Montanans voted to stick with their current Steve.
Republican Sen. Steve Daines secured reelection in Montana’s Senate race over Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, a sigh of relief for Republicans hoping to prevent the chamber from flipping to Democratic control.
The Associated Press called the race for Daines at 1:45 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. He won 53% of the vote to Bullock’s 46%, with 79%-93% of estimated votes reporting, according to Decision Desk HQ.
The battle for Montana’s Senate seat was not initially expected to be a prime target for Democrats. At the beginning of the year, elections analysts rated it as a safe Republican seat.
Daines, 58, was generally well liked among voters and campaigned on party accomplishments such as confirming Supreme Court appointees and passing tax cuts.
The junior Republican senator positioned himself as an ally of President Trump, with his campaign website homepage prominently featuring a photo of the senator standing next to the president at a rally. Trump won the state by 20 points in 2016.
But the popular two-term Democratic governor, who is term limited and can’t run again, gave Daines a run for his money. As of Oct. 14, Bullock had spent $38 million on his Senate campaign, while Daines had spent $26 million.
Bullock, 54, initially ruled out running for Senate and launched a short-lived Democratic presidential campaign last year. But after dropping out of the presidential primary race when he failed to gain traction, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer succeeded in recruiting him to run for the seat. Bullock, whose second gubernatorial term is term limited and could not run for the state’s executive office again.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, Bullock, tasked with managing the state’s response to the crisis, enjoyed a bump in approval ratings over 70%.
As governor, Bullock signed into law in some of the strictest state-level campaign finance rules in the country.
