DSCC Statement on Montana Senate Primary Results

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman David Bergstein issued the following statement on the results of tonight’s Montana Republican Senate primary:

“The out-of-state special interests who poured millions into this primary have bought their own out-of-state candidate. Maryland real estate developer Matt Rosendale has a lot to answer for, like why he signed a document under penalty of perjury stating he was a resident of Maryland while running for office in Montana and why he calls himself a rancher when he’s never ranched his land himself or owned any cattle. Maryland Matt is bankrolled by the same out-of-state special interests that want to hurt Montana families by raising the costs of health care. The primary has exposed Rosendale for what he is: a typical politician who will say and do whatever it takes to put himself first – and we know voters will hold him accountable.”

What The Damaging Primary Exposed About Maryland Matt Rosendale:

• Rosendale signed documents under penalty of perjury to receive a tax break as a Maryland resident, despite serving in the Montana legislature and claiming to be a Montana resident at the time. [Helena Independent Record, 4/25/18]
  • HEADLINE: Maryland Resident Files A Complaint Against Matt Rosendale for Violating Tax Law. [5/2/18]
• In 2002, Rosendale moved from Maryland, where he worked as a real estate developer, to Montana and has been accused of moving to Montana to start a political career. [Montana Standard, 4/18/18]
  • Rosendale has “been running for office basically since he got” to Montana, said a Republican primary opponent. [KPAX, 9/13/17]
  • Rosendale faces “attacks of opportunism and carpetbagging.” [Slate, 4/20/18]

• Rosendale claims to be a “rancher,” but “never actually ranched the land himself, instead renting it out for others to farm and run their cattle on.” [TPM, 5/29/18]
  • TPM: “The higher the office he’s run for, the more [Rosendale’s] talked up his supposed ranching experience.” [TPM, 5/29/18]
  • TPM: “This campaign isn’t the first time people have questioned whether he’s an authentic rancher.” [TPM,5/29/18]
  • HEADLINE: Montana GOP Senate Candidate’s Claims To Be A Rancher Are Partly Bull. [TPM, 5/29/18]

• Rosendale’s campaign has been bankrolled by millions of “deep-pocketed,” out-of-state money donors.[Associated Press, 5/28/18]
  • AP: “It’s opened Rosendale to attacks from his opponents who charge he’s now beholden to special interests outside Montana.” [Associated Press, 5/28/18]
• Rosendale got called out by experts for playing political games with Montanans’ health care. [Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 10/27/17]
• Rosendale supported the Republican health care plan that spikes premiums by 20 percent, strips coverage for pre-existing conditions, and imposes an age-tax on older Americans. [MTN News,7/18/17]
• Rosendale supported the 2017 GOP tax bill that provides giveaways to big corporations and the wealthiest few at the expense of the middle class. [Billings Gazette, 12/27/17]

 

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