Steve Daines' handpicked Senate successor Kurt Alme vows to keep Montana in Republican hands in 2026
FIRST ON FOX: Montana will again have a new face coming to the Senate, with Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., bowing out. His chosen successor knows he was picked to stop...
By Fox News · Fox News
FIRST ON FOX: Montana will again have a new face coming to the Senate, with Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., bowing out. His chosen successor knows he was picked to stop Democrats from taking the seat. Former U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme was handpicked by Daines at the last minute to replace him, and he has no qualms about it as Republicans try to maintain their majority in the upper chamber in a midterm election cycle that is historically a referendum on the party — and president — in control. "Knowing how important it was for Republicans to hold the Senate, I told him if he decided to retire, I would be interested," Alme told Fox News Digital in an interview. TOP TRUMP ALLY STEVE DAINES EXITS MONTANA SENATE RACE, PLANS TO RETIRE Daines, who was seeking a third term in the Senate, dropped out of the race in early March, withdrawing his name just as the registration deadline in Montana was approaching. As he bowed out, Alme leapt in. The move drew heavy criticism from Daines’ opponents in the state and from Democrats in Washington, D.C., but Alme described the plan as one geared toward maintaining the balance of power in the upper chamber. Seth Bodnar, the former University of Montana president who jumped into the race as an independent hours before Daines’ exit, said on X that the lawmaker had "so little respect for Montana Republicans that he withdrew at the last minute to coronate his handpicked successor instead of giving them a voice at the ballot box." "This is the disgusting arrogance of Washington politicians and their party bosses who trade power back and forth like candy while Montanans are crushed under higher costs and fewer opportunities," Bodnar said. 10 SENATE RACES THAT COULD DECIDE CONTROL OF THE CHAMBER IN THE 2026 MIDTERMS It’s a move fitting for Daines, given that he has become one of Washington’s savviest political operators and played a key role in clinching Republicans’ Senate majority while serving as National Republican Senatorial Committee chair dur…