Montana’s Steve Bullock planning to run for Senate
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock is making plans to run for the US Senate, telling Democratic leaders that he intends to declare his candidacy in the coming days, a reversal that improves the party’s chances for winning a majority in the Senate.
Two Democratic officials familiar with the matter tell CNN that Bullock, who briefly ran for president in 2020, is now opening a door that he repeatedly insisted was closed. For months, Bullock bluntly said he had no interest in serving in the US Senate and would not be on the Montana ballot this fall.
In recent weeks, Bullock’s resistance to a Senate campaign has eased, the officials said, with his family now warming to the idea. In conversations with party leaders, he has also cited the gravity of the times and the importance of Democrats trying to win back the chamber. Bullock would face Republican Sen. Steve Daines, who has built up an impressive $5 million war chest, in a state President Donald Trump carried by double digits in 2016.
Bullock is expected to make his announcement before the filing deadline on Monday.
The news was first reported by the New York Times.
Democrats need to win the White House and a net gain of three seats in the Senate to flip the chamber, or four seats if they don’t defeat President Donald Trump. Bullock, who’s won two terms as governor, made his ability to win statewide in a red state the cornerstone of his presidential campaign.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer flew to Montana to personally urge Bullock to run last month, according to Politico.
Last week, Montana Sen. Jon Tester told CNN that he doubted Bullock would run but said he gets asked four or five times a day about it. He said he would ask Bullock about it over the weekend, calling him a “great governor” who would make a fine senator.
“I’d say no, he’s not gonna, but he hasn’t told me to go to hell and never call him back again,” Tester said at the time.
Top Democratic officials and strategists have long hoped Bullock would run, and he’s likely to clear the field. But his late entry to the race could embitter some of the other candidates already running. At least one of his fellow Big Sky Country Democrats, Bozeman scientist Mike Knoles, who filed for Senate with the Federal Election Commission last fall, wasn’t happy.
“If you enter this race now, you’re a fraud, a liar, and I’m honestly not sure I can support you,” Knoles tweeted after reports about Bullock running for Senate.
Of the five Democrats currently trying to take on Daines, public health and lands advocate Cora Neumann, who launched the Global First Ladies Alliance, has raised the most money, ending 2019 with $292,000 in the bank. Bullock’s presidential campaign ended the year with $123,000, but he’s likely to have a notable fundraising advantage if he’s the nominee. The primary is on June 2.
Republicans immediately bashed the decision.
“Succumbing to overtures from national Democrats like Chuck Schumer and Barack Obama, Steve Bullock is giving a foolish Senate run another look,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Nathan Brand.
