HELENA – Democratic Party Chairman Dennis McDonald has filed a statement of candidacy to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg.
The race between McDonald, a Melville rancher, and Rehberg has been brewing for a while.
The Montana Democratic Party that McDonald chairs has been sending out a steady diet of e-mail criticisms of Rehberg. And the Montana Republican Party has responded with its own daily criticisms of McDonald.
The Federal Elections Commission shows that McDonald filed paperwork last week to run for the office in 2010.
Rehberg coasted to re-election in 2008, a year that was not favorable to many other Republicans.
Rehberg was first elected to Congress in 2000. Before that he was lieutenant governor and a state legislator.