HELENA – Bozeman businessman Steve Daines says he is switching his Republican campaign from the U.S. Senate to the state’s lone U.S. House seat, leaving the GOP Senate primary wide open for current U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg.
Daines tells The Associated Press that he is making the switch because Republicans don’t need a divisive primary. On Saturday, Rehberg is expected to announce his candidacy for the Senate seat currently held by Democrat Jon Tester.
Daines has made an impressive start by raising more than $200,000 in less than two months. Federal election law allows him to transfer that money over to a House race.
Daines is a social and fiscal conservative endorsed by gun and anti-abortion groups. In 2008 he ran for lieutenant governor as gubernatorial candidate Roy Brown’s running mate.