Updated 9:40 a.m. MST 3/10/2020 Former presidential candidate Steve Bullock is officially running for a Montana Senate seat, making the Mountain West region a big player in Democrats鈥� push to flip the U.S. Senate.
Bullock has been Montana鈥檚 governor for seven years, even winning reelection in 2016 as Trump took the state by 20 points. He鈥檒l be running against Republican Steve Daines, a now 5-year incumbent.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a total game changer,鈥� Rob Saldin, political science professor at the University of Montana, said.
He said it turns a race that was thought to be a Republican lock into a toss-up.
鈥淏ullock jumping into this thing certainly makes it a lot more likely that [Democrats] can take back control of the Chamber,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat still looks like a little bit of a stretch but they have a chance now.鈥�
Bullock will face stiff competition. Daines is popular with many Montanans and has the support of President Trump, who tweeted late last month that Daines was a 鈥渟trong conservative.鈥�
鈥淭rump is popular here in Montana and his supporters are pretty rock solid,鈥� Saldin said. 鈥淒aines clearly thinks it鈥檚 in his best political interest to maintain that tight relationship with the president.鈥�
If Bullock joins the race, he鈥檒l be the second Democratic governor in our region to go head-to-head against a Republican for a U.S. Senate seat this year. John Hickenlooper, former governor of Colorado, is also making a bid.
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUER in Salt Lake City, KUNR in Nevada, the O鈥機onnor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado. Follow Nate Hegyi on Twitter .
Copyright 2020 KUER 90.1. To see more, visit . 9(MDAxNDQ2NDAxMDEyNzU2NzM2ODA3ZGI1ZA001))
