From the state capital in Helena to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., the shock could be felt Wednesday as two-term Republican Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., announced his unexpected retirement.
"It is time for new leaders like Tim Sheehy to spearhead the fight for Montana in the United States Senate," Daines, 63, said in a video that was released just as he was formally filing papers to end his third-term campaign with the Montana Secretary of State's office.
At almost the same time, former state budget director and U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme filed papers to become a candidate for Daines' seat.
With the endorsements of Daines, Sheehy, and Gov. Greg Gianforte — not to mention President Donald Trump himself — Alme is unopposed for the GOP nomination.
All of this occurred eight minutes before the close of the Big Sky State's filing deadline for the primary ballot.
The quicksilver "March surprise," state GOP sources told Newsmax, is the end product of a crack Republican organization working in coordination with the White House and the Republican National Committee.
At a time when many state Republican parties are atrophying as a result of intraparty feuds, the Montana GOP under just-elected state Chair Art Wittich and his well-regarded predecessor Don Kaltschmidt has put aside internecine warfare and united to win legislative and statewide elections.
"My slogan while I was the chair was, 'We're better together,'" Whitefish businessman Kaltschmidt told the Flathead Beacon when he retired last summer. "And I always believed that."
"We have different factions in the party — we have a moderate wing, we have a conservative wing, and we have a libertarian wing. And we need to get along together to move the state toward pragmatic conservatism."
The last-minute timing of the Daines-Alme maneuver also means that no well-known Democrat, such as former Sen. Jon Tester (who was unseated by Sheehy in 2024), had time to enter the race.
As of Wednesday night, that remains the case.
The lone obstacle between Alme and Daines' Senate seat is Seth Bodnar, who recently resigned as president of the University of Montana to run as an independent.
How the onetime Green Beret will do against a fresh and unexpected opponent is unclear.
Including Daines, 10 U.S. senators — four Democrats and six Republicans — have said they are stepping down in 2026.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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