Montana Senate and GOP Primaries: Establishment Republicans versus America First Candidates 

The DC Republicans want to hold control of the House and win a Senate majority. At the same time, Republican Party leaders don’t want to elect more America First Members of Congress and strengthen the MAGA movement.

We have seen what just a stalwart few can do in Congress if they are willing to fight!  We must support our incumbents and send more solid conservatives to DC.  Consequently, many of the most critical 2024 election battles will be Republican primaries where UniParty Republicans will face off against grassroots conservative Republicans.

A contentious Republican primary battle is shaping up in the Montana 2024 Senate race between Congressman Matt Rosendale (MT-02), a rock-solid conservative Member of Congress, and former Navy Seal and wealthy businessman Tim Sheehy, a UniParty Republican.

As expected, Congressman Matt Rosendale is signaling he is going to run for the seat and is lining up support both in Montana and from national conservative leaders such as Matt Gaetz, and Senators Mike Lee and Rand Paul.

MAGA conservative leaders recognize that having a staunch conservative like Rosendale in the U. S. Senate would empower the America First movement since an individual Senator has so much more power than a House member.

Mitch McConnell and national GOP party leaders recruited Tim Sheehy to run last summer in the hope of discouraging Rosendale from entering the race.  Sheehy is a very wealthy businessman whose company makes most of its profits from lucrative government contracts. Before Sheehy announced his candidacy, his company website referenced climate change. Since announcing, climate change references have been expunged as Sheehy positions himself as MAGA.

The winner of the Republican primary will face incumbent Montana Democrat Senator John Tester — considered the most vulnerable Democrat incumbent Senator running for re-election. Montana has been trending Republican for years. In 2020, Donald Trump won the state of Montana by 16 points and Senator Steve Daines won reelection by 10 points. Winning this seat is critical if Republicans are going to take majority control of the U.S Senate.

DTR-PAC hopes Rep. Rosendale does choose to run.  Rosendale already has solid name ID from his previous statewide campaigns, and, due to Rosendale’s defense of America First principles, he is growing in national prominence. He is one of eight Republican Members of Congress who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. Rosendale has demonstrated on multiple roll call votes in Congress that he can take the heat in D.C. without compromising on principle. 

Additional news stories on the Montana primary:

The Huffington Post detailed the major flip Sheehy made on climate change since announcing his Senate bid.

Double Dip: A GOP Senate Candidate’s Shameless Opportunism On Climate

Tim Sheehy pitches his aerial firefighting company as a leader in the climate change fight. On the campaign trail, he’s attacking a so-called “climate cult.

When it came to growing and promoting his aerial firefighting company, Montana businessman Tim Sheehy was, for years, outspoken about the need to combat global climate change, even publicly supporting a major initiative to curb emissions and invest in climate resilience.

But since launching his Republican bid for Senate in June, Sheehy has toed the party line on climate, railing against what he calls the “climate cult” and the “disastrous socialist Green New Deal.”

…Sometime before Sheehy announced his Senate bid, Bridger scrubbed climate language from its website, including a line about the company “fighting on the front lines of climate change,” ABC News reported last month.

• Double Dip: A GOP Senate Candidate’s Shameless Opportunism On Climate

Politico said Sheehy’s announcement didn’t shake Rosendale’s solid support from national and state conservative leaders.

Rep. Matt Rosendale is moving closer to a Senate run despite some opposition from GOP leaders.

In recent weeks, he (Rosendale) has received encouragement to jump in from Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), as well as members of the House Freedom Caucus. And he has secured vows of support from DeMint and members with a slew of allied groups, including Heritage Action and Turning Point Action. Senate Conservatives Fund, a PAC founded by DeMint, is also expected to back Rosendale should he enter the race, according to two people familiar with those conversations.

• Rep. Matt Rosendale is moving closer to a Senate run despite some opposition from GOP leaders.

37 conservative state lawmakers released a letter of support urging U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale to enter Montana’s 2024 U.S. Senate race:

“To challenge this status quo, we need a courageous figure in D.C. Someone unafraid to defy the Mitch McConnell establishment, demand change, and restore Congress to the principles that shaped this great nation. 

.. “Montana, as well as America, is starving for politicians with a backbone,” (Speaker of the Montana House of Representatives Matt) Regier told the Beacon. “I think we’re tired of invertebrate politicians, and Matt Rosendale has a proven backbone.

• Montana Lawmakers Urge Rosendale to Enter 2024 U.S. Senate Race, Challenging GOP-Backed Sheehy