What They’re Saying: Matt Rosendale’s Senate Bid “A Scenario National Republicans Discouraged To Try To Avoid A Damaging Intraparty Fight”

Following Matt Rosendale’s entrance into the Montana Senate race, a wave of new reports highlights that his campaign begins a “contentious,” “costly,” “ugly,” “bitter,” “bruising,” “MAGA civil war” – ”a scenario that national Republicans discouraged to try to avoid a damaging intraparty fight.”

“The NRSC’s Montana nightmare just came true as their plans to avoid a nasty, bruising primary came crashing down around them. Whichever candidate emerges from their bruising, expensive intraparty fight will be deeply damaged and abhorrent to the voters that decide the general election,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Amanda Sherman Baity. 

• Associated Press: Republicans have a plan to take the Senate. A hard-right Montana lawmaker could crash the party. “[Rosendale] jumped into the race in defiance of GOP leaders. Rosendale’s move laid bare deep fissures within the Montana GOP at a time when Republicans can ill afford it.”
  
  
• HuffPost: Rep. Matt Rosendale Launches Senate Bid, Setting Stage For Ugly GOP Primary: “Rosendale (R-Mont.) on Friday officially launched his bid for the U.S. Senate, giving Republican voters in Montana a second millionaire transplant to choose from in the upcoming June primary. Rosendale’s entry into the race sets the stage for a bitter and expensive primary. This week provided a glimpse into how contentious the primary will likely be.”
  
  
• National Review: Matt Rosendale Launches 2024 Senate Campaign, Setting Up Contentious Montana Primary against Trump-Backed Tim Sheehy. “Matt Rosendale launches 2024 Senate campaign…setting the stage for a contentious and costly Republican primary. Whoever wins the GOP primary will face tough competition in Tester.”
  
  
• NPR: Setting up a bitter Montana GOP primary, Rosendale enters high-profile Senate race. “Rosendale announced he is running for the U.S. Senate, setting up a contentious Republican primary battle against political newcomer, Tim Sheehy…despite some in his own party urging him not to enter the race.”

• POLITICO: Rosendale sets up messy GOP primary in a must-win state. “Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) launched a Senate bid on Friday and created a messy Republican primary in a must-win state — a move that Senate GOP leaders had been trying to prevent for months. The pitched opposition from the National Republican Senatorial Committee or its recruitment of a wealthy military veteran did not deter him. His entrance into the race ahead of the June primary sets up a heated brawl with Tim Sheehy… Rosendale has derided Sheehy as the handpicked candidate of the D.C. elite.”
  
  
• NBC News: Matt Rosendale launches Montana Senate campaign, kicking off a divisive GOP primary. “Rep. Matt Rosendale is running for Senate again in Montana, kickstarting a messy fight for the Republican nomination that many party leaders had hoped to avoid in a state that could tip the partisan balance of power in the chamber.”
  
  
• The Hill: Rosendale’s entry into Montana Senate primary sparks GOP furor. “The entry of Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) into Montana’s Senate race is threatening the party with a bitter and bruising primary. …the development suggests Montana is set for ‘one of the most bitter primary battles’ it has seen in recent years. Rosendale’s entry is underscoring the opposing factions within the GOP as more traditional conservatives and members of the extreme right find themselves ‘at war with each other.’”
  
  
• CBS News: Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale announces Senate bid, complicating Republican effort to flip seat in 2024: “Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale announces Senate bid, complicating Republican effort to flip seat in 2024”

• Independent: Matt Rosendale announces Senate run in Montana, setting up a Maga civil war.

• The Hill: Senate GOP campaign chief blasts Rosendale’s ‘unfortunate’ decision to jump into Montana race. “Montana Sen. Steve Daines, chair of the Senate GOP campaign arm, blasted his state’s Rep. Matt Rosendale (R) for making the ‘unfortunate’ decision to jump into the Montana Senate race Friday. Rosendale announced Friday that he’d filed for Senate in the state, kickstarting a primary battle with businessman and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy.”
  
  
• CNN: Rep. Matt Rosendale announces Senate bid in Montana, setting up consequential GOP primary. “GOP Rep. Matt Rosendale announced Friday that he had filed for Senate in Montana, setting up a contentious primary against national Republicans’ preferred pick to take on vulnerable Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. The Montana contest will be a test for national GOP leaders, who are taking a more active role in primaries this cycle than in the past, when flawed nominees have sometimes cost them seats.”
  

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