Daines' Last-Minute Exit Scrambles Montana GOP Senate Race

What was supposed to be a coronation turned into chaos on March 4. At 4:52 p.m., Kurt Alme—who had resigned from his position as U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana just hours earlier—filed to run for Senate. Three minutes later, Daines, the two-term incumbent who was first elected in 2014, withdrew his candidacy and endorsed Alme. The maneuver blindsided the Montana political establishment and drew criticism from members of both parties.

Alme arrives at the race heavily favored by the state's Republican leadership. He has secured endorsements from U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy and Gov. Greg Gianforte. In early fundraising, Alme reported $908,956 available to spend, dwarfing contributions to his primary opponents. The 2026 race marks the first open seat in Montana since 1976 and the first for this particular seat since 1960.

But Alme faces a contested primary. Lee Calhoun, a Whitefish mechanical engineer, filed to run the same day—before Daines' withdrawal. Calhoun had cited disagreements with Daines over policies favoring big business, but said the candidate switch left him believing Alme would offer little difference. Charles WalkingChild, a Helena environmental contractor who previously ran in Republican primaries in 2022 and 2024, rounds out the GOP field.

The Montana Republican Party signaled its frustration with Daines' actions by announcing it would not endorse candidates in any federal races, saying it would instead "support a competitive primary process to let voters pick their preferred candidates." Republicans will choose their nominee on June 2, when Democrats will select from five candidates and Libertarians from two. Independent candidate Seth Bodnar, the former University of Montana president, is separately pursuing the general election ballot and has raised $1.14 million—more than any other candidate—though he must gather 13,327 signatures by May 26 to qualify.