Representative Matt Rosendale of Montana, the right-wing candidate vying for the state’s contested Senate seat this year, is dropping out of the Republican primary race, he said in a statement on Thursday.
He announced his withdrawal less than a week after he formally entered the race. Just hours after he began his campaign, former President Donald J. Trump endorsed Tim Sheehy, a businessman and retired Navy SEAL who was Mr. Rosendale’s opponent in the primary. With the party establishment lining up behind Mr. Sheehy and Mr. Trump also lending his support, Mr. Rosendale struggled to see a path forward.
“By my calculations, with Trump endorsing my opponent and the lack of resources, the hill was just too steep,” Mr. Rosendale said in a statement, adding that he had spoken with Steve Daines, the state’s Republican senator, who is also in charge of Senate Republicans’ re-election efforts. “We both agree that this is the best path forward for Republicans to regain the majority in the U.S. Senate.”
The news of Mr. Rosendale’s withdrawal was earlier reported by Politico. Mr. Rosendale did not say whether he would endorse Mr. Sheehy. The news sets up Mr. Sheehy as a favorite to secure the nomination and face Jon Tester, a popular yet vulnerable Democratic incumbent, in November.
It also offers Republicans another boost in their efforts to regain control of the closely divided Senate. By nipping in the bud what could have been a bruising primary fight, Republicans can now coalesce behind Mr. Sheehy and focus on ousting Mr. Tester heading into the fall. His seat, in a deeply red state, is considered one of the most vulnerable on the Senate map, along with those of Democratic incumbents in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Nevada and the Arizona seat held by Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat-turned-independent who has not yet said whether she’s running for re-election.
Republicans got good news last week when Larry Hogan, the popular former Republican governor of Maryland, said he would run for the state’s open Senate seat, potentially expanding the map of possible pickups even further.
In Montana, both traditional establishment and Trump-aligned Republicans had labored to avoid a repeat of 2018 — when Mr. Rosendale lost to Mr. Tester by 3 percentage points in the general election — by elevating Mr. Sheehy, whom they viewed as a more palatable, moderate candidate. Mr. Rosendale has supported a blanket ban on abortions and voted to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election.
Top Republicans from various wings of the party — like Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 3 Senate Republican, and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a close Trump ally — endorsed Mr. Sheehy, conservative super PACs and donors gave him money, and Mr. Rosendale said on a podcast last month that Mr. Daines had pressured him to stay out of the race.
Montana Democrats had run advertisements appearing to promote Mr. Rosendale’s conservative credentials — a possible repeat of the controversial strategy Democrats employed in 2022 in which they tried to bolster the chances of more strident right-wing candidates in Republican primaries, calculating that they would be easier opponents in general election matchups.
Still, Mr. Rosendale maintained good will among the Trump-aligned wing of the party and entered the race this month. Just hours later, Mr. Trump cast his support behind Mr. Sheehy, a move that seemed to make Mr. Rosendale’s candidacy a long shot.
Mr. Sheehy expressed his thanks in a post on X after his rival dropped out Thursday, saying to Mr. Rosendale that Montana was “grateful for your service.” Mr. Daines echoed that sentiment in a statement, writing that “it will take all Republicans working together to defeat Jon Tester in November.”
Michael C. Bender contributed reporting.
