Montana Gov. Steve Bullock stands at left.
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock stands at left.
While Democrats appeared to throw their support behind Montana Gov. Steve Bullock in a run for U.S. Senate, his campaign spokeswoman said that option is off the table.
After Bullock ended his presidential campaign earlier this month, speculation arose that he would challenge first-term Republican incumbent Steve Daines.
However, a campaign spokeswoman said Bullock would not be pursuing a U.S. Senate bid.
"While he plans to work hard to elect Democrats in the state and across the country in 2020, it will be in his capacity as a governor and a senior voice in the Democratic primary – not as a candidate for U.S. Senate," the spokeswoman, Galia Slayen, said in a statement published on The Hill.
Bullock had focused on winning support in Iowa but did not find support nationwide, nor did he make a splash in the single debate for which he qualified.
“I entered this race as a voice to win back the places we lost, bridge divides and rid our system of the corrupting influence of dark money. While the concerns that propelled me to enter in the first place have not changed, I leave this race filled with gratitude and optimism, inspired and energized by the good people I’ve had the privilege of meeting over the course of the campaign,” Bullock said in a statement.
In the days following Bullock’s announcement, several U.S. senators showed support for his possible Senate run; a win could help Democrats win back majority control of the Senate.
“I would hope that Steve Bullock reevaluates,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico, in a story published on Politico. “If it was important enough to run for president … the most powerful thing [Bullock] could do to help the country and his state, I believe, would be to run for the U.S. Senate.”
Sen. John Tester, D-Montana, said it wasn’t the right time to pressure the governor to run for Senate.
“He’s the best chance for us to pick that seat up. He’s got better popularity than anybody else in the state, Daines and myself included,” Tester said. “It’s sitting there. But it’s his call.”
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