Montana Gov. Steve Bullock CM ’88 announced Monday that he is running for Senate, reversing an earlier decision not to run.
“I’ve always fought for the people of Montana. Together, we expanded health care, protected public lands, banned dark money in politics & more,” Bullock said in a tweet announcing his run. “Now I’m taking that fight to the US Senate. Let’s make Washington work more like Montana.”
I’ve always fought for the people of Montana. Together, we expanded health care, protected public lands, banned dark money in politics & more. Now I’m taking that fight to the US Senate. Let’s make Washington work more like Montana. Join us: https://t.co/vyPPioB0tJ #MTSen #MTpol pic.twitter.com/6VuCKsNTeW
— Steve Bullock (@stevebullockmt) March 9, 2020
Democrats have seen Bullock, a centrist Democrat, as a strong candidate to try to flip a Senate seat in the generally heavily-Republican state. President Donald Trump won the state by about 20 percentage points in 2016, according to The New York Times.
“How I live and how I govern in a state like this is that I actually end up traveling all across the state. … I don’t just go talk to Democrats, but will talk to … people all across the spectrum,” Bullock told TSL in April 2019, about his bipartisan appeal. “I think that really what we need to be focusing on — this is even beyond Democrats, but — how do we start bridging some of the divides that we’re starting to have in this country so that this 240-plus year experiment of representative democracy still works?”
Bullock will be facing off against incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Daines, who first won the seat in 2014.
Bullock’s announcement comes at the last minute — the filing deadline in the race was Monday, according to the Associated Press.
He reportedly met with former President Barack Obama and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last month to discuss entering the race. Bullock is not the only Democratic candidate, but will likely easily win the Democratic nomination, according to Politico.
Bullock, who is currently serving his second term as governor, is ineligible to run for a third term. He previously launched a short-lived presidential run, entering the race late in May 2019 and dropping out in December amid low poll numbers and fundraising.
Bullock graduated from CMC with a degree in politics, philosophy and economics.
This article was last updated March 10 at 7:47 p.m.
Marc Rod PO ’20 is from Rye Brook, New York. He previously served as TSL’s managing editor, news editor, news associate and news writer.