014, a unique election in which his Democratic opponent, who had been appointed to that seat months earlier, dropped out in recent weeks due to a plagiarism scandal. Daines cruised to victory over the Democratic replacement candidate that year and then won his 2020 re-election bid by 10 percentage points over the state’s incumbent 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, and Democratic Sen. Jon Tester lost his re-election bid by 7 points. Tester, in 2018, was the last Democrat to win a state election in Montana.
Alme’s endorsement by Trump and Daines makes him the favorite for the now-open seat, which had not drawn much 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 his Senate candidacy this week, criticized Daines’ decision in a statement.
“Steve Daines has so little respect for Montana Republicans that he pulled out at the last minute to crown his hand-picked successor rather than give them a voice at the ballot box,” Bodnar said.
“This is the disgusting arrogance of Washington politicians and their party bosses trading power back and forth like candy while Montanans are crushed by higher costs and fewer opportunities.”
Four Democrats have launched campaigns for the seat Daines is vacating: former state Rep. Reilly Neill; Air Force veteran Alani Bankhead; Michael Hummert, who served in the Army and Navy; and Michael Black Wolf, preservation officer and community leader for the Fort Belknap Indian Community.
Last-minute moves on the filing deadline are not unheard of in politics: Democrats criticized one of their own, Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García of Illinois, last year after his chief of staff filed paperwork to run for his seat shortly before García announced he was retiring.
